Tag: bob mayes

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Entrepreneurship student’s high-flying innovation taking off

A strange object appeared this year at the first day of the Oregon State University spring football practice. Or more accurately, it appeared above it.

For the first time, the Beavers used an aerial camera to document its practices. The person responsible for the copter was Oregon State sophomore Michael Williams, part of the Austin Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business.

Williams said he’d always been interested in creating his own flying machines, starting with radio-controlled airplanes.

“Throughout middle school and high school I kept building bigger stuff,” said Williams. “Right around when I came to college I got involved with multicopters.”

Multicopters, so named for the multiple blades configured around the copter body, have become popular over the past few years as a way to do aerial photography.

When Williams started, the technology he had access to wasn’t advanced enough to lift a high quality camera, but advances in both photography and flight since then have made it possible.

Last year he started tests with a small camera, and immediately got a huge reaction from friends.

“It was an instant success,” he said. “Eventually my friends would say, ‘Oh, you’re the multicopter kid.’”

Michael Williams explains his Multicopter NW business at the Oregon CEO Summit.
Michael Williams (right) explains his Multicopter Northwest business at the Oregon CEO Summit May 7 in Portland.

Williams started Multicopter Northwest, selling kits so others could build their own copters. But a chance meeting sent the project in another direction.

Originally an engineering major, this fall Williams transferred to business on a friend’s recommendation and got involved with the Austin Entrepreneurship Program. From there he also joined the Weatherford Garage, which provides resources to help students start their own businesses.

“This past fall I fell into the hands of Sandy Neubaum, [Weatherford GTA] Dale McCauley and Bob Mayes,” Williams said. “It transformed from selling a couple of kits to friends to something bigger.”

During the fall Oregon State head football coach Mike Riley spoke at an entrepreneurship class and Mayes, a former Oregon State quarterback, pushed Williams to approach and share his business plan.

It turned out the Riley was looking for a better way to get photos and videos of offensive lineman, often packed too close together to see well from the sidelines.

“I got the opportunity to do a mini pitch and he was instantly interested,” Williams said. “He invited me to come to spring practices and do some demos.”

Williams showed up on day one and went to work. The system records video but also sends it to a video unit on the ground, so coaches can watch in real-time.

The next step for Williams is getting funding for better equipment while continuing to develop the business.

No matter where the idea takes him, so far he’s happy with the decision to jump into his own business.

“I walked into Weatherford [Hall] not knowing what to expect,” Williams said. “Now I spend hours on hours in that building.

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Leadership Workshop Series gets students into minds of executives

Claudia Sieb talks to the final meeting of the Leadership Workshop Series
Claudia Sieb talks to the final meeting of the Leadership Workshop Series.

Every day executives are faced with difficult choices, situations that can define the path of a business or a career.

This term a select group of College of Business students got the chance to think through real-life scenarios with the executives who faced those tough decisions as part of an experimental leadership seminar.

“What I’m showing them is that their first response may not be correct,” said Executive in Residence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Bob Mayes. “It’s like an onion, you have to peel the layers back.”

Led by Mayes, the class allowed students to interact closely with business leaders and examine their decision-making process.

The weekly class brought executives from diverse industries and backgrounds to discuss actual cases from their own careers and challenged students to think what they would have done in the same situation.

Before each class students received a situation provided by that week’s speaker. They were given details on the information available before the decision was made, but not what the speaker did or what happened after.

Students responded with what they would have done under the circumstances, and then analyzed the situation with the executive in class before finally discussing the actual outcome.

“All I’m trying to do is bring experience into the classroom in a setting that is safe,” Mayes said. “They’re graded on preparation and participation.”

Speakers included Howard Behar, former president of Starbucks, Phillip Swan, CEO of EZ Grill/P&M Products, Inc. and former Microsoft VP of Sales, and Claudia Sieb, who spoke at the final session Friday Nov. 30.

Sieb is the owner and co-founder of Sieb International, a global marketing and consulting firm that specializes in developing revenue strategies for companies targeting affluent U.S. markets and consumer segments.

During her talk Sieb showed the actual pitch she gave a luxury resort, providing a real-life example of key business concepts and discussed the choices with students in the class. As a business owner herself, she also laid out some of her key lessons as an entrepreneur.

The class will continue in winter term with a new slate of five executives, starting Jan. 18.