Last week I jumped in on Mr. H’s 4^th grade class to present my story and to inspire the virtues of entrepreneurialism. I was invited because they were engaged in a miniature “Shark Tank” as a lesson on business and having been on the TV show, “Shark Tank” myself I was a great guest speaker for them to have in. My presentation really focused on two important ideas – setting goals/paths and seeing challenges as opportunities.

We pumped up the kids before hand by riding the SBU around at recess. In about 30 seconds we had at least half of the playground swarming us as we demonstrated riding on the SBU and even doing a few tricks (just to show off). It reminded me of how much I loved recess. I almost jumped off of the SBU and challenged a kid (or two) to a round of tetherball!

As we entered the classroom and jumped into “story time” all 23 of these kids were engaged and excited about listening to my story and they had plenty of questions to prove their interest.  A few of my favorite questions/comments are listed below:

–  How much money does an entrepreneur/you make?

–  How did you determine your retail price?

–  Can you make a snowboard that has a motor to pull you up the hill? PS… I want 10% of that idea!

The kids also eagerly informed me of their very own business ideas and I was excited to see how many of them actually had cool ideas.  Some of the kids’ ideas needed a little more help but I was happy to suggest alternative ways of looking at their company/product that could help set them apart from their “competition” before they get in to the Shark Tank.

This was the youngest set of students that I have spoken in front of and yet the most inspiring. I know that many of those kids left school thinking how awesome it could be to passionately follow one of their ideas. I look forward to many more speaking engagements in the future and hope that other companies share in the honor of shaping and inspiring tomorrows future business leaders.

David Martschinske
Chief Operating Officer
dmart@focusdesigns.com
phone: 360-3CYCLES
focusdesigns.com – Home of the Self Balancing Unicycle!

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The anticipation is over… we can finally tell you that we were on ABC’s Shark Tank for Season 4 Episode 7.  Go have a look for yourself:

Daniel and David (Chief nerds at Focus Designs) traveled to the Shark Tank open auditions a while back and had a great deal of fun meeting other entrepreneurs and meeting various members of “Shark Tank”. The SBU was met with overwhelmingly positive response from everybody we met!  Though we cannot tell you many details about what it was like ‘behind the scenes’ of the Shark Tank we can say that the experience led us to many new friends and unforgettable opportunities.

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I was really excited to meet Woz and yes, his player number is 3.14  If you line up the whole team (STeam) in a row they all spell out pi to the 16th number.  That gives you an idea of the kind of people I was running in to on a reglar basis at the Woz Cup 2011.  Speaking of meeting interesting people, a lot of you may know Smosh. Ian does a lot of YouTube video parodies and made a pretty interesting video of what he thought of the Segway Polo Cup 2011.

And before we start the SBU Polo league, I thought I’d give it a trial run.  I may have looked like a dingus out there but at least I had an awesome time playing polo with the Segs4Vets crew while on the SBU!

If you’d like to see more images of our trip go here

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Many of you SBU enthusiasts know who Trevor Blackwell is but you might not be aware of his most-recent endeavor, the Anybot (a personal robotic avatar).  As we traveled through California on our Left Coast Tour we had a chance to meet Trevor along with a few of the Anybot engineers and some people from the Y-Combinator (including Olark).  The whole crew was able to pick up the SBU fairly quickly and before long we were SBUing along the street with them at close to top speed – all while carrying the stedicam to our 5dmk2 for our daily vlog. It was really cool to meet and speak with a bunch of like-minded entrepreneurs and of course to see them lovin’ the SBU!

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People picked up the SBU rather quickly and we loved watching them learn it in under 3 minutes.  It was especially awesome, however, to run into people that already knew who we were.

In preparation for the Woz Cup 2011 we met up with a whole other h3rd – a Segway n3rd h3rd. Rob Ross and the great people of the Folsom Breakout Segway Polo Club let Daniel and I rock out on some loaner Segways while playing Segway Polo with them. Rob and a few folks took us out for Mexican and we discussed the possibility of Focus Designs refereeing this year’s Segway Polo Cup 2011 (AKA: The Woz Cup).  Rob also told us that we’re going to actually meet The Woz (Steve Wozniak, Co-Founder of Apple) who sounds like a pretty laid back dude.  I’ve been told he likes pranks so I know I’m gunna try to greet Steve with a great DMart classic.

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Here at Focus Designs, we are proud to announce the release of our much-anticipated and improved SBU V2.0.  Aside from a sleeker look, a safer ride, and more power – the new SBU V2.0 is much easier to learn and guaranteed to be an instant crowd-pleaser.

So what’s new?

Increased Torque:
A significant improvement comes in the SBU V2.0’s newly designed motor. Boasting 1000 Watts of power, hills will be handled with much more ease when compared to V1.0’s smaller 350 Watt motor.

More Battery Life:
With a more powerful motor comes a higher-capacity, 5 Amp-Hour 38.4V LifePO4 battery compared to the 4 Amp-Hour 32V LiFePO4 battery on V1.0.

Smoother Turning:
Additional sensors provide a smoother balance response when turning, requiring less effort and increasing comfort. There are now 3 gyro sensors monitoring pitch, roll, and yaw of the SBU V2.0.

More Comfortable Riding Position:
One of the major structural refinements in Version 2.0 is the lowering of the foot pegs. This modification has shown to give novice riders increased stability and greater ease during the learning process. Consequently, the learning time has significantly decreased and most people can ride the SBU V2.0 in just 20 minutes!

New Internal Hub Motor:
The most significant improvement is in our all-new redesigned motor – now more robust with greater visual and functional appeal.  This internal hub motor also conveniently houses all of the electronics, making for a much sleeker look.  The old SBU V1.0 external motor, chain, chain guard and sprocket have all been single-handedly replaced!

No maintenance:
What can be better than this?! The sealed brushless motor never needs to be worked on or adjusted.  Version 1.0 required occasional chain tightening and possible motor brush replacement.

Regenerative Braking:
The more-efficient regenerative braking feature recaptures energy when the rider goes downhill or stops.

Most parts built locally:
The SBU V2.0 moved two more vendors to local companies which mean less money spent overseas and wasted on shipping!

Orders begin today and will ship this November on a first-ordered first-shipped basis.

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The Interbike show was amazing. Our booth was about 20 feet away from the demo area, which was pretty surreal with a constant flow of crazy new contraptions, bikes, scooters and SBUs of course.

We always had two SBUs in the demo area ready for people to test out, and did they ever. We trained 100+ new SBU riders while at the show. Being a bike expo, most people had good balance which meant that new riders were learning the SBU in about 10 minutes. It was definitely the hit of the demo area, said the demo area coordinator. We were the only exhibitor that had a line of riders waiting to ride. The SBU is something that you really have to test ride to understand and appreciate, and it was great to have a space for bike shop buyers/owners and the media to take it for a spin and really kick the tire. It was also a great testament to the durability of the SBU. People were pretty hard on the SBUs, crashing them into other bikes, dropping them and trying new tricks. We didn’t have a single issue with any of the SBUs.

While in Vegas three of us took the SBUs out on the strip and got quite a bit of attention. People were stopping us asking where they could rent them and how they worked. It also demonstrated how well the SBUs work in large crowds, we felt confident riding between people knowing that we could stop on a dime by putting our feet down and wouldn’t run over their ankles because the SBU tire is safely between our legs. An SBU rider basically has the same footprint as a pedestrian. Also they were a breeze to carry up stairs or take on elevators and escalators. Overall the Interbike show was a great experience. We got our name out there and showed everyone that the SBU is a legitimate product that is fun, useful and durable. And the orders are already starting to come in. Thanks to David Martschinske and Alan Ecoff for helping make it happen; and everyone else with thier encouraging words and willingness to try the SBU.

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David Martschinske and I were invited to bring some SBUs to the Unicycling Club at Pleasant Valley Middle School last Wednesday.  We brought 3 SBUs not knowing if the kids would be daring enough to give them a go.  But immediately we were literally being circled by two girls on unicycles and I knew they would do great.

After I breifly explained how the SBU worked, demonstrated it and answered questions, the teacher told all the kids to start practicing.  There was an instant swarm of about 30 little kids on unicycles; it was pretty cool (and kind of scary).

David and I helped three of the brave kids learn to ride the SBU, they did great.  In about ten minutes there were three kids on SBUs amongst the swarm in the gymnasium.  There were even kids on 5ft tall giraffe unicycles.  David and I had a blast and look forward to visiting them again.

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http://www.kgw.com/archive/59549397.html

Here comes the wave.

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Vancouver engineer invents self-balancing unicycle

by Allan Brettman 
Monday May 25, 2009, 6:05 PM

Fredrick D. Joe/The Oregonian – Daniel Wood, co-founder of Focus Designs and inventor of the Self-Balancing Unicycle, demonstrates the battery-powered gadget outside his downtown Vancouver office. Wood, who created the company with his brother, Bobby Wood, is awaiting sales orders after the product became available about two weeks ago.
VANCOUVER — Off in the distance, a unicycle rolls around the ellipse that circles downtown’s Esther Short Park.

Nothing unusual there, though you might think of Vancouver as more of a meat, potatoes and bicycles-only kind of town. But there’s something different about this unicycle.

There’s a blocky-looking thing under the saddle. And the rider isn’t pedaling, yet the contraption is moving. And the rider is playing a guitar.

By the time the rider rolls into closer view, it’s clear that the unicycle is battery-powered. And it’s clear that the rider is doing his best to promote the wizardry of inventor Daniel Wood.

Wood, a high school dropout and self-taught engineer, invented the electric, gyroscope-packed, one-wheeled cycle to help launch a new company in downtown Vancouver.

The invention is known as the SBU — for Self-Balancing Unicycle — and offers the promise of taking some of the circus-stunt nature of the unicycle to the masses.

Fredrick D. Joe/The Oregonian – Daniel Wood (left), founder of Focus Designs and inventor of the Self-Balancing Unicycle, and David Martschinske demonstrate the SBU outside their office in downtown Vancouver
The SBU delivers on one-half of the equation — front to back balancing — but the rider still must figure out the essential left and right balancing that’s essential to turning and staying upright.

Nevertheless, Wood, a 30-year-old refugee from a Vancouver high-tech firm where he was laid off last year, has created a product that appears to have few parallels in the market.

He’s spent more than two years developing and perfecting the design with this in mind: “I wanted to make something I would want to ride.”

There are other electric unicycles, and the two-wheeled Segway has shown the importance of gyroscopes in keeping a wheeled vehicle from tipping. But the SBU appears to be one of a handful to have combined the two features.

Now Wood and his partners need people to pay $1,599 apiece for an SBU in the midst of a recession. Four units are on order, all from people who have said they’re interested in being distributors.

Wood has gotten two technological gadgetry celebrities on the SBU — Adam Savage, host of the Discovery Channel’s “MythBusters,” and Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway.

Savage contacted Wood just moments after he saw a story about the SBU on the Web site, gizmodo.com. “I gotta have one,” Savage recalled telling Wood in an e-mail.

Savage, whose program regularly features construction of contraptions, is a longtime unicyclist. He commuted on them when he lived in New York City and, to amaze his friends, he’d bounce down stairs on a unicycle or juggle while riding one.

So he was eager to try out the SBU when Wood and his friends arrived on the “MythBusters” set in January. He quickly was hooked.

“I love it!” Savage said in the phone interview. He keeps the SBU on the set.

A regular unicycle and the SBU are different enough that it’s an apples to oranges comparison, Savage said.

The biggest difference would be starting and stopping.

The SBU’s internal gyroscope senses, through the rider’s movement, whether he wants
to go forward, slow down or stop. Lean forward enough, and it can go faster — up to 10 mph.

A skilled rider can ride uphill and downhill as easily as on flat ground.

But it takes a skilled rider to make the SBU perform at all. First-time riders will spend much of their introductory moments sitting on the saddle, walking the SBU with one foot and making tentative attempts to roll with both feet on pedal-size platforms.

Most people can be up and going in 45 minutes, Wood said.

The Segway’s Kamen wasn’t one of them. While Wood was able to get the famous inventor on an SBU during a visit to Kamen’s house in New Hampshire during a robotics conference last year, the Segway inventor needed help to stay aboard.

Even Savage says the SBU’s commercial prospects are challenging.

“It seems to me a fairly niche market,” he said. “But someone had to do this. It just had to get done.”

— Allan Brettman; allanbrettman@news.oregonian.com

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