Pros
1. Talented team of individuals. There have been some seriously talented executives, engineers, developers and geospatial experts walk through the doors at SkyX. 2. People come together to help out their teammates as and when needed. There is an “I got your back” attitude prevalent throughout the entire company. 3. The company facilitates knowledge sharing, so individuals always know what other teammates are working on. Questions are encouraged and peers are always willing to share knowledge and expertise when questions are asked.
Cons
1. Departments are languishing on zero, or near zero, dollar budgets. 2. The founder & CEO is not trustworthy, has zero integrity, is a poor leader, isn’t present in the company and struggles to truly collaborate with the team or direct reports. He has a bit of a lone wolf mentality, marches to the beat of his own drum, isn’t communicative, and struggles to leverage the strengths and knowledge of individuals in the company. He has made several promises to the team and individuals with regards to remuneration and has gone back on his word multiple times. He tells direct reports that he has faith in them to lead their departments, then he hires replacements or people above them shortly after. He trusts the feedback and perspectives of people external to the company more than he trusts his internal team that works day and night to make the company successful. 3. Flawed business model, i.e. very reliant on BVLOS for the business to thrive. This is arguably going to take at least 4 - 5 years for regulatory bodies (Transport Canada, FAA, other aviation authorities in different jurisdictions) to allow for the full integration of UAVs into commercial airspace. Also, long-range inspection or survey with UAVs is yet to be proven. 4. The company has gone through 3 major restructures in the last two years. In the last seven months the entire C-suite has been replaced, with the exception of the COO. The company gets restructured every eight months or so. If something is perceived to not be working, the go-to strategy is to restructure. Also, members of the team have been restructured out without a formal announcement being made to the company. 5. Major company decisions (vehicle development to marketing to business development) and strategies are based on appealing to investors and not what brings value to customers. A customer first culture doesn’t exist in SkyX. 6. Product was, and still is, an absolute mess. Product development is not aligned with market needs. With the exception of one individual, there is zero geospatial knowledge in the company and no real understanding of the kinds of insights and analysis needed, how customers will use and benefit from the data. Feedback from customers and experts on the team is often ignored initially.
