Thanos Smith Podcast Transcript
Thanos Smith joins host Brian Thomas on The Digital Executive Podcast.
Welcome to Coruzant Technologies, Home of The Digital Executive podcast.
Brian Thomas: Welcome to The Digital Executive. Today’s guest is Thanos Smith. Thanos Smith, a Jamaican born American citizen, is a visionary entrepreneur and inventor who built a motorless glider aircraft at just seven years old to later founding groundbreaking companies.
His passion for innovation and love for the planet are the driving forces behind his success. Throughout his career, Thanos has had multiple patents pending, issued, and founded several disruptive companies. Notably, Thanos pioneered and patented diversion chemical for enhancing oil and gas recovery that was licensed to a multi-billion valuation oilfield services company.
Additionally, he invented the collapsible four cup beverage carrier used nationwide by prominent brands and sports venues.
Well, good afternoon, Thanos. Welcome to the show!
Thanos Smith: Thank you for having me!
Brian Thomas: Absolutely. Love doing this brother. I appreciate it. Hailing out of Texas today. I’m in Kansas city. At least we’re in the same time zone, but sometimes traversing the globe can be challenging.
So, I’m just glad we’re here this evening together in the same time zone, and we’re going to have a good conversation. So, Thanos jumping into your first question. You built a motorless glider aircraft at just seven years old. How did that early experience shape your passion for innovation and how has it influenced your entrepreneurial journey?
Thanos Smith: Absolutely. It really shaped me from the standpoint that as a seven-year-old kid, as you can imagine, you’re limited by your knowledge base. So, it was more like a glider less aircraft, wide wingspan, short fuselage. I literally did not have flaps and ailerons on it, so it was really primitive and somewhat basic as far as I’m concerned, but it inspired my vision to, to really transform the transportation sector.
And I’ve used that as my basis within the Paragon universe, it’s our flagship, right? So, the aircraft is what we’re building towards. But in order to make it successful, we have to redesign, reinvent, re imagine how we build the components to make a successful VTOL aircraft that can be an alternative to regional airlines, not more, not like a intra city, intercity VTOL as the industry would like to position it due to the lithium battery limitations.
But something more in line with the regional transportation that can also function as an intracity aircraft.
Brian Thomas: That’s amazing. And I just love those stories. Generally speaking, first question in this podcast is kind of the backstory to the founder, the entrepreneur, the executive, where they started and the struggles they went through to get to where they were the just the vision in your case.
So, I appreciate that. Thanos, you’ve invented a range of products from the collapsible four cup beverage carrier to a patented chemical for oil and gas recovery. What drives your creativity and how do you identify opportunities for creating such disruptive innovations?
Thanos Smith: Sure. So, anything I’ve ever gotten involved in, I would say was actually an accident more so than the intentional mission.
The only thing that’s been intentional in my professional career is the Paragon universe. Everything else was really more of an accident that I kind of stumbled upon. It needed to be re imagined or reinvented. So, I guess in some ways you can say I did the same thing within the Paragon universe. I looked at, for example, electric vehicles, the price is too high.
I’m sorry, JD powers recently did a review of electric vehicles and said the average electric car, when you price it all out comes in around north of 40,000 for electric vehicle. And with the EV mandates for 2030, I think that is not attainable when the average American family doesn’t bring in as much as the car.
Secondly, is range anxiety, which is something that you will run into not only with the electric car, electric vehicle, but also with the electric VTOL aircraft. There is a range anxiety issue that’s being baked in. So, in order to change your perception or understanding of what that looks like, They’re selling it as a 20 to 25 mile per trip distance, and that’s only because when you’re talking about a heavy battery that it’s lithium based, it can go anywhere from 100 percent full charge to drop to 60 or 50 percent in the short time frame, the same thing with your cell phone or your laptop.
So, I had to really work on. Disrupting things along the way by coming up with solutions by partnerships, joint ventures, alliances and internal personnel to kind of retool the landscape, if you will.
Brian Thomas: Thank you and I think there’s a lot to still be discovered, innovative, created around the EVs. Honestly, I know the vision is there and I know the passion is there for some folks. But we have a long way to go in the space. There’s just too much there. And hopefully, with people like you, we can figure out what those barriers are and change those, you know, maybe, you know, the hydrogen car, right? That’s been talked about a lot lately as well. I mean, there’s a lot of different ways that we can kind of attack this challenge.
Thanos Smith: So, you know, what, if I may add to that, Brian This is something that I’m very passionate about, and this year, our plan is to unveil our electric vehicle that actually addresses a lot of those concerns, not only with the EV sector, but also the eVTOL sector. Our vehicle we’re rolling out this fall, we’ll be announcing that date probably around September, October, when we’re going to have the actual unveiling event.
But that vehicle is based on technology that we’ve been working with for the last couple of years, a different type of battery that I call the opulentas that fast charges in less than six minutes. We have literally tens of thousands of cycles on that battery currently at a 99 percent recharge rate during that short time frame.
And what I like to say is, in addition to that, the cost, we’re able to get the cost down substantially on the vehicle because the battery is a huge driver in the cost for the electric vehicle, which really makes it difficult for the traditional OEMs to make a profit. I recently read that for every vehicle they roll off the assembly line, they’re actually losing about 20,000 dollars or more.
I mean, that is not profitable and they’re trying to get to sustainability and commercial viability. I’m not sure how you do that when you got to shave off 20, 000 plus, it’s really a tough sell. And so, our vehicle addresses those in addition to the range will be substantially longer than anything out there.
Currently in the U. S. I’ve seen longer ranges outside and well, they’re speculating in the Asian marketplace, but we haven’t you don’t see that here in the United States. So, and last, but not least, our battery recharges using a standard 1/10 or so power bolt your standard wall jack. With 100 amps behind it, which is pretty basic in an average home, so that addresses the infrastructure issue that you see currently that you have to go to a supercharger and sit around for 30 minutes or more.
I mean, that’s just absolutely. It’s just not ideal. So, our vehicle is going to do that for under, under 30,000 after you apply your rebates and so forth. So pretty excited about that because that is the precursor to what our aircraft will be capable of doing in some of our strengths.
Brian Thomas: Good to hear. And I appreciate some of those updates that we generally don’t hear that in the mainstream news.
So, I appreciate that. And Thanos being recognized as one of the USA today’s top 20 entrepreneurs building empires is a significant achievement. How has this recognition affected your career and what do you hope your legacy will be in the field of innovation?
Thanos Smith: You know, I’m not really sure, Brian, I, I tried to avoid people at all costs.
I stay. Really in the R and D process in the development process in the business building to receive acknowledgements from USA today or Caribbean heritage awards are it’s just a, I am grateful for the recognition. But at the same time, I think my main focus is delivering on what they are acknowledging me for.
Which are roads that can wirelessly charge your vehicle while driving in the partnership that I have with the Texas Department of Transportation and the University of Texas in Austin. So, I mean, things like that are truly important and roads that can actually melt or prevent ice. From accumulating on the surface area with other organizations and that comes in handy to reduce or eliminate snow plows, ice removal services, salt, which can also damage and create potholes on asphalt.
So, I think we’re really in a unique space because these things are going to be applied to defrost or prevent ice in their aircraft and in our vehicles, make it stronger, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Brian Thomas: That’s awesome. I know you were probably half joking about being around people. We get it. You’d rather probably be focused in the design room with the engineers, which is totally respectable.
So, so thank you. And I appreciate some of those updates and then I was last question of the evening with multi-billion dollar commitment secured for the Paragon universe. What’s next on the horizon? Can you share any upcoming projects or initiatives that you’re particularly excited about?
Thanos Smith: Sure. Well, number one is we’ll be working with an extremely successful commercial residential builder.
That will be announced shortly, so I can’t really jump ahead, but it’ll be within the next week or two. But that is to build use our material to build homes of future 21st century homes that can withstand 200 mile per hour windstorms like a hurricane. I think a category 5 is less than 180 miles per hour.
So, using our material give basic gives it incredible strength. It can handle has a high yield for earthquakes. It applies the principles that Nikola Tesla was working on to use zero-point energy, which will be using in our cars and in our aircraft and these homes will be affordable. We’re really focusing on that affordable housing initiative.
That addresses our nation, a national shortage that is already a problem. So that’ll be a that’s the project that we’ll be doing in the tens of thousands of homes per year over a 10-year period. So, I’m very excited about that. And last, but not least within that package, each homeowner will have the ability to incorporate purchasing 1 of my vehicles as well.
To kind of create an arbitrage of energy between the house and the vehicle, one charges the other and vice versa. So you’ll be able to reduce your cost of living.
Brian Thomas: That’s amazing. Affordability is obviously a challenge right now. The last few years has just been horrible. I’ve talked to a ton of people on the podcast and people.
In my community and it’s, it’s, it’s a real struggle. So, I’m glad that you’re focused on, on helping people out in your community, in your country. I do appreciate that, Thanos. And Thanos, It was such a pleasure having you on today and I look forward to speaking with you real soon.
Thanos Smith: Likewise. Thank you again.
Brian Thomas: Bye for now.
Thanos Smith Podcast Transcript. Listen to the audio on the guest’s podcast page.
