WEBVTT - Getting a Lift to Fly Above the Water

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and

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<v Speaker 1>Tim Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio. We're going to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>something fun, especially going into a weekend where a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people are well, very lucky people are going to

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<v Speaker 1>be headed to the beach and may get to interact

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<v Speaker 1>with the surf. Nick Leeson joins us he is the

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<v Speaker 1>CEO and the founder of Lift Foils, to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>basically a hoverboard for the water. It is so rad, Nick,

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<v Speaker 1>I was watching videos of it all day today and

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<v Speaker 1>I've already been like configuring the one that i want.

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<v Speaker 1>Talk to us first of all about how you came

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<v Speaker 1>up with this idea and well, explain, I guess to

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<v Speaker 1>listeners what it is.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so we build electric powered hydrofoil surfboards. That's a mouthful,

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<v Speaker 2>but it's basically a surfboard that flies over the water.

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<v Speaker 2>So it uses a wing keel called the hydrofoil to

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<v Speaker 2>elevate the board off of the water, so you're surfing

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<v Speaker 2>through the water, but you're also flying through the air,

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<v Speaker 2>so you're suspended in two fluid mediums. Really an amazing sensation.

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<v Speaker 2>It's electrically powered, so it has a motor and a

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<v Speaker 2>propeller on it. You can ride it. It's not just

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<v Speaker 2>for in the surf. You can ride it in the

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<v Speaker 2>lakes and the rivers, anywhere where there's water. You can

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<v Speaker 2>get out and carve some beautiful turns. Really sensation unique product,

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<v Speaker 2>all electric, so it's very quiet, doesn't have any emissions,

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't make any noise, doesn't make any waves or wake

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<v Speaker 2>to bother your neighbors. It's you and mother nature.

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<v Speaker 1>And to Matt's point, how did you end up coming

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<v Speaker 1>up with this idea in particular.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so, hydrofoils have been around for a really long time.

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<v Speaker 2>In fact, Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone,

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<v Speaker 2>made a hydrofoil boat way back in the day. The

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<v Speaker 2>Navy did extensive research on hydrofoils and vessels and it

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<v Speaker 2>kind of crept into the sporting world in the seventies

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<v Speaker 2>in kind of the more lake arenas behind boats, but

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<v Speaker 2>it didn't make it into kind of the surfing world

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<v Speaker 2>until just ten years ago when we really grabbed a

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<v Speaker 2>hold of it and started developing new ways to have

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<v Speaker 2>fun with hydrofoils. And with the advancements and electric technology,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, we came up with a great way to

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<v Speaker 2>create a new personal watercraft that's part surfboard, part smallest

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<v Speaker 2>personal watercraft in the world, and you can just go

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<v Speaker 2>out and be free and ride anywhere you want, no

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<v Speaker 2>surf required.

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<v Speaker 1>The amazing thing is that you can put the power

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<v Speaker 1>in such a small package. Now I saw that the

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<v Speaker 1>longest duration battery can provide you with a ride for

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<v Speaker 1>like two and a half hours. You can go up

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<v Speaker 1>to thirty miles an hour, which is damn fast on

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<v Speaker 1>the water. How hard is it to learn? Like if

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<v Speaker 1>Jess and I I went out with you on a

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<v Speaker 1>calm day, you think you could teach us both to

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<v Speaker 1>get up.

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<v Speaker 2>I got to absolutely teach you how to get up.

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<v Speaker 2>That's one of the most amazing parts about the sport.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, most people look at it and say I'll

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<v Speaker 2>never be able to do that. They're very wrong. We

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<v Speaker 2>get people out. We teach them in fifteen twenty minutes.

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<v Speaker 1>You know.

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<v Speaker 2>It's really easy, really intuitive to use. It's really well balanced,

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<v Speaker 2>so all you have to do is pull the trottle

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<v Speaker 2>and go, and you use your weight to shift the

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<v Speaker 2>board and steer where you want to go. But it's

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<v Speaker 2>very stable. We have a lot of success getting people

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<v Speaker 2>out on the water, teaching them how to ride it,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's yeah, you're right. It has a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>power in The modern battery packs that we have today

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<v Speaker 2>are just amazing. They're fantastic. And the thing about the

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<v Speaker 2>hydrofoil is that because you're getting up off of the water,

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<v Speaker 2>you're reducing all of your drag, so you're very efficient

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<v Speaker 2>on your power consumption and that allows you to go

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<v Speaker 2>longer distances, higher speeds with less energy usage. Talk to

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<v Speaker 2>us about the growth that the foils is seeing at

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<v Speaker 2>this point, Well, it's been extremely popular. People are really

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<v Speaker 2>drawn to the product, they fall in love with it. So,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, we've in the early early days when we

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<v Speaker 2>were launching getting the product out there, we were trying

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<v Speaker 2>to double year over year. That's very challenging from a

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<v Speaker 2>manufacturing environment. We still continue to grow significantly. There's more

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<v Speaker 2>people that are you know, more players that are entering

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<v Speaker 2>in the market, including some of the larger water sporting brands,

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<v Speaker 2>have taken a big interest in the product, which is

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<v Speaker 2>great because it grows market awareness and it's going to help,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, rise to raise the tide. So we're seeing

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<v Speaker 2>quite a bit of growth and a lot of enthusiasm.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, despite whatever the economy might be doing, people

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<v Speaker 2>still like to get out and have fun. Yeah, and I.

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<v Speaker 1>Noticed you have a couple of versions. There's one that's

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<v Speaker 1>I guess more of an easy going beginner product, and

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<v Speaker 1>you've got one that it's way more customizable. And do

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<v Speaker 1>people just get totally obsessed with it and end up

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<v Speaker 1>using all different kinds of wings and getting into you know,

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<v Speaker 1>different lengths of board. I mean, it seems it seems

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<v Speaker 1>like overwhelming when I first, you know, went on the website,

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<v Speaker 1>but then I started looking at YouTube videos of I guess,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, people that work with you explaining the differences,

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<v Speaker 1>and I can imagine just you totally get into it.

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<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, it's really not too complicated. We have a couple

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<v Speaker 2>different surfboard sizes that are kind of the platforms that

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<v Speaker 2>you'll use on the water. A larger board is going

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<v Speaker 2>to give you more stability, a smaller board is going

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<v Speaker 2>to have more maneuverability, excuse me. And then on the wings,

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<v Speaker 2>there's different sized wings for if you want a stable,

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<v Speaker 2>easier ride, or if you want a faster ride, you

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<v Speaker 2>can change the wing size just like an airplane. Right,

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<v Speaker 2>You're going to have different airplanes for different use case scenarios.

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<v Speaker 2>We can do that with hydrofoils.

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<v Speaker 1>Eight about eight grand or nine grand for the starter kit, right,

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<v Speaker 1>and then you can get up to thirteen or fourteen

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<v Speaker 1>thousand if you can figure it that way.

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<v Speaker 2>That's correct, about nine thousand dollars to get into it,

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<v Speaker 2>and you can build it up to fourteen thousand.

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<v Speaker 1>We hope you have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend and

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<v Speaker 1>get out there on the water. And I recommend people

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<v Speaker 1>to go to your website and check out the lift Foils.

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<v Speaker 1>It just looks like an amazing experience and I can't

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<v Speaker 1>wait to try one myself. Nick Lison, they are a

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<v Speaker 1>founder and CEO of lift Foils