ExWeb interview with expedition tech guru Tom Sjogren, "doing and knowing is what separates us most"
Tom giving tech support to future Everest summiteer in snowstorm at a Colorado mountain pass.
...to UK Navy rowers in a New Jersey marina.
... to Dutch rowers on top of ExWeb's NYC office roof.
...to an astronaut at NASA in Huston for an upcoming meteor hunt mission.
You've seen this picture at ExWeb many times: it's actually Tom descending Everest icefall.
Tom pulling a sled in an unsupported North Pole expedition.
"Um, let me see...macro economics, or..." Tom jumped a fancy school and prestigious future. Devastated, his mother rightly blamed the bride. Image of Tina crossing the Atlantic with Tom on their old coastal cruiser Santa Maria. (Click all images to enlarge).
09:16 pm CST Feb 11, 2009
(HumanEdgeTech.com) "Hey Tom I read about you in so-and-so and had no idea you were so accomplished?" This frequent comment from his clients makes evident the little noise Thomas Sjogren drums up about his own expeditions.
Instead of media pitches and public speeches, Tom has put his experience to use in an entirely different field; expedition technology.
You would be hard pressed to find anyone with his skill in the business: Everest summit in his own expedition, North- and South poles back to back and unsupported, uncrewed ocean crossings in an old coastal cruiser, jungle treks and other world walkabouts (with our without permits) spanning 30 years.
The self-made man has founded a number of businesses, and is currently busy building his latest ventures - HumanEdgeTech and ExplorersWeb - not to mention a rocket to Mars. Here goes ExWeb's interview with the low-key adventurer/entrepreneur/tech guru:
ExWeb: You're having a 10 year anniversary this year: You've been involved in expedition tech since 1999 (when you built the first WiFi stations on Everest). What has been your coolest project yet?
Tom: The ultra-light package solutions. It still blows me away that you can update text, images and even video live from the summit of Everest from equipment that totals 1 lb.
(Ed note: Tom and Tina pioneered the system on their own expeditions and named it Contact in a tribute to Carl Sagan).
ExWeb: When did your own expedition tech projects turn into a business and why?
Tom: Pure accident. After seeing how media abused Everest in 1996 (the year of Into Thin Air) we felt an urge to show what actually went on there. Live and uncensored publishing to a growing internet seemed the perfect solution. Following our North Pole unsupported expedition friends started to ask if we could help them with software and hardware and it just evolved from there.
ExWeb: Who is "team HET" - how many people are involved?
Tom: We are 5-6 people on a permanent basis in ExplorersWeb Inc. of which HET is a division. The news section requires the biggest resources. I'm in charge of technology and we bring in specialist programmers on project basis. We try to hire people with personal background in exploration and communicate over email and Skype. Our HQ is in US but our team is scattered over Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.
ExWeb: How many expeditions have you served with tech since the start?
Tom: We have done more than 700 major hardware/software combo setups, but if you
include expeditions that we helped only with a satellite phone or solar panel it's a few thousands.
ExWeb: Is ExWeb your only means of marketing? If yes, why?
Tom: ExplorersWeb had no revenues at all until 2007 and only did profit thanks to the technology division. The traffic generated by Explorersweb.com has however steadily increased. Today, ExWeb has outgrown most competition in terms of quality content, stories per day and visitors. While ad revenues still remain 99% to printed media and only 1% to internet media, we are noticing a shift lately.
Several smaller outfitters have started placing ads on ExWeb and The North Face brand ran a massive campaign for the last 5 months, forcing us at HumanEdgeTech to start fighting for ad space. So while ExWeb has been our only marketing tool in the past, we might have to look for other options now.
ExWeb: What are your customers' most common questions?
Tom: You would expect things like - "how do I hover a webcam-mounted model plane above me while climbing Everest and sending it live to CNN...", but it's actually simple stuff like; how do I charge a laptop? How do I charge my camera?
(Ed note: such planes actually exist but perform poorly on altitude.)
ExWeb: What are their most common complaints?
Tom: We have very few real complaints, but many questions of support. Most issues relate to satellite connection or power and are often easy to solve. Our biggest problem is users who don't call or mail for help. Although some support can be very time consuming, we always try to accommodate and afterwards instead update our manuals to make it easier for the future.
ExWeb: What are your warranties?
Tom: Most warranties are held by the manufacturer and technology standard. At present no manufacturers offer replacement for broken gear - they will repair it if you send it in. It's important that adventurers factor this in and don't think that Thuraya will send them a new phone to Everest, even if it's under warranty. It's important to test gear in good time before the expedition and protect it well on travel. Back-ups never hurt, especially on costly projects.
ExWeb:What are the most common reasons to failed expedition tech?
Tom: 1. No tests before the expedition.
2. Inadequate protection of electronics or rough handling. A satellite phone is not an ice axe. Always protect gear from cold, heat, dust and impacts.
3. Lack of backups. Things will go wrong. If the technology is really
important it must be backed up.
4. Not asking for support. We have learned hundreds of fixes through the years and have good contacts with experts at Iridium, Inmarsat and others.
ExWeb: Who are the worst and the best customers, and why?
Tom: The best customers ask questions before buying and read the manual before using. We often help over phone or SKYPE with the first satellite phone call or dispatch. One customer just sent us three bottles of wine as a thank-you gift. Unless they are poisoned (will serve the dog first), that's a really good customer!
ExWeb: Why do explorers bring tech to begin with; doesn't it take away from the adventure?
Tom: When Iridium went bankrupt in 2000, Tina and I were on a 2-month unsupported Antarctica expedition. A custom solution allowed us to send but not to receive messages. It was an amazing feeling not knowing if the outside world still existed.
Still, it can be very rewarding to communicate with people when you are out on the adventure of your life. We often found strength from people back home during our expeditions and sometimes they got strength from us. Several of those cyber strangers have since become lifelong friends.
At times, tech can play a very important role on a larger scale. When the Tibetan Nun was shot in front of hundreds of climbers at Cho Oyu, people like Pavle, Luis and Alex reported her fate over satellite phones, PDA's and laptops. Without their bravery and fast comms the murder very likely would have been hushed and forgotten (it was not the first such event). Now it became an international incident with serious political implications.
Bringing tech is hardly a choice anymore though. Polar expeditions are required to bring not only satellite phones but also a backup, and considering their low prices and weight these days; I would say that bringing a sat phone or at least a walkie talkie on a serious climb is sign of not only responsibility but also intelligence.
I'm not aware of a single active 8000er mountaineers who doesn't carry a satellite phone on all climbs, and most of them do SMS, email and dispatch updates as well. All top polar explorers and ocean rowers carry backed up satellite equipment and do regular dispatches.
ExWeb: What separates HET most from other tech suppliers, you figure?
Tom: Doing and knowing. We have sailed across the Atlantic and along South America, climbed Everest and skied to the Poles - we know what it takes to do dispatches when you are shot after an 18 hour summit push.
We are also in constant contact with our users. It's not uncommon that we talk to a skier at Antarctica, a mountaineer in Pakistan and a lonely guy trying to row across the Pacific on the same day. We are based in US but more than 50% of our sales go to other countries.
I view expedition support my most important task. It's the last thing I will delegate. My second biggest duty is to make sure that explorers get the right equipment for their needs and expectations. It's a time consuming but also rewarding way to run a business. Most of our customers are also our friends and we get many new orders on recommendations.
Admitted among the four youngest at the prestigious Stockholm School of Economics; a competitive figure skater, downhill skier and dinghy sailor (the kind the rich guys hire to crew their big racing yachts) the future seemed set for the ambitious young student: a management position in one of Sweden's big companies followed by a cushy retirement.
Yet in spite of flying colors, Tom dropped out right before the final exam to travel the world and start his own business. Devastated, Tom's mother rightly blamed his future bride, Tina. She has since been Tom's inseparable expedition- and business partner, and is currently Editor in Chief at ExplorersWeb.com.
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