whether he’s birthing a new company to life. That last scenario was Siebert’s next goal: he set out to replace his former business blemish with a win. “A buddy in Germany called to talk me into setting up another software company as the Internet stuff had really recovered. I decided that since I had accumulated over 5,000 flight hours, I could leave flying for a while and go back to technology.”
Actually, when he returned to Berlin, Siebert didn’t entirely leave flying. Instead he achieved what he deems his greatest professional accomplishment: he finally climbed into that ADAC pilot seat he coveted as a teen three decades earlier. Then, for his new software startup, Siebert began calling people he knew in the rotorcraft industry and asking them how the newly introduced iPad could help them. Most wanted to get rid of all the daily logs/ journals/weight and balance/performance calculations paperwork, and stop hauling all that tree pulp from the cockpit to the office to do more paperwork there. Siebert and his team got to work and came up with a solution. “We created one streamlined technology process that works all the way from the aircraft to the back office and vice versa. We started prototyping the app and had the first production version ready around 2013.” They first fielded it in Germany with ADAC. “ADAC Luftrettung has been very supportive throughout my career, allowing me to work part-time and focus on my company. They are a fantastic company to fly for. They are a major player in Europe, and they are extremely safety-oriented.” Not many people have their employer as their customer, but Siebert’s career is a rare one. “I’m very lucky that I was able to combine my two career passions, aviation and interface design,” Siebert says. “Not many people can say that they pursue two passions in their work. I think that passion shows in our app.”
Siebert sees his setup as benefiting not only product design, but also HeliEFB’s credibility. “It makes all the difference, owning a company that caters to the industry that I still fly in. When I talk to the director of operations of a sales prospect and they have a question, I can answer them from my being in the field flying. I know what I’m talking about from experience in the industry, and I don’t come across like a typical used car salesman.”
While it sounds like Siebert might be a challenging customer for a used car lot, he’d actually be a pushover for a special recreational vehicle. “One of my dreams is to get an expedition truck (like the EarthRoamer) that’s capable of going anywhere with solar power and water desalinization. I could roam the world for a few years and still be able to work from a laptop as long as I had an Internet link.”
The wanderlust wannabe craves adventure. In addition to his love for SCUBA diving (the Red Sea is a favorite spot), he gets his terra-firma fix by canyoneering. “It’s awesome. You climb up the mountain then rope down along waterfalls and navigate the natural terrain. It’s the most beautiful scenery.”
Yet, it’s not all risky action and adventure for Siebert. He also likes to travel between the covers of a good book. He just finished the bestselling novel The Kite Runner and recommends Brent Schlender’s Becoming Steve Jobs, as well as the bio Elon
18 May/June 2019
Musk: Tesla, Space X, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. Siebert feeds off the unwavering commitment of these past and present entrepreneurs as he plots a fantastic future for his own company. “What our products do is needed by the market. I see our technology lasting for the next 10 years or so, until the next big shift comes around. Yes, drones may take over one or two functions currently performed by manned flight, but I don’t see a drone in the foreseeable future safely doing every day what I fly in the Berlin air ambulance market. There’s just no way a drone replaces that type of manned flight. I’m not too concerned about drones taking over, but from a pilot’s point of view, drones are getting more dangerous. The near misses are not good.” In response, he believes his company’s app enables a semi-solution. It’s part of HeliEFB’s one-two punch: “One, we are making flying safer by increasing situational awareness of the flight crews. Two, we help operators enhance their flight operations and business processes through automation. For a large operator, if you just shave off 10% to 20% of the daily workload of 300 helicopter crews, that makes a big difference.”
Siebert is making a difference because he is different. With teen dreams and adult work, he climbed to reach his goal of becoming an ADAC air ambulance pilot in Berlin. But he wasn’t content to stay at career cruising altitude. In midflight, with teamwork, he launched a company that lifted him to a greater view so he could serve those cruising at average altitude. The Red Baron garnered his medals, and another German airman, in more ways than one, proved his mettle.
Whether you think you can or whether you think you cannot — you’re right.”
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