Sci-Fi Demo Series: A Flying Car

Boost VC get's to see a lot of amazing demos. I wanted to do one post a week on some of my favorites over the years.

My job is awesome! The main reason it’s awesome is that we invest at the earliest stages, and some of the amazing humans we invest in end up building enduring companies. However, the second reason is that I get to see some of the COOLEST Technology in the world!!!

I’ve flown drones, seen blimp drones fly, been hooked up to a VR neuro device that either replaced all my memories with Adam Draper’s or allowed me to move digital blocks with my brain. I’ve had rocket parts brought into pitch meetings, Demos done through old VR headsets and new (over 5 years). However, the demos that always end up being worth it are the ones you have to show up to a location for.

This series over the next few weeks will be dedicated to the most incredible demos I’ve participated in.

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This title says flying car, so naturally you clicked… and yes I flew in a flying car 3 years ago!

I was connected to a founder named Ansel in July of 2018. I explained our Sci-Fi thesis to a founder we invested in, and they immediately said:

“One of my friends quit his job and built a flying car in his garage.”

Naturally, I connected.

I had to drive to somewhere in San Jose, even though the founder mentioned that the flying car had been built out of Ansel’s garage, I was still expecting to be at some warehouse or office building, but ended up in front of a very suburban looking home/garage. I knocked and waited, and the door was opened, I remember at some point, his Dad was there to discuss the flying car with me too.

Ansel very kindly brought me to his backyard where there was a contraption that looked like an over-sized drone. He spent time explaining how many iterations he had made (I remember this being version 10 or 14) in the previous two years to get to this model. The drone had 6 double rotating blades with a stool in the middle of it.

He had me sign my life away on something, and I made a quick joke wondering if I was the first person to ever fly, while he insisted that 30 other people had flown it including himself.

Ansel sat me down in the seat and buckled my feet in. I notice very quickly that if the blades moved 2 inches to their right, they would cut off my legs. I got a little nervous at the thought. For the moment, our incentives were aligned though, I wanted to invest in a flying car, he wanted an investment for a flying car. I figured that would keep me alive for the demo.

He then pulled out a remote control… I guess I assumed I would be flying it, but it makes sense that he had the experience. And Ansel booted it up.

The rest is history. I flew in my first flying car. It took off! It hovered… It was such a fun experience! I could imagine the freedom of an untethered well designed craft.

Unfortunately, we were not able to get to terms with Ansel, and it wasn’t meant to be. But still, it will forever be one of the most memorable investor experiences!