Millennial entrepreneur Abby Speicher of Scranton, Pennsylvania pitched her business DARTdrones on Shark Tank in February. DARTdrones doesn’t manufacture drones like xCraft which got a 5-shark investment on Shark Tank in 2015, but it provides drone pilot training to individuals, companies and government agencies. On Shark Tank, she made a deal with tech billionaire Mark Cuban — $300,000 for 15 percent of the company (exactly what she asked for).
Since Shark Tank, DARTdrones has been developing new workshops including its Drone Journalism Workshop to teach journalists how to become unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) pilots and “how to secure the necessary waivers to cover newsworthy events.” Speicher told Unmanned Aerial, “What I see as the most important topic for new drone journalists is fully understanding go/no-go decision-making.” She explained, “Every drone flight has different risks, and with journalism, you often only have one chance to get the shot. I see our new Drone Journalism Workshop as a specialized way to fully inform journalists about the capabilities of drones and more importantly, knowing when not to fly.” The Drone Journalism Workshop (3-day course, $2240) will be held Sept. 15-17 in Paramus, N.J.; October 6-8 in Chicago; and November 3-5 in Austin, Texas.
