Sam Ker’s journey into aerospace innovation began long before founding Unlimited Design Works. As a young boy, he spent hours doodling aircraft in his scrapbook, imagining endless possibilities. These early dreams sparked a lifelong passion for aerospace engineering. He soon discovered a talent for creating conceptual designs that could revolutionize the industry, which required balancing work and wellness in startups.
In this candid interview, Sam shares the serendipitous events that inspired his journey. He discusses the technical and personal challenges he faced and the determination that keeps him moving forward. For entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts, Sam’s story provides a rare glimpse into a founder’s mind, one who isn’t just building a company but reimagining what’s possible in aerospace.
From Early Dreams to Leading a Business
Q: Were there any serendipitous encounters or events that inspired your idea?
A: It started early for me. I began doodling aircraft in a scrapbook at just 5 years old. I visualized all the different things I could do with an aircraft. After topping my class in a repeat of my GCEs, I explored aerospace engineering. I soon realized I could easily develop conceptual designs, even in competitive environments. This led to my final year project in 2007, where I worked alone on a vehicle that could travel in all mediums. During this project, I discovered the proprietary architecture required for such vehicles.
Q: What technical hurdles or limitations did you face in developing your product?
A: As I continued my research after graduation, I realized that the aircraft’s structural design required a PhD in impact analysis. This made me realize the scale of the undertaking I was facing. I then looked for the next closest vehicle I could develop. This led me to explore cars as the next viable platform. Much later, my mentor confirmed that this approach was correct. He explained that components in automotive transmission systems are identical or similar to those in helicopters.
Q: What factors influenced your decision to seek investor funding or bootstrap your startup?
A: The clear answer was that I wasn’t born rich or in an environment that allowed me to research full-time. As such, I’ve decided to focus on design as I studied part-time while working full-time as an undergrad in aerospace systems. The biggest challenge came right after graduating from my undergrad – I was offered my master’s in aircraft design from Cranfield University, which was an opportunity too good to miss, and I went all out, from taking bank loans and even doing crowdfunding on a blog to show the progressions that I’ve done. This experience emphasized the importance of balancing work and wellness in startups.
With this experience, I’ve learned to put it forward to prove my capabilities, which the building of an anti-collision prototype using LiDAR got me my first angel investment funding in 2019 on inception.
Q: What was your experience like pitching to investors and handling rejections or feedback?
A: Rejections were common back then and hit hard at times. I was told at the finals of a startup competition in 2013 that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, and also an industry veteran that I was born at the wrong time because no wars are happening in the world, which probably is unfortunate of me to see so many happening now.
Q: How did you learn about and ensure compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements?
A: I learned about design requirements when I had to certify my previous company in a production program for business aircraft seats. I had to work on a primary crash course, despite my experience in quality assurance. Getting our company approved for production was a significant achievement. During this process, I discovered that aircraft design follows specific certification standards. I realized it’s much easier to certify an aircraft designed based on those standards.
Q: How have you dealt with legal, intellectual property, or regulatory challenges?
A: In this aspect, I’m very lucky, as I have met very well-established legal professionals who supported my cause. They managed to file for our PCT patent with ease despite having major challenges in validating it. Also, the regulators have been really supportive of our aspirations, but with limitations, we will need to build a certified experimental prototype to commence flight trials.
Q: How has your startup disrupted or transformed your industry?
A: While we are still building the full-scale prototype, we are already seeing the impact of our work. The main challenge for aerospace hardware startups is developing the energy and component supply chain. We have managed to solve this by creating a platform that can adopt automotive supply chains. By making our vehicle energy-agnostic, we avoid restricting our market size due to energy source availability.
Q: As a founder, can you share a story about dealing with stress, anxiety, or burnout?
A: It was quite recently when I was working on implementing a new design. I ended up spending sleepless nights to the point where I couldn’t think properly. I was really thankful that a close friend saw that and snapped me out of it and told me to take a break from what I was working on. This is a clear instance of balancing work and wellness in startups.
But that said, stress and anxiety have been really common throughout my life as I’ve started my career studying part-time while working as an aircraft repair technician, and I was also working part-time while studying full-time when I was in the UK.
Q: What strategies do you use to prioritize self-care, wellness, and mental health as a founder?
A: Being a night owl, my focus period is in the middle of the night, so I often ensure I have sufficient sleep to get going. Late nights often mean that my body tends to be very dehydrated, so I take breaks when I realize that my water consumption gets too high for comfort.
But mental health has to be balanced on a tight rope. I’m thankful that I’m aware of my safety mechanisms, which, thankfully, are in the lanes of exercise. Thus, when I get too cloudy in the head, I tend to go for long jogs to clear it up. These jogs help immensely in balancing work and wellness in startups.
Sam Ker’s Guide to Navigating the Challenges
Sam Ker’s journey with Unlimited Design Works is one of vision, grit, and resilience. Despite doubts, technical hurdles, and sleepless nights, his passion for innovation drives him forward.
Sam’s story reminds us that startup success isn’t just about a great idea—it’s about overcoming obstacles like funding and regulatory challenges. His emphasis on self-care and mental wellness in this relentless pursuit, indicative of balancing work and wellness in startups, is a powerful lesson for entrepreneurs. Let his journey inspire you, showing that the path to success is challenging but holds the potential for significant impact.
Read the Chinese version here.
