Forget Tesla, Space X and Hyperloop. I’m talking about something more exciting. I’m talking about the Cape Town start-up that managed to shake up the global F1 and leisure boating industry.
In its life, Caudwell Marine received between $80m-$100m in funding. That’s well over one billion Rand. In South Africa, that goes a very long way so it might as well have been one billion US dollars. This was no ordinary start-up!
In its life, Caudwell Marine received between $80m-$100m in funding. That’s well over one billion Rand. In South Africa, that goes a very long way so it might as well have been one billion US dollars. This was no ordinary start-up!
We were developing a new type of marine propulsion system using modern road engines and the latest marine technology. From the drive train to exhaust systems and the engine control unit (“ECU”), we designed and developed everything. The goal was to produce one of the most efficient and aesthetically pleasing drives in the world. A truly innovative company with incredible vision.
Without further ado, here’s my amateur video that will bring it to life:
Without further ado, here’s my amateur video that will bring it to life:
Two and a half years at Caudwell Marine felt like an entire career by itself. It’s really hard to distill all of the many lessons learned but here’s my attempt:
1. Think big…
English Electric Lightning mid-flight over Cape Town.
Operating literally on the runway of Cape Town airport, every day was exciting. Caudwell Marine shared the same hanger as the iconic Thunder City. One of the only places in the world where consumers could take a ride in a supersonic jet. Even at $10k US a pop, the Black Amex cards flew though that credit card machine. Even Richard Branson came along to try and break the aerial ascent speed record.
The flagship jet was the English Electric Lighting. A beast of a machine that with full afterburner would drink 5,000 litres of A1 jet fuel in 9 minutes. That’s thirsty!
Who was the pilot you ask? None other than the CEO of Caudwell Marine, Mike Beachy-Head.
Just imagine the perspective you have on what success looks like, when for breakfast you break the sound barrier (1,235 km/h) in a 14-ton machine still in operation from the 1960s.
To this day, I have yet to meet a more fearless entrepreneur.
Lesson: Be more Mike.
2.…but never underestimate the cost of R&D.
The flagship jet was the English Electric Lighting. A beast of a machine that with full afterburner would drink 5,000 litres of A1 jet fuel in 9 minutes. That’s thirsty!
Who was the pilot you ask? None other than the CEO of Caudwell Marine, Mike Beachy-Head.
Just imagine the perspective you have on what success looks like, when for breakfast you break the sound barrier (1,235 km/h) in a 14-ton machine still in operation from the 1960s.
To this day, I have yet to meet a more fearless entrepreneur.
Lesson: Be more Mike.
2.…but never underestimate the cost of R&D.
V6 Ballistic investor demo day in Table Bay.
Pictured in the background is the half-finished Cape Town stadium from the 2010 Football World Cup held in South Africa. It really gives the whole exercise perspective because 10 years later and the Axis Drive still hasn’t properly hit the market and perhaps never will.
I stand corrected, but I think Caudwell Marine was started in another form as far back as 2006. Imagine what the people would have said if you suggested that 14 years down the line, they still wouldn’t have sold anything.
My engineering friends and I used the following rule of thumb. If you think something will take 2 months, then double the unit and double the number. So realistically the task will take you 4 years. It’s scary but usually true in my experience.
Lesson: Don’t make the silly mistake of under estimating R&D costs and time.
3. People need purpose,
I stand corrected, but I think Caudwell Marine was started in another form as far back as 2006. Imagine what the people would have said if you suggested that 14 years down the line, they still wouldn’t have sold anything.
My engineering friends and I used the following rule of thumb. If you think something will take 2 months, then double the unit and double the number. So realistically the task will take you 4 years. It’s scary but usually true in my experience.
Lesson: Don’t make the silly mistake of under estimating R&D costs and time.
3. People need purpose,
Latest Caudwell Marine F1 4-stroke powerboat.
I struggle to imagine a more intense environment than Formula 1 boating. The level of dedication by all team members was the best I’ve ever seen. Why? Because everyone was mesmerized by the incredibly ambitious company goal of using heavier but far cleaner 4-stroke engines to beat the industry standard 2-strokes.
As an example, one day we started work at 08:00 getting the boats reading for testing. By noon we were on the water. Disaster struck and a crank shaft punched a hole in the side of the sump, completely obliterating the engine. After battling traffic, we only got back to the workshop at 18:30. With an investor demo the next morning, the pressure was on!
Like a precision team of doctors, the mechanical team got to work. Performing life-saving open heart surgery on the prototype engine. Working through the night until the patient was resuscitated.
Through incredible dedication and seeming miracles, the engine was rebuilt to perfect working order. If anyone deserves credit for the successes of Caudwell Marine it’s those gentlemen in the workshop that regularly made great sacrifices for the company. Gary, I’m talking about you!
Lesson: Give your employees purpose and they’ll do whatever it takes.
4. people need tea,
As an example, one day we started work at 08:00 getting the boats reading for testing. By noon we were on the water. Disaster struck and a crank shaft punched a hole in the side of the sump, completely obliterating the engine. After battling traffic, we only got back to the workshop at 18:30. With an investor demo the next morning, the pressure was on!
Like a precision team of doctors, the mechanical team got to work. Performing life-saving open heart surgery on the prototype engine. Working through the night until the patient was resuscitated.
Through incredible dedication and seeming miracles, the engine was rebuilt to perfect working order. If anyone deserves credit for the successes of Caudwell Marine it’s those gentlemen in the workshop that regularly made great sacrifices for the company. Gary, I’m talking about you!
Lesson: Give your employees purpose and they’ll do whatever it takes.
4. people need tea,
Pursuit with twin 3.5l v6 300hp engines @ Gordon’s Bay.
This is one of my favourite pictures. I can still feel the very moment we hit that wave and launched out of the water. Pure ecstasy. The reason it was so exhilarating was because it represented the culmination of thousands of hours of dedication that led up to that moment.
Suffice to say, it wasn’t the twin v6 3.5 litre 300 horsepower engines that lifted that boat of out the water. It was the army of people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it happen.
Looking back, if I had to attribute the success to one person, it would probably be the tea lady. Four times a day, she would uplift the spirit of the entire operation with their favourite cup of brew. To my constant amazement she’d remember how every single person of the 80-strong team liked their cuppa. If that’s not talent, I don’t know what is.
Lesson: Every single person if your organisation is important. Treat them all with due respect.
5. but most importantly people need best friends.
Suffice to say, it wasn’t the twin v6 3.5 litre 300 horsepower engines that lifted that boat of out the water. It was the army of people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it happen.
Looking back, if I had to attribute the success to one person, it would probably be the tea lady. Four times a day, she would uplift the spirit of the entire operation with their favourite cup of brew. To my constant amazement she’d remember how every single person of the 80-strong team liked their cuppa. If that’s not talent, I don’t know what is.
Lesson: Every single person if your organisation is important. Treat them all with due respect.
5. but most importantly people need best friends.
Testing Team at the Stellenbosch University towing tank.
I can’t say this better than this quote from the UK Office:
“The people you work with are people you were just thrown together with. I mean, you don't know them, it wasn't your choice. And yet you spend more time with them than you do your friends or your family. But probably all you have in common is the fact that you walk around on the same bit of carpet for eight hours a day. And so, when you find someone you have a connection with. And, yeah, Dawn was a ray of sunshine in my life.”
On the day in the above photo, my colleagues, Connie, Dussie and Werner were my rays of sunshine. For as long as we all live, the employees at Caudwell Marine will always have a special bond. Even those who didn’t work at the company at the same time. In the face of adversity, we always stuck together. It got us through the tough times and made the highs even higher.
Lesson: Treat your colleagues like your best friends and you’ll never work a day in your life.
6. NEVER underestimate the power of grey hair.
“The people you work with are people you were just thrown together with. I mean, you don't know them, it wasn't your choice. And yet you spend more time with them than you do your friends or your family. But probably all you have in common is the fact that you walk around on the same bit of carpet for eight hours a day. And so, when you find someone you have a connection with. And, yeah, Dawn was a ray of sunshine in my life.”
On the day in the above photo, my colleagues, Connie, Dussie and Werner were my rays of sunshine. For as long as we all live, the employees at Caudwell Marine will always have a special bond. Even those who didn’t work at the company at the same time. In the face of adversity, we always stuck together. It got us through the tough times and made the highs even higher.
Lesson: Treat your colleagues like your best friends and you’ll never work a day in your life.
6. NEVER underestimate the power of grey hair.
V6 Chaparral engine ‘knock’ tests.
It’s fine to hire a bunch of cheap young engineers but you pay for what you get. There’s no substitute for experience. Hiring in ex-Cosworth engineers from the UK stepped changed the business. Yes, we might have reached the same point without them but it would almost definitely have cost more and taken longer.
Lesson: Regardless of your sector or stage, always surround yourself with people with more experience than you.
7. Focus is key,
Lesson: Regardless of your sector or stage, always surround yourself with people with more experience than you.
7. Focus is key,
Supercharged V8 4.5 litre engine on the dynamometer.
Caudwell Marine initially started out trying to produce a 300hp Nissan 350Z V6 and 450hp Nissan Infinity V8 petrol version of its patented Axis Drive. It was a long road but it really felt like we were on the brink of a reliable product.
Then we pivoted and lost it. It was decided that our product was not powerful enough so it wouldn’t be competitive.
What happened? A supercharger was slapped onto both drives. With it, yes power for the V6 and V8 engines did go up to 350hp and 550hp. However, so did oil and coolant temperatures, gears failed, shafts snapped and exhausts caught fire. Hundreds of hours of validation now meant nothing and we had an unsaleable product.
To add insult to a Jaguar 4 litre v6 diesel was also thrown into the mix. As well as us trying to develop fly-by-wire and joystick docking functionality. Later we went on to build the F1 drives and even outboards I believe.
Guess which product was truly successful? You guessed it, none of them. To me, this single decision was the start of the end of Caudwell Marine.
Now that I know more about business and start-ups, I ask myself what I would have done. Even if the thesis of more powerful drives was true, I would still get a production version of my product into the market to start generating revenue. After all, that’s why they call it a minimum viable product (“MVP”). Had Caudwell Marine done this instead of ‘tinkering with the tech,’ I suspect things would have turned out very differently.
Lesson: Get to market as fast as you possibly can. You can always innovate from there.
8. detail is divine,
Then we pivoted and lost it. It was decided that our product was not powerful enough so it wouldn’t be competitive.
What happened? A supercharger was slapped onto both drives. With it, yes power for the V6 and V8 engines did go up to 350hp and 550hp. However, so did oil and coolant temperatures, gears failed, shafts snapped and exhausts caught fire. Hundreds of hours of validation now meant nothing and we had an unsaleable product.
To add insult to a Jaguar 4 litre v6 diesel was also thrown into the mix. As well as us trying to develop fly-by-wire and joystick docking functionality. Later we went on to build the F1 drives and even outboards I believe.
Guess which product was truly successful? You guessed it, none of them. To me, this single decision was the start of the end of Caudwell Marine.
Now that I know more about business and start-ups, I ask myself what I would have done. Even if the thesis of more powerful drives was true, I would still get a production version of my product into the market to start generating revenue. After all, that’s why they call it a minimum viable product (“MVP”). Had Caudwell Marine done this instead of ‘tinkering with the tech,’ I suspect things would have turned out very differently.
Lesson: Get to market as fast as you possibly can. You can always innovate from there.
8. detail is divine,
Stellenbosch University lower unit prototype tests.
Testing the real-life product in the open ocean was great fun and all but we learned the most in the lab. This 1/20th scale lower unit prototype test led to one of the greatest engineering breakthroughs for the company. Not to mention that machining this miniature work of art was proof of the world-class engineers we had in our stable.
Lesson: No-matter what type of work you do, success is almost always hidden in the detail.
9. and health & safety saves lives.
Lesson: No-matter what type of work you do, success is almost always hidden in the detail.
9. and health & safety saves lives.
Alex Duss boating accident.
This is a picture of my best friend after getting the top half of his ear sheared off when the test boat took an unplanned violent right turn. After that, testing become even cooler because we got to wear crash helmets! Joking aside, the incident could have ended tragically.
Lesson: As much of a nuisance as it may seem, health & safety is there to protect you.
10. There will be good days and bad days, so…
Lesson: As much of a nuisance as it may seem, health & safety is there to protect you.
10. There will be good days and bad days, so…
Cape point from Puma helicopter.
Not all days were fun. We worked in an incredibly high-pressure environment where there was zero psychological safety. It was a heavily male-dominated environment and the shouting was so violent that some of the employees in the office were regularly in tears.
Once I remember a young engineer’s first day. He sat down next to me at 8am. It was a particularly rough day in the office and “heads were going to roll,” as we were so often told. By 10am, the engineer packed up his stuff and said, “I can’t do this,” and swiftly left. Gives employee churn a new meaning.
Anyway, on a happier note, pictured above is a rainbow over Cape Point. A photo I took out the window of the boss’ Puma helicopter on a random day at work. The Puma has one of the fastest aerial ascent speeds of all helicopters and boy did he put that to test. Even tempting fate by taking it really high, stalling the engine and then auto-rotating it back to life while we free-fell back to earth. Exhilarating to say the least!
I still remember both experiences equally vividly. I could dwell on the bad days but why when between emails, we were able to pop out and experience the opportunity of a lifetime.
Lesson: Live for the good days.
11....ALWAYS celebrate the small victories.
Once I remember a young engineer’s first day. He sat down next to me at 8am. It was a particularly rough day in the office and “heads were going to roll,” as we were so often told. By 10am, the engineer packed up his stuff and said, “I can’t do this,” and swiftly left. Gives employee churn a new meaning.
Anyway, on a happier note, pictured above is a rainbow over Cape Point. A photo I took out the window of the boss’ Puma helicopter on a random day at work. The Puma has one of the fastest aerial ascent speeds of all helicopters and boy did he put that to test. Even tempting fate by taking it really high, stalling the engine and then auto-rotating it back to life while we free-fell back to earth. Exhilarating to say the least!
I still remember both experiences equally vividly. I could dwell on the bad days but why when between emails, we were able to pop out and experience the opportunity of a lifetime.
Lesson: Live for the good days.
11....ALWAYS celebrate the small victories.
Traditional Arabian evening in the desert, Sharjah, UAE.
The evening after the F1 launch, we were invited to a Gala Dinner by the Sharjah Commerce & Development Authority. After about an hour drive through the desert we arrived to a feast of food, fireworks and Arabian hospitality. We all could not believe our fortune. It was such an incredible experience that I’d do it all again, just be relive that one moment in time.
Lesson: Don’t always look at what you haven’t achieved, take a moment to celebrate what you have.
12. Learn to weather the storm, because…
Lesson: Don’t always look at what you haven’t achieved, take a moment to celebrate what you have.
12. Learn to weather the storm, because…
Ballistic testing at Rietvlei with Stuart.
When I joined Caudwell Marine, we were about 25 people. In a short period of time we quadrupled in size to 100 and then came crashing back down to 30. Suffice to say, just like when we were blasting across the ocean at 55 knots (100 km/h) with a strong side wind, Caudwell Marine was a bumpy ride.
In life as it is in start-ups, things won’t always be smooth sailing. I still remember our CEO Mike saying, “it’s never easy Alex.”
Lesson: Don’t expect it to be easy, just don your protective gear and brave the storm.
13.…people take notice without you realising.
In life as it is in start-ups, things won’t always be smooth sailing. I still remember our CEO Mike saying, “it’s never easy Alex.”
Lesson: Don’t expect it to be easy, just don your protective gear and brave the storm.
13.…people take notice without you realising.
 Google Earth Rietvlei boats. |  Google Earth Rietvlei bakkies. |
We used to do lots of testing. I mean loads. It sometimes felt a little meaningless but one day we noticed something that put it all into perspective. We saw that someone in space was watching us.
To this day, you can still see us testing on Google Earth from their 2009 collection. If you zoom in, you can even see the two pick-up trucks with trailers and support boat on the shore. Perhaps even the boerewors (sausages) that support team would occasionally be grilling for lunch!
Lesson: If might often feel like you’re just spinning your wheels but the world is always watching, waiting for you to reach your vision. Keep going!
14. Real investors walk the talk and...
To this day, you can still see us testing on Google Earth from their 2009 collection. If you zoom in, you can even see the two pick-up trucks with trailers and support boat on the shore. Perhaps even the boerewors (sausages) that support team would occasionally be grilling for lunch!
Lesson: If might often feel like you’re just spinning your wheels but the world is always watching, waiting for you to reach your vision. Keep going!
14. Real investors walk the talk and...
Investor John Caudwell and driver Brett Stuart.
F1 boats are dangerous things. The propeller drives the boat forward until the tapered channel underneath the boat compresses the incoming air thereby allowing the boat to ride on a virtual cushion. This allows the boats to ride at incredibly high speeds. Sometimes, however, they become unstable and the nose starts lifting. You need nerves of steel to gradually lift off the throttle and bring it back down. If you panic and quickly decelerate, the back sinks suddenly and the aforementioned pocket of air has nowhere to go but up. This leads to those epic yet terrifying scenes of high-performance boats doing back flips, often with fatal consequences.
Did this deter our billionaire investor? Not in the slightest. Besides our fearless driver Brett, John was one of the very few people brave enough to take the boat for a spin. Hats off to you John.
Lesson: Be more like John.
15....success is contagious.
Did this deter our billionaire investor? Not in the slightest. Besides our fearless driver Brett, John was one of the very few people brave enough to take the boat for a spin. Hats off to you John.
Lesson: Be more like John.
15....success is contagious.
Team in Sharjah, UAE for the F1 drive launch.
On the right-hand side, that’s John Caudwell, our lead investor. I used to relish the moments I spent with him because his thinking blew my mind. He said things like: ‘Because of this whole recession thing, I managed to pick-up a yacht that usually retails for $100m for only $27m, bargain!’ His thinking changed my life forever and removed the internal caps I had on success.
Lesson: As the saying goes, if you’re the smartest / most successful person in the room then you’re in the wrong room.
A tribute to Mike
Lesson: As the saying goes, if you’re the smartest / most successful person in the room then you’re in the wrong room.
A tribute to Mike
Mike Beachy-Head tribute photo.
Supersonic jets, racing cars, F1 boats, motorbikes and helicopters. Our CEO, Mike Beachy-Head, raced them all. Mike sadly passed away at his home in 2017. I have no doubt that where ever he is, he still has his hand firmly planted on the throttle.
This is one of the great quotes from Mike’s many eulogies: “You had no limits. You were what we South Africans call an ‘Yster’. A true man of steel. RIP and may your legacy live on.”
What will your legacy be?
So, was it the greatest start-up in the world? Who’s to say but one thing is for sure, it was one of the greatest demonstrations of entrepreneurship and vision that the world saw in the last decade.
What happened to Caudwell Marine? It lives on through Cosworth Engineering with operations in Lowestoft and Southampton, UK. So perhaps one day, you’ll still be able to drive one.
A big thanks to all the sacrifices made by the men, women and families of Caudwell Marine employees. You are all incredible people that created a legacy that will last until eternity.
Alex @ The Tippy Top Blog
This is one of the great quotes from Mike’s many eulogies: “You had no limits. You were what we South Africans call an ‘Yster’. A true man of steel. RIP and may your legacy live on.”
What will your legacy be?
So, was it the greatest start-up in the world? Who’s to say but one thing is for sure, it was one of the greatest demonstrations of entrepreneurship and vision that the world saw in the last decade.
What happened to Caudwell Marine? It lives on through Cosworth Engineering with operations in Lowestoft and Southampton, UK. So perhaps one day, you’ll still be able to drive one.
A big thanks to all the sacrifices made by the men, women and families of Caudwell Marine employees. You are all incredible people that created a legacy that will last until eternity.
Alex @ The Tippy Top Blog
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