Roberto's Ruminations

Land Rover Defender 90 - The Team

I drafted a short list of vendors in Denver, Colorado who have solid reputations and proceeded to tell each one of my plans restore Emma, the D90. I made my decisions based upon who had the knowledge, time, and people to get the project done in a timely manner.

For the motor replacement, I decided to use Land Rover Flatirons. I've known Ed Dobbs, the General Manager since he was a Land Rover Service Advisor and before he became a grand dad. It's been great knowing Ed all these years and I trust him and his team to make Emma purr.

In addition to the new motor, Land Rover Flatirons will deal with any leaking seals, and overhaul the air conditioning system. I anticipate there will be a bunch of little things like light bulbs, sensors, and hoses that will be replaced as needed.

The body repair and painting will be done by SVE Auto Body. Butch Powers, the owner, and his team have a reputation for meticulous workmanship and a deep knowledge of Land Rovers. It was also encouraging to see a Defender 110 in the shop going through a major overhaul. Butch and his team will be changing Emma's color from Alpine White to Zambezi Silver. They'll also be subletting work to Line-X Of Boulder for coatings on the tub, firewall, cabin, roof, and doors.

Emma's interior is getting a major face lift from Rich Lawrence at Award Auto Trim. Rich came highly recommended and his work is absolutely first rate. The interior treatment will include newly upholstered seats front and rear. The cushions will be recontoured to provide more bolstering in the seat and back. The carpet, padding, and headliner will also be replaced with upgraded materials. All interior door surfaces and roof line will be further insolated with Dynamat prior to the installation of a new sound system.

Fabrication and plating of parts will be done by Kip Valdez at Metalworks Performance. SVE recommended Kip as one of the best craftsmen they'd ever worked with and in my initial consultation it was clear he has a passion for this kind of project.  Metalworks will fabricate numerous pieces of protective plates as well as aftermarket accessories to enhance the off road capabilities of Emma.

Land Rover Defender 90 - What To Repair/Replace/Improve

My early research into the restoration of Emma indicated the sky's-the-limit in terms of what could be done and what it would cost. I established guidelines to keep the project focused and not go crazy on all the possibilities. The basic framework is:

1.  Keep Emma as close to original specifications as possible.
2.  Improve on the overall build and engineering quality - specifically a more powerful motor, better suspension, improved sound deadening & heat retention characteristics, more comfortable interior, and a few accessories that would get Emma anywhere I wanted to go.

With the general direction set, I planned on a 4-6 month time to completion. I would need to coordinate a team of vendors around ordering parts, scheduling work, ferrying Emma between workshops and minimizing dead time in between vendors. I've budgeted the whole project at $25,000 but expect this could be a low figure depending upon how much fabrication work might be needed. Many parts can be ordered from Atlantic British or Rovers North, others can be purchased in the UK, but the British Pound exchange rate to the US Dollar may make it cheaper to fabricate.

Here is the laundry list of work that will take place from mid-April into August or October:

1.  Replace motor with factory 4.6 liter V8 and Crower Cam.

2.  Reseal transfer case, replace all necessary seals, hoses, and miscellaneous components as needed.

3.  Upgrade all suspension components to Old Man Emu.

4.  Fabricate 5 bar diamond plate pieces for fender wing tops, hood center, rocker panels, lower quarter panels, ladder rungs, rock sliders, and rear step bumper.

5.  Add Mantec spare tire carrier to alleviate rear door loading.

6.  Refinish ARB bull bar and add mounting lugs for limb risers and Hi-Lift Jack.

7.  Line-X body tub interior, passenger compartment, fire wall, roof line, and all door interiors.

8.  Repair/Replace all corroded body panels, doors, and repaint in Zambezi Silver.

9.  Reupholster all seats with contrasting perforated leather, upgrade carpet pads and carpet, Dynamat interior of doors and roof line.

10.  Install Alpine Satellite Radio with iPod interface, new sub woofer, new speakers, and new amp.

Stay tuned for photos as Emma begins her overhaul. Next up the project teams.

Gutenberg Marathon

I've got a great view of the Rhine river from my room at the Hyatt in Mainz . The run along the river is very pretty and relaxing. It just so happens that today is the Gutenberg Marathon and the streets around the hotel will be closed for the majority of the day due to the race. If you are a marathon runner, this is one big party of a race and the spectators and enroute entertainment make it a pleasant 26.2 miles. Here's the web link for The Race, I think I'll be back next year to participate.

The Printed Word

As I develop today's blog entry, I have an even better appreciation for the word processing software and the incredible number of fonts available to me. I'm here in Mainz, Germany to visit with a serial entreprenuer friend of mine. During a relaxed Saturday, I happened on the Gutenberg Museum just past the main cathedral in downtown Mainz.

The museum is an enlightening place to see and appreicate the history of printing and typesetting. If you should ever find yourself in Mainz, a visit to the Gutenberg Museum  and the local famers market in the adjoining square is a fun way to spend your mid-morning in this picturesque town.

Dateline Honolulu, Hawaii

(Ukeleles strumming in the background) "...I want to go back to my little grass shack in Honolulu, Hawaii..." (well - maybe not the grass shack).

It's always nice to be back on the islands, the weather is perfect and the pace is a lot slower than the mainland. This first stop breaks up what is usually a long trip to Asia. I want to see family and friends before picking up the pace in Hong Kong.

A favorite uncle of mine just retired here and while there are lots of family members around the islands, he is one I needed to catch up with the most. So I used his new home near Pearl Harbor as a base for my few days on island, and headed into downtown Waikiki to visit with a friend and former investor in one of my previous companies.

Karl is part Portugese & Japanese and a full on Hawaii boy. His immediate and extended family have been on the island since ever since and he's been off the grid for a few years now, following the market meltdown of 2001-2002. I've known Karl since 1999 when he was with JPMorgan and then ABN-AMRO. He's been very busy building a home in downtown Honolulu as well as a really neat retirement home up toward the North Shore.

During our visit, we explored the ideas around the next "new thing" and very much resonated around the need for clean technology and how to bring them to market. I firmly believe that the growing demand for energy, especially in the large developing markets creates huge opportunities for renewable alternatives.

We shared a number of ideas around clean fuels (hydrogen, ethanol), biodegradable packaging (ala Earthshell products ), and clean generation technologies such as ocean thermal energy conversion. Karl's been doing a lot of thinking in this area during his hiatus from the finance world and we have a lot more ground to cover, but it was a great way to start my trip.

I forget how much I take for granted the infrastructure on the mainland, and it is certainly more noticable when you leave the continental US. Hawaii is more advanced than most island environments, but there is a higher occurance of rolling brown-outs and water outages. Some folks are already playing with in-home solar power generation systems, and having a substantial rain water cistern is pretty standard fare on the Big Island. I think Hawaii will be a regular stop on my future itinerary as I further explore the alternative renewalble energy sector.

Serendipitously, the National Renewable Energy Labs are located in Golden, Colorado. I've got a lot of homework to do when I get back in town.

Land Rover Defender 90 - A Bit Of History

I purchased my first Land Rover in late 1989. It was a very reliable Range Rover Classic in Colorado Silver Metallic. Over time, the stable included an Alpine White Range Rover LWB (Long Wheel Base) and an Alpine White 1994 Defender 90. I've found all my Land Rovers to be reliable and a lot of fun. They have all been driven off road in Colorado and throughout the Rocky Mountain states.

Given the extensive restoration effort on "Emma" I felt it would be worth sharing a bit of the rich history behind Land Rover, and specifically the Defender model. The company started making 4 wheel drive vehicles in 1948 beginning with the Series I to the left. The vehicle was simple to build and maintain. The Series I consisted of a steel box ladder chassis, an aluminum body, and leaf spring suspension. Production of the Series I, II, and III vehicles ran from 1948 until 1983 in varying configurations. If you want a more thorough treatment on the badge's history, check out Web Rover and make sure you cruise through the Model Photos.

Emma's story starts with the Defender model, which was introduced in 1983 and entered the US market in 1993/1994. It was the first time that the true Land Rover utilitarian vehicle was sold in the US since 1974. The Defender bears a strong resemblance to their Series ancestors and are hand built in Solihull, England.

The first Defenders to reach North America was the Defender 110. Only 500 of these vehicles were made and the link gives you a pretty good idea of their whereabouts. The 110 described the wheel base of the vehicle, and was fitted with a 3.9 liter V8 gas engine and a 5-speed manual transmission. Your color choice was white, white, or white. Though limited in colors, they sold quickly and finding one today will command a price between US$50,000-$90,000 depending on its condition.

In 1994, 1995, and 1997 Land Rover offered the Defender 90. The shorter wheel base while more  maneuverable also lacked the spacious interior of the 110. Both the 90 and 110 were underpowered and lacked that final bit of fit and finish that just would have made a world of difference in comfort. In 2007, the Defender is receiving a major set of upgrades primarily geared to fit, finish, and ammenities. It is unclear if it will make it to the United States.

Today, the Land Rover Defender plays a vital role in military applications world wide. It can be configured as a light attack vehicle or ambulance. It's narrow profile allows it passage in places where a HUMVEE would be too wide. It is a favorite of vehicle of bush country doctors and NGO teams that need tough and reliable transportation in developing nations. For many people, it is the first and only vehicle that they have ever seen.

Back On & In the Air

Spring has finally arrived, and it is a favorite time year for me. I decided to get back on the air after a long hiatus and share my newest adventure.

After 4 exciting years of guiding Newmerix from a nascent idea to a young company with products and customers, it was time to explore new horizons. The business is well positioned to get to its next stage of growth; a new round of financing is secured, customers are glad to share their success stories, and the pipeline of new prospects continues to grow. I'm excited for Newmerix' future, and looking forward to figuring out the next new thing too.

Not one to sit still too long, I completed my transition out of the business at the end of the first quarter, and began making arrangements to leave Denver just after the tax filing deadline on April 17th. The volume of inquires and curiosity of what I'd do next led me to pull together a 6 week journey that will take me around the world. I've committed to myself to create a good mix of recreation and "new thing meetings" during the trip. Whatever I decide, it will be a ton of fun and I expect will have an international flavor from the outset.

My travels take me westward with stops in Honolulu, Hong Kong, Guam, Sydney, Munich, Paris, London, and Washington, DC. Specific business meetings will likely require a few excursion trips to Tokyo, Singapore, and Bangkok. As the world continues to shrink, I'm psyched at the idea of seeing what opportunities are being cooked up in various parts of the globe.

Stay tuned, I'm back on and back in the air. Next report - date line Hawaii and the idea around renewable energy technology.

Land Rover Defender 90 Restoration - 1997 Model Year

On occasion, I have projects that take on a life of their own. They sometimes wreak havoc with my need for completion - in a reasonable period of time - and often make a bigger dent in my bank account then originally planned. This month I decided it was time to restore and enhance  my 1997 Land Rover Defender 90 aka "Emma".

Here's Emma in Moab, UT just after I ran the Moab Marathon. She looks pretty good in the photo, but on close inspection, there are things that need attention. Her suspension needs to be replaced, her motor works a lot harder than it use to (especially at Rocky Mountain elevations), and the lack of adequate sound proofing makes it hard to carry on a conversation. Oh - I almost forgot about the streams of water that invade during a hard or steady rain.

When I first began research on this project, it quickly became clear that the resources on the Internet were either too fragmented or non-existent.  I spent the better part of 3 months researching the different things that others have done to upgrade their Defenders. A good starting point is East Coast Rover, these folks have a great website and good general descriptions on their restoration projects. As Emma's restoration progresses, I'll share photos and background on what is being done with the motor replacement, suspension & drive train upgrades, exterior customizations, and interior improvements.

The work is fairly extensive, but these are rare and incredible vehicles that will take you anywhere you want to go. The work will improve upon the factory build, include a lot more craftsmanship and renew Emma's life at least 15 or more years.

Hiatus - Slow Down to Speed Up

6 Months - It went by rather quickly. I took a break from the blogsphere to focus on the various moving parts at Newmerix that demanded my attention. During my hiatus, the remainder of the management team was hired and the business went on to have a solid performing 1st quarter. Q2 is also looking very promising, and that's a much bigger target.

As I approach the end of the quarter, it's clear we're entering into that phase of demanding growth that requires scalability in our ability to hire great people and to scale our sales, engineering, and support processes.

Newmerix has been on such a tear since its founding, that it now needs to slow down (just a bit) in order to speed up and scale its operations. Hiring is our #1 effort as the job market in Boulder, CO is a low 4.9% against a national average of 5.1%. With such a tight market, it has been challenging finding good people with which to grow the business. To exacerbate matters, we're currently seeking 10 new staff members - which only makes the search process that much harder.

While the challenges of hiring are what they are, we now have more new customers and even more solid prospects. As with all growing startups the need to increase our "plant capacity" becomes even more acute as customers are added.

So, while slowing down to speed up sounds contradictory, it is a necessary pause in any business if you hope to move to the next level of growth. Just don't slow down too long!

It's About Customer Service, Stupid

I've been pretty slammed lately with all matter of activities around putting our Series B to good use. Between selecting recruiters, interviewing candidates, courting customers, looking for a new building, and putting together the infrastructure necessary to scale the business - there hasn't been much time for blogging.

Just this weekend, I've found satisfaction in the fact that over the past three weeks, we've extended offers to five very enthusiastic employees of the highest caliber in sales and engineering. As these new employees got started on their first few days, I have every confidence that they will take Newmerix to a new level of growth and innovation.

With all this positive feeling, I took it upon myself to improve a few more of the other less gratifying areas of my professional life.  One of these critical areas was my mobile phone provider. For some time now, I've been downright livid at the absolutely "shitty" customer service that I've experienced with my service provider - it was time to switch. Forget the fact that number portability has taken this long to be a reality, it appears that provisioning systems, sales, and billing still don't work within the confines of any of today's service providers.

I left AT&T Wireless/Cingular due to pathetic connections and even poorer billing practices. I think the quality of two cans connected with string is on par with my prior service. Also, when you're willing to pay someone good hard earned money but they can't seem to find a way to make the monthly recurring transaction stick it's really time to move on.

So I researched, read reviews, and elected to go to Sprint. I'll tell you that after 2 agonizing days of talking to customer service reps in the US and the Philippines, I may need to check into the funny farm. Sprint wasn't much better, and I suppose all of the other providers are really no different. I ordered a telephone of the highest end, but when it arrived, I could not unlock it. The last 4 digits of my SSN apparently did not register with whomever programmed the phone. Every other logical 4 digit combination was also not in this mystery person's psyche. So after numerous calls to Sprint Customer Service, I had to take the phone into a Sprint store for reprogramming.

My goodwill was quickly disappearing on Saturday when I was told at the first store that the phone was so new, no one knew how to reprogram the damn thing. It got worse when the pimply faced kid behind the counter at the next Sprint outlet tried to tell me I wasn't entering the password properly and proceeded to go through the same mind numbing drill I'd already tried on Friday evening.

Keeping a very long and ugly story short, I now have a working, high tech smartphone working. It was excruciatingly painful to get here, and I'm reminded that when buildng, running, and growing a business, "It's About Customer Service, Stupid"! Remember this, practice this, strive for this, and keep looking for ways to improve it. It is your best weapon in a customer unfriendly world.