AV News: George Matus Profile

Kendall Mark visits Mr. TEAL himself, George Matus, at his brand new office in Salt Lake City! Hear all about where George Matus got his entrepreneurial drive and how he takes care of business in the highly competitive drone market at just 19 years old. Will the upcoming release of his TEAL drone live up to expectations? VIDEO TRANSCRIPTS: Kendall Mark: It's not every day that you hear about a teenager with millions of dollars at their fingertips. No, we're not talking about a movie star in LA or a country singer in Nashville. We're talking about a teenager here in Utah, who's new technology is one of the most highly anticipated drones coming this summer. This unassuming office building in Salt Lake City is where Teal CEO, George Matus, is setting out to follow his dream, sharing his love of flight [00:00:30] with the world. George Matus: This is our main room when you walk into the office and, welcome, by the way. Kendall Mark: Thank you. George Matus: We just moved in here about two weeks ago, so we're still getting furniture set up. Kendall Mark: This is kind of like the smiley face. George Matus: Yeah, exactly. Kendall Mark: This is the front of the company. George Matus: This is the civilized side of the company with software and project management and marketing. Then, we've got the harder guys on the other side. They can go crazy. Kendall Mark: They go crazy? Is that what you're- George Matus: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Sam Weiss: George is great. He definitely has a vision of where he wants to take Teal. That's very clear in his head and we're headed there. [00:01:00] Every now and then, the 18-year-old or 19-year-old comes out in him but he's fun and he's got a good business mind about him. Kendall Mark: Now, I have to see these cups that are on your desk. George Matus: That was around Christmas time. Kendall Mark: Which do you prefer? Hannah Montana or World's Best Boss. George Matus: Seth and I are big "Office" fans, the TV show, so he got that cup around Christmas time, which I love. Then, Bob, I made the mistake of telling that I went to a [00:01:30] Hannah Montana concert when I was 10 years old. Kendall Mark: Because she was a babe back then. George Matus: Oh, he's laughing. Kendall Mark: Because she's the babe. George Matus: Yeah, exactly. So, he got me a Hannah Montana cup and it's awesome. Kendall Mark: That's just great. George ha a few things in common with his childhood crush, Miley Cyrus. They both had big dreams at a young age and Dads who could help them navigate the industry. George Matus: He's been an entrepreneur for a long time and he's definitely been an inspiration and me, wanting to start up my own thing and start a business. Kendall Mark: That's where the bug comes from. George Matus: Yeah. Kendall Mark: The entrepreneurship bug. George Matus: Yeah. I mean, I think I've always had that [00:02:00] in addition to this passion of flight. But, when I was about 11 years old, I was doing a chocolate stand, a lemonade stand. In the winter, I had this full hot chocolate stand with marshmallows and hot chocolate and donuts and this guy drives up and he's like, "I want to buy your entire stand. I work with your Dad, so drive with me to my office, take all the stuff and I'll give you $60." I'm like, "This is awesome." So I don't even ask my parents, I jump in the car with him. Turns out he actually did work with my Dad. Kendall Mark: Oh my word. I was like, "This could go so bad." George Matus: I sold [00:02:30] my entire stand. I got $60 from that. I was ecstatic and then got grounded for two months after that. George Matus Sr: He did everything you're not supposed to do. He went missing. We didn't know where he was. Kendall Mark: Although excited about entrepreneurship, George Sr. says it's always been about love of flight for his son. George Matus Sr: I think he was flying since he was two months old. We saw him flying at a really early age. It didn't make sense that there was smoke coming out of the basement. He was 10 years old and I go down there and he's soldering stuff. He's got a soldering mask [00:03:00] on. Kendall Mark: How do you even know how to do that? George Matus Sr: How do you even know how to do this? 12 midnight, 1AM, 2AM, I'll just put a sandwich there on the doorstep right. I spent probably half of my life in Home Depot with George just buying equipment and stuff. Kendall Mark: His Dad says that by the age of 11, George was test flying RC helicopters for companies. By 14, he had built a drone that exceeded 100 miles per hour. At 16, he had built a small drone with a computer on board, the original Teal, and was [00:03:30] presenting at Stanford University, alongside Google and Apple. George Matus Sr: That was a really, really neat thing. That really helped kickstart George's dreams and helped take things to another level. Kendall Mark: By the end of 2015, George had raised $2.8 million in seed funding. George Matus: No. I mean, it's funny because I walked into this meetings with races with no driver's license. My Dad was driving me around. I was a junior in high school and I was asking for millions of dollars. Kendall Mark: Right. George Matus: Once I started talking about the potential and my passion [00:04:00] and what I've done so far, I felt I was taken seriously and people considered it. Kendall Mark: A few months later, he was able to close his first serious round of funding. COO, Billy McGuire was George's first hire. The father of five was willing to leave stability and hop on board with the teenager's vision. Billy McGuire: At the time, George had some thesis of where he wanted to go with it but really, it was George. It was meeting him, talking to him and feeling his enthusiasm and being able to say, "You know what? [00:04:30] I think this guy's got something. I think that jumping on board with him, he's going to do something incredible and do something great." So, it was really him because at the time, there wasn't a product really to latch onto. It was just George. Kendall Mark: Now, George has around 20 full-time employees. Does that ever weigh on you because not a lot of 19-year-olds, I would say, 97, 90, no, 99% of 19-year-olds don't have to worry about that? George Matus: Yeah. Well, I mean, I think it's [00:05:00] a little bit of two different things. One is perspective. I graduated from high school now and so this is normal. It doesn't feel- Kendall Mark: Normal. George Matus: Unusual anymore. Well, I mean working at a startup and going through this entire process. But I think the second half of it is, being thrust into the situation without much time to reflect or think about what's happening but just always looking forward into what needs to happen to stay alive. Kendall Mark: [00:05:30] I like that you think this is normal. I'm like, "Whoa, gosh. I mean, I went to college and then was like, ugh, I don't know what I want to do with my life," and you've had this one track vision since you were 15 or 16 years old. I would say that would make you a pretty humble person. Have you heard that before? George Matus: No. Thank you. I mean, yeah. But, I mean, I try my best and this has just been the most exciting journey. You mentioned college. I graduated from high school but because of that Thiel Fellowship, [00:06:00] they're an advocate of this motto that some ideas just can't wait. So, instead of going to college and working to get a degree, why not spend that time getting actual real world experience and building a project, building a company and getting out there. That was a big motivator in deferring college for a little bit. I think I might still go. But for now, it's just Teal full steam ahead. Kendall Mark: While Teal is George's passion and full-time job, he still finds time to be a teenager by hanging out with his little [00:06:30] brother and playing a round of tennis here or there. George Matus: Before I found this hobby, I was destined to be a professional tennis player. Kendall Mark: What? George Matus: No, so my Dad played on the tour. He was a fantastic tennis player. He still is. Kendall Mark: When talking to George, you can't help but wonder what's next. He's already accomplished much in such a short time frame. George Matus: I've always said that this is a marathon for me and not necessarily, sprint. I mean, I'm, right now, assuming that this is going to go [00:07:00] on forever. Kendall Mark: In Salt Lake City for AirVuz News, I'm Kendall Mark.