"Like most great products, SOLOSHOT was born of desire. A surfer awakes one morning to the sound of a fresh north swell breaking on the famous shifting stones of Apple Bay, Tortola. Looking out on a beautiful sunrise with 6 foot italian-ice blue waves feathering across a reef, the surfer sets a camera on his balcony, points it fully zoomed out at the peak, presses record and hits the surf hoping for the best. 'Some footage is better than no footage' he thinks. Hours later he returns for some breakfast and checks to see what the camera has captured. After watching the footage he thinks to himself, 'if only the camera could have a tighter shot and follow me throughout the lineup while getting smooooooth footage of every wave...'

Four years later, after a serendipitous meeting of the minds on Kite Beach in Cabarete, Dominican Republic and with the help of 23 engineers, scientists, artists and designers, we are incredibly stoked to introduce SOLOSHOT. We are excited to bring our platform technology first to surfers and similar activities and ultimately to the world at large. We are a hands on company that is proud to design and manufacture its own products that we LOVE to use and stand behind. We are located in the USA.

Now please, go film yourself!"

Chris Boyle & Scott Taylor

THE TEAM:

CHRIS BOYLE

Originally from Queens, NY, Chris is a nomadic inventor who strives to keep one foot in the laboratory and one in the sand. Chris founded SOLOSHOT's predecessor in 2008 following a surf session epiphany. He serves as SOLOSHOT's CEO and is Chairman of the Board.   

Chris is a serial entrepreneur who studied biomedical engineering at Boston University. At only 22 years old, Chris filed his first patent and formed his first company focussed on the development of a catheter delivered heart valve. Opportunity came calling from the desert, and Chris moved his company from California to San Antonio, TX where he joined a partnership of talented physicians, scientists and engineers. The team pioneered the field of Percutaneous Tissue Engineering by combining the ease of minimally invasive implants with the biocompatibility advantages of tissue engineering.  In doing so, the group developed a new class of implantable materials and devices manufactured using techniques more typical to the semiconductor industry than to medical devices. 

After this revolutionary technology was licensed by a fortune 500 company, Chris packed up his boards and headed back to the beach looking for some rest and inspiration. Chasing a wave he had only seen photos of, he headed to Tortola's Apple Bay. The wave did not disappoint, the creative juices again began to flow and SOLOSHOT was born. To know Chris is to not be surprised that the blue in the SOLOSHOT logo is the “Italian Ice Blue” color of Apple Bay's water as seen from space. 

Chris has been issued 22 patents in various fields with more than 50 still pending. He has started, funded or otherwise joined 8 companies ranging from medical devices, consumer electronics, e-commerce, and vitamin supplements to kiteboarding schools and apparel. Chris spent 2 years surfing, kiteboarding and riding motos in Cabarete, Dominican Republic where he met Scott, a like-minded engineer also riding out the global financial storm while searching for his next project.  

SCOTT TAYLOR

Originally from California’s Bay Area, Scott has always found a way to combine his passions for board sports and engineering with his entrepreneurial drive. Scott is co-founder of SOLOSHOT and serves as President and board member.  

While earning his degrees in Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering, and Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan, he started two wakeboard and waterski schools that he grew to be the second largest watersports operation in the Midwestern United States.  Upon graduation, Scott headed to Texas to join an angel funded start-up company spun out of the University of Texas, El Paso, where he designed and developed new chemical reactors to process the Canadian Oil Sands. To satisfy his board sports cravings, Scott taught snowboarding in New Mexico on the weekends.

In 2008, after the chemical reactors were shipped north to Canada, Scott headed for a month of surfing and kiteboarding in the Dominican Republic... and stayed for a year and a half.  Fueled by his passionate dislike for the mosquitoes there, he developed a vitamin supplement intended to reduce the incidence, severity and healing time of mosquito bites. One day, over a post kiteboarding beer, Chris told Scott about the automatic camera project he’d been working on. The two have been working furiously on SOLOSHOT ever since. 

Wakeboard Magazine named Scott one of "Wakeboarding's Best Coaches” and he is still flown around the world to give lessons. Scott has 16 patents pending. 

ALEX SAMMONS

We are often asked why SOLOSHOT is located in San Antonio, TX. The answer is simple: Alex Sammons, our product development and manufacturing guru. After a long consulting partnership, Alex joined the SOLOSHOT team full-time in May 2012 as the company's Chief Technology Officer. 

Alex brings 12+ years of innovation, technical management and product development experience in some of the most regulated industries on the planet:  aerospace, medical and chemical. Alex has a broad knowledge base in mechanical and electrical engineering, design for manufacturability, and human ergonomics.

Immediately prior to joining SOLOSHOT, Alex worked at Kinetic Concepts, Inc. where he quickly rose through the ranks from a product development engineer to a technical leader.  In his recent capacity, Alex was challenged with leading cross-functional design teams through development and commercialization within the Therapeutic Support Systems and Active Healing Solutions divisions of KCI. In that role, Alex was responsible for hands-on development of prototypes based on preliminary user requirements, market research, and intellectual property landscape assessment while guiding development efforts through a gated design cycle consisting of concept, planning, development, evaluation and commercialization phases.  

Alex’s unique approach to innovation and core understanding of enabling technologies has resulted in dozens of issued and pending US and foreign patent applications and peer-reviewed journal publications.  Prior to joining KCI, Alex satisfied his entrepreneurial aspirations by developing and marketing his own integrated systems for remotely piloted surveillance and surveying  aircraft. Born in Ukraine, Alex holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Magna Cum Laude, and is fluent in Russian and Ukrainian. 

Outside of his daily responsibilities, Alex defies categorization.  He’s the type of person who would swap a 2,000lb diesel engine in his backyard or design and build, in his garage, a CNC vertical machining center for personal use.  As an artist, Alex paints and writes poetry, and as a vocalist, he supports local charities with his band.  Of all the board sports Alex has been exposed to here at SOLOSHOT, kiteboarding’s power and equipment has peaked his interest the most. That will be an interesting trip!

RYAN SAVAGE

Ryan joined SOLOSHOT in April 2012 and is the company Chief Operating Officer. He comes to the company with 8+ years of operations and sales experience.  Originally from Texas, he has lived and traveled around the world.  He can speak Chinese and some Spanish and has been to over 30 countries.  While only a beginner at surfing he's ecstatic to be with the SOLOSHOT crew and a part of bringing SOLOSHOT’s platform technology and endless applications to the world. 

Growing up in China and Taiwan, Ryan returned to the US for college at Texas A&M University where he earned a degree in Industrial Distribution graduating Cum Laude.  He is a true Texan at heart, but has the need to travel in his blood having traveled to 30 countries across 5 continents. Upon graduation he joined the General Electric Company and quickly rose through the ranks while living in Dallas, San Diego, South Carolina, China.  Initially when joining GE he was accepted into a 2-year Distribution & Sales management training program (DSP).  He served in multiple roles during that time ranging from warehousing, inventory management, and sales.

Upon graduation from the DSP he held multiple supply chain roles including operations, global account management, and P&L management across multiple GE divisions.  Before joining SOLOSHOT, Ryan was based in Shanghai, China working for the Oil & Gas division of GE Energy as a Senior Operations Manager.

In his spare time, Ryan also enjoys the outdoors, college sports, and live music.  He strongly believes that life needs a balance of playing hard and working hard... and loves that being a part of SOLOSHOT allows him to do both.

JOHN O'CALLAGHAN

A traveling artist born and raised in New York. John has 8 years of experience in the broad world of art ranging in mediums from painting to welding, 1960's cameras to glass blowing and graphic to industrial design. 

John began his career as an artist at the age of 14 with a spray paint can and a lot of ambition. He has a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art with a concentration in 3-D Design from The School of Visual Arts. John integrates a unique point of view and a tireless work ethic into concise graphic, web, print and 3-D pieces. Prior to SOLOSHOT, he has consulted for clients including Levis, Obey, Sleepy's, Bern Unlimited, Thomas Sarceno, Grey Goose and Crystal Head. 

John is passionate for anything that is ab-norm and is most often found off the beaten path, board bag and backpack in tow. John moved to Cabarete to work with Chris developing a kiteboarding apparel company, Airbound Apparel, before moving to Texas and joining the SOLOSHOT team full time.