Passion alone can’t make cars fly

We have been dreaming about flying cars (and startups have been promising them!) for over 70 years, and it looks like we might almost be there. Orders have been placed, and delivery schedules set.

Today we sit down with Tom Fukuzawa of SkyDrive, and we talk about the development of their flying car and their recent contract with the city of Osaka for air-taxi services.

However, we also talk about the real difficulties of turning a group of passionate volunteers into a passionate startup. I don't want to spoil anything for you, but it did not turn out like it was supposed to.

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.


Show Notes

Why the word is experiencing a boom in flying car research and prototypes
The cool concept vehicles of the Carivator project

How to bing young innovators in an industry together

Why driven, committed people rarely "volunteer"

Why just asking for money can be easier than getting investment.
Why aircraft innovation is slow and why aircraft startups are rare
The size of the future flying car market
How we will integrate flying cars and traditional infrastructure
Why the enterprise to startup revolving door is so important



Links from the Founder

Everything you ever wanted to know about SkyDrive

Friend them on Facebook
Follow them on Twitter @Skydrive_Global


Check out SkyDrive's LandCare Robot
SkyDrive's Vision Video



Transcript
Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs.
I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me.
You know, we seem to be in a bit of a flying car startup boom right now. Of course, the flying car has been a symbol of the future for over 70 years now. And for that whole time, we've always been just 10 years away from saying goodbye to traffic and taking to the skies. 
Well, today we sit down with Tomo Fukuzawa, founder of SkyDrive. And he explains how he plans to have his flying cars on the road or rather in the skies in three years. 
And while there are many startups making such claims today, SkyDrive recently signed contracts with the City of Osaka to deliver an air taxi service. And last month SkyDrive began the final stage of government certification for their vehicle. So yeah, there's something here that deserves a closer look. 
Oh, and by the way, Tomo was at their testing facility so there's some background noise in this interview. The drones and flying cars themselves weren't flying around so just some cars passing by. It's not too bad. But at one point, it sounds like a tractor trailer drives between us and knocks over our table. You'll know it when you hear it, trust me. 
Anyway, Tomo shares some really important lessons about running a moonshot startup, how partners and collaborators and people you've known for years begin to treat you differently. Many of these lessons apply to anyone following their dreams, but the startup experience makes everything so much more intense. 
But you know, Tomo tells that story much better than I can. So let's get right to the interview.
 
Interview 
Tim: So we're sitting here with Tomo Fukuzawa of SkyDrive, who is making flying cars and cargo drones. And thanks for meeting with us today.
Tomo: Thank you very much for inviting me.
Tim: It's my pleasure. I love the whole aerospace and aviation sector. I love what startups are doing in here. I want flying cars to be real so badly.
Tomo: Thank you.
Tim: So tell us a bit about your current prototype. It's currently a one-seater model, right?
Tomo: We started SkyDrive three years ago. And last summer, we studied manned test flight of a flying car or eVTOL. And this was the first time in Japan to show manned flying car, and we have one-seater and eight propellers. And now we are flying 5 to 10 minutes by one charge.
Tim: I want to get into the details of the technology in the future in just a minute. But it seems like in the last, let's say,