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After hearing Cam talk about everything
commercial drones could do, Mateo and Joni
realized that using drones for corporate security was a
much bigger opportunity than they had thought. Mateo
and Joni founded Falcon Security and hired Cam. Five
years later, Falcon Security has 15 large industrial clients
that pay for daily security surveillance and dozens of industrial clients that
contract for aerial safety inspections. It has also recently contracted with a few
clients asking for one-time aerial land survey, videography (commercials, real estate,
etc.), and agricultural monitoring.

Falcon Security has revenues of about $14 million per year, most of which comes
Source: Alexander Kolomietz/Fotolia from providing physical security to its large industrial clients. Mateo wants to grow
Falcon Security nationally. He knows there are plenty of industrial clients outside
of Texas that would pay for its services, possibly even a lucrative contract with the
federal government. Joni is worried that Falcon is not ready. It’s been a bumpy ride.
Buying fleets of drones (planes and helicopters) has been expensive and, at times,
frustrating. People have to be trained to operate the drones, the drones seem to
break frequently, and newer models are always coming out. Then there’s the hugely
expensive systems development project that’s currently under way to automate the
collection, storage, and analysis of the data from the drones.

Mateo has also been exploring 3D printing as a way to reduce the costs of the drones.
Cam’s team was able to rapidly create an innovative prototype of a new passive
recharging platform using a 3D printer. Now Falcon’s drones can land, charge, and take
off again without any human intervention. This has saved countless hours managing
the drones and has increased the overall effective range of the drones. Fleets of
autonomous drones can now be deployed across long distances by stopping every
10 to 15 miles at a recharging station.

Mateo hopes the company can have the same success in making its own drones.
But he’s not sure he wants to manufacture drones. How many new employees will
he need to hire and train? How much will it cost to buy additional equipment and
information systems to support the manufacturing process? Will these new drones be
compatible with the existing data collection and processing system? Mateo asks Joni
and Cam to figure out if manufacturing drones is the right move for Falcon Security.

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