This week's inspirer Richard Tejme is an investor, board professional and advisor with several exciting assignments, including Mindler, Myrspoven and Copture. Copture is a Nordic network of professional pilots and analysts who currently perform remote sensing with drones where Richard helps with business development and strategy.

Richard, can you tell us a bit more about Copture's business? Customers, business model etc?

Copture is a company that performs remote sensing with drones for industrial customers. The business idea is to improve our customers' decision-making basis by smoothly delivering data in the format the customer wants without disrupting existing processes.

Right now we have most assignments in the forest industry and as an example, last year we inventoried 50,000 hectares of forest for one of the Nordic region's largest forestry companies in order to identify and map infestations of spruce bark beetle. In addition to the self-data collection, we have forestry trained interpreters who analyze the images and the end result is a detailed damage analysis that is exported to the customer's business system.  

Other examples of assignments in the forest industry are inventories of newly planted forests, thinning analyses and wildlife inventories.

The need for drones has accelerated in recent years as the technology has matured and legislation has been put in place. What do you see as the future uses of drones?

As you say, there is an incredible amount happening now in the drone industry as both today's hardware and software offer opportunities that have not previously existed. The image quality of today's drone cameras is fantastic and in addition to high-resolution images, we also use thermal cameras and LIDAR technology. We also work with several AI companies that automate the image analysis itself.

More and more companies are using drone technology to streamline and improve their processes. One example is the inspection of power lines, which used to be done by helicopter. This is now being replaced by drones, which, in addition to lower costs and higher image quality, are also more environmentally friendly and less disruptive to people and wildlife.

Other assignments we have are inspection of telecom masts and solar parks.

Based on your experience as an advisor, can you give some solid advice to entrepreneurs in startups?

A good business idea is the foundation, but it is the actual implementation that determines which start-ups succeed. Therefore, the composition of the team is incredibly important. Make sure to have different skills and backgrounds among the founders and try to identify the skills gaps and fill them with the help of advisors and board members.

When I have worked with companies in different industries, there are certain issues and themes that almost always recur. To name two:

Focus, focus, focus. Starting a business is a lot about opting out. Entrepreneurs are great at seeing opportunities but a common reason why companies don't take off or even go under is that you try to do too many things at once. Identify the product/service you believe in most and focus and develop it. If that doesn't work, rethink, pivot and focus on the new idea.

What do the various founders want for the company in the long term and is this in sync with the board and investors? Sooner or later, there will be friction between the company's various stakeholders and this is basically inevitable. But by having a serious discussion early in the process and documenting this, you can avoid a lot of future pain and capital destruction.

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