The Business Journal’s annual report on young entrepreneurs, some of whom entered the working world while in their teens.
Ben Marcus and Cyrus Sigari met at age 12 at Santa Monica Airport while serving as cadets in the Civil Air Patrol, a U.S. Air Force-sponsored program that educates youth about aviation.
Their penchant for aviation-related business was first apparent when the two drew up their first business plan at age 14 a charter flight service to Catalina Island.
“Once our parents found out, they told us to stop and hit the school books instead,” Sigari recalled. “They were right, but we had the itch to get into aviation as soon as we could.”
Ten years later, after both graduated from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., the two created JetAviva, a company that brokers the sale of and manages the delivery of Very Light Jets to clients, mainly wealthy pilots who fly the planes themselves. VLJs are less expensive and smaller planes than the corporate jets that dominate the market.
In addition to connecting aircraft with aviator execs, JetAviva offers other services, such as booking pilots for trips.
“There are other aircraft brokers out there, but we like to focus on owner-pilots flying Very Light Jets,” Marcus said. “But we’ll help those who need a pilot find one.”
VLJs are relatively new on the general aviation market. Cessna Aircraft Co. and Embraer, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, make the aircraft, which can seat up to as many as five passengers and one pilot, and range in price from $2 million to $3 million. That’s far below conventional private jets such as a $9 million Learjet or $50 million 18-seat Gulfstream G-550.
The milieu is a good match for them, as they can talk pilot to pilot.
“It’s a market that we know has the potential to take off,” Marcus said. “And we love seeing people get to experience private travel like we have.”
Since JetAviva began in 2006, Marcus and Sigari, both 27, have done transactions involving about 100 jets with a total value of more than $300 million. Last year, the company brokered the sale of 15 VLJs at a time when the rest of the aviation industry faced declining revenue.
But the path there wasn’t a direct flight nor was it a smooth ride.
After they finished college, they worked at separate companies, then reunited in Albuquerque, N.M., in 2004 at Eclipse Aviation, one of the first manufacturers of VLJs.
The seed for JetAviva was planted there, as the two saw how many people who were buying a VLJ needed to learn how to fly the aircraft and keep them maintained.
Sigari and Marcus left Eclipse to come back to California to set up JetAviva in February 2006 and spent a month back at Sigari’s parents’ home devising a business plan. They pooled all their money and sought other investors.
But a shipping executive told them not to go the investor route, that way they could be their own bosses. So Marcus took out about $250,000 on credit cards to get the business rolling. They were able to gain the trust of local high-income pilots, many coming to them for VLJs through word of mouth, and the orders started to roll in.
The duo said the company will survive the slow economy because their high-income clients are wealthy enough to withstand the downturn; they’re usually company executives and retired aviation enthusiasts looking for a new thrill. But they said they know how to weather a storm if it happens.
“There were days that Ben wanted out and days I wanted out,” Sigari said. “But we counterbalanced each other: when he was down, I was up, and vice versa. So our friendship helped us survive and will continue to.”
FAST FACTS:
– Cyrus Sigari and Ben Marcus, both 27, co-founders and co-presidents, JetAviva, Van Nuys
– Business: Very Light Jet management and services company
– Employees: 4
– Financials: Profitable for two years; would not disclose details
– Fact: The two JetAviva founders have been friends since they were 12.
