Military veteran based out of Erie, PA works to develop patented new brake system that could bring jobs and revenue to Erie County.
I’m honored to have the Erie Times News publish our story.
What started as a napkin drawing in Kuwait on the eve of my tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom, has blossomed to a disruptive technology which will make a decent impact on Erie’s economy. With the support of Ben Franklin, I was able to perform significant R&D while working full time at GE Transportation and serving as a military officer in the National Guard. Through that seed funding, we were able to build tangible and testable sphere brake prototypes to benchmark performance against competing disc and drum brake technology on different vehicle platforms. Based on those results, we made a great impression within the heavy truck industry and the DoD.
Something that keeps coming to mind often these days is a quote from Jack Ma, Founder, and CEO of Alibaba. I was watching Bloomberg Television several weeks ago in the wee morning hours and he was on a forum for some tech conference they were streaming. The last words he offered entrepreneurs stuck with me. He stated that for you, entrepreneurs, today is hard. Tomorrow is much harder. Yet the day after tomorrow is glorious. However, most of you will die tomorrow night.
It was such a crisp, yet fitting statement on the reality all start-ups must face, no matter what the industry is; especially those who are right on the cusp of making it, but for some reason never cross the finish line.
At the same time, I found peace in that realization. We have a very strong investment community right here in Erie. Whether it be through organizations like Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority, or the numerous private investors taking risks daily for start-ups right here in Erie, their networks, infrastructure, and capital resources enable us entrepreneurs the tools and grit to survive tomorrow night.
Read the article here: GoErie.com