Today we’d like to introduce you to Gene Avakyan.
Hi Gene, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story really begins at UCLA, where I became a Rocket Scientist by virtue of earning a degree in Aerospace Engineering. After years in the tech field, working for dot-coms and government agencies, I found myself in Miami, the land of opportunity, and this after 35 years lived in California. Around this time, I co-founded my primary company, VUGA Enterprises (https://vugaenterprises.com), with my business and life partner, Victoria Unikel (https://victoriaunikel.com). After being the CTO of an investment fund and a real estate company, I co-founded 24Fashion Television (https://24fashion.tv) with Victoria Unikel and built this company up into a functioning media business broadcasting on Roku TV and Amazon Fire TV.
During this time, I also began consulting for the Federal Aviation Administration, which rekindled my love of all things aviation that started many years ago, even before my stint at UCLA. Wanting to make my lifetime passion into a business, I recognized that one segment of aviation was very underdeveloped and could be revolutionized with a little creative application of modern technology.
Agricultural aviation, mainly what the layman described as ‘crop dusting’ has not changed meaningfully in the last 100 years. To this day, human pilots brave a very dangerous vocation that requires precision and planning and does not forgive. Every year up to 10 pilots are killed flying aerial application missions in the US. This seemed like the perfect industry for a high-tech disruption. The only requirement I have for disrupting an industry, however, is that I make the people in that industry better off than they were before, not replace them with automation.
The result of this, and my newest business, is Edison Aerospace LLC (https://edison.aero). I cannot speak in too great a detail on this subject yet, as we are in the midst of some sensitive negotiations, but this will be the culmination of my career and an industry-changing venture.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have been fortunate in life, and nothing good happens without at least a little bit of luck, but I do come from humble beginnings in a place far far away from the US. I immigrated to the United States when I was nine years old, coming here with zero English and not knowing a single soul around me when I landed in elementary school. The biggest struggle I can recall was my initial integration into California society and picking up the language. Later in life, my biggest challenge was getting good grades in high school and UCLA, and I had my ups and downs. If I could go back to talk to my 18-year self or give some advice to other 18-year-olds today, it would be to learn to make their own choices, not flowing along and not caring too much about things that do not contribute to their future.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Edison Aerospace LLC?
Although my first passion in life was flying and all things having to do with airplanes, I was lucky to grow up at the time when the first personal computers and the Internet were born. This ignited a passion in me to build a successful career in systems and software. I worked for a lot of interesting companies and organizations – TrueCar, Spark Networks, Deutsch Advertising, Los Angeles City Attorney’s and Mayor’s offices, and now the Federal Aviation Administration. The common thread among these positions that spanned 25 years was the development of giant-scale information systems. This career has been very lucrative and rewarding.
On the business side, and in parallel to some of the above positions, I have started several businesses along the way. From a business developing custom software for legal practices to a service business for legal practices and a mobile retail apparel business that served medical professionals, I followed a pattern that recognized a need and organized resources to address and serve that need – to find a way to create revenues by helping solve problems.
My most recent business, Edison Aerospace LLC (https://edison.aero), is concentrating on developing electric aircraft for specific and narrowly-targeted business requirements. We aim to fill the niches that exist in industries that have not been addressed by anyone to fixing problems that others have not noticed yet.
To this end, our first project is to develop an electric aircraft that will replace turbine and piston agricultural aircraft performing aerial application duties (‘crop dusting’ in layman terms). We are in the R&D stages at this time as we bring our first model to market, and we plan to begin sales in May of 2023. This is by far the most challenging and satisfying business that I have had the pleasure to participate in and I cannot wait to reach our target customers with a safer, cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient solution to the problems they face every single day!
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I have set a very ambitious goal of replacing all internal combustions agricultural aircraft with electric alternatives within ten years. This may seem absurd at first glance, but I will remind you that Elon Musk was ridiculed in 2008 for his predictions and plans, yet he sold about a million cars in 2021. My goal is achievable and it is good for the industry, for food production, and ultimately for every single one of us. My goal is to save 125,000,000 gallons of fossil fuel and many pilots’ lives annually and make aerial application more precise and efficient, yielding more and better crops for the farmers.
Contact Info:
- Email: gene@edison.aero
- Website: https://edison.aero
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneavakyan/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gene.avakyan
