News
Inventor rolls dice on radio device
Andrew A. Duffy, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, July 14, 2007
 Larry
Cole is sitting at the most important poker table of his life. And he's all-in
with what he believes to be a pair of aces.
The Texas Hold-Em metaphor suits Cole, president of Madesco Technologies, and
it fits the scenario as Cole has mortgaged everything, borrowed heavily and
is hoping to land financing to finally get his product to market.
Cole hopes a theory and a rough alpha model behind a communications device
will translate into practice and a beta version that can be used in the field.
Madesco has developed TeamComms™, a device
that Cole says will fill in the communication gaps experienced by police, fire
and rescue and coast guard staff. He also claims it will become an invaluable
tool for several professions, including security forces, military, construction
crews or anyone who needs reliable two-way communication.
It's a hands-free communications tool allowing a team to talk to each other
without having to press buttons or having the signal bounced from one repeater
to another. That means it's always on. Everyone on that team can talk and listen
at all times. And within a quarter-mile radius, there's no dead spots.
The concept, which requires no base command and keeps people off the frequency
used by a central control unit, is designed to work in concert and to complement
command-and-control communications equipment, like the CREST program used by
Victoria police.
The only problem is the device doesn't exist yet. It lurks amid an inch of
paper detailing its genesis, how it will work and proof it will succeed.
The plans represent an estimated $500,000 in cash that's been spent on engineering,
design and specifications to ensure the company was building the right tool.
Cole needs another $400,000 to actually build a usable device he can hand to
a police force to determine what modifications are necessary for comfort and
feel, and another $500,000 to ready the product for market.
Cole admits he may have gone about this the hard way, but defends the company
strategy.
"It's hard to do without a prototype, but we were caught between a rock
and a hard place," Cole said. "We could have had a prototype but who's
to say it would have been the right one and may not have any market pull. Instead
we did all the homework and now hope to get pulled into the market. We know
the end users want it, so why is it so hard to get financing?" he asked.
Timing may be on his side.
David Raffa, chief operating officer and investment manager of B.C. Advantage
Funds, a venture capital firm which specializes in small high-tech companies
(and the first institutional investor to step up when Victoria-based Aspreva
Pharmaceutical Corp. needed financing), said the investment climate is sunny.
"If you are starting a tech company today it's a good time to go out and
look for angel money and venture money because there is a lot of it around ...
the angels who put their pocketbooks away when the tech market melted are all
back out in full force right now," he said.
But those investors won't just hand money out willy nilly. Raffa said it comes
down to meeting some simple criteria: Good people, big market opportunity, market
pull and if the technology can be protected. Just coming up with a neat gadget
is also not enough.
"Cool is not a business model. The fact you have invented something cool
may be fun for tech people, but that's a very different thing from whether or
not people really need it," he said, noting he always looks for strong
market pull where companies tell him if he can build that product today they
will buy it tomorrow.
Madesco Tech has already made some of the right moves. The company has been
accepted by the federal Scientific Research and Development program, a tax incentive
program for companies who are advancing technology, and by the U.S. Department
of Defence FirstLink program, which will facilitate getting the technology in
front of first responder and military clients in the U.S.
Cole has also been meeting with the decision makers at some of the country's
largest telecommunications companies.
"One of the problems when you are like us and need help is you have to
show some underwear ... show people what you're doing," he said.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007
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