How do you build the world's largest drone imagery network from scratch? Graham Anderson, Operations Manager at Spexi Geospatial, reveals the untold story of LayerDrone's journey from 230 test missions in a single Canadian town to covering over 200 municipalities across North America. Discover how consumer drones, blockchain incentives, and a community of pioneering pilots transformed a vision into reality—starting with test flights off a garage’s roof in Vernon, BC.
Hosted by Bryce Bladon | Edited by AJ Fillari | Sponsored by Spexi.com & LayerDrone.org
Alec Wilson, COO of Spexi, explains how LayerDrone became the world’s largest standardized drone imagery network, and why Spexi made the decision to spin LayerDrone out into a public-good, crypto-economic protocol. He goes on to share:
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Hosted by Bryce Bladon | Edited by AJ Fillari | Sponsored by Spexi.com & LayerDrone.org
Bryce welcomes Mapster (Sony), LayerDrone's top community contributor and the DePIN ambassador for drones and spatial data. As someone uniquely positioned between the crypto and drone communities, Mapster shares his decade-long journey from recreational drone pilot to DePIN enthusiast, explaining how his passion for hardware engineering led him to discover the convergence of blockchain technology and physical infrastructure.
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Hosted by Bryce Bladon | Edited by AJ Fillari | Sponsored by Spexi.com & LayerDrone.org
Graham Anderson, Operations Manager at Spexi, explains how cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are solving the drone industry's scalability challenge. He discusses how DePINs (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) are revolutionizing drone operations, how standardized data products unlock global networks, and why tokens enable coordination at scale that traditional payment methods cannot match.
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What if Uber paid their drivers with tokens? This episode explores how tokenization and decentralization are creating new economic models for drone-based businesses and the pilots who power them.
Matt Chwierut brings over a decade of experience to break down complex concepts like tokens, token-powered networks, and how they differ from traditional platform models. He explains why LayerDrone chose to build on blockchain, what it means for drone pilots to be paid in tokens rather than cash, and how this approach creates a fundamentally different relationship between contributors and the networks they help build.
From the evolution of open-source protocols to the limitations of platform-based models like Uber, Matt explains how tokens offer a third path—one that combines the openness of protocols with aligned financial incentives for all participants.
Guest: Matt Chwierut, Head of Crypto, Spexi Geospatial, Inc.
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Hosted by Bryce Bladon (brycebladon.com) | Edited by AJ Fillari (ajfillari.online) | Sponsored by Spexi.com & LayerDrone.org
Daniel shares his journey from building DIY drones in 2014 to becoming a professional Drone First Responder. With roughly 1,000 missions flown with Spexi for the LayerDrone network, Daniel discusses the competitive nature of drone work, the importance of staying calm under pressure, and how fly-to-earn opportunities reignited his passion for aviation.
00:38 Introduction to Daniel Whitfield, Drone First Responder
05:27 A DFR's Work Week
09:49 Special Segment: The Bryce is Wrong
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Connect with Daniel
Hosted by Bryce Bladon (brycebladon.com) | Edited by AJ Fillari (ajfillari.online)
Sponsored by Spexi.com | LayerDrone.org
Rowan Weismiller discusses how the Spexi app uses blockchain technology, and what that means for LayerDrone, a decentralized protocol for drone imagery collection. Learn about NFT flight receipts, smart contracts, and building a pilot-owned data network that sets world-scale standards for aerial imagery.
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0:00 - Meet Rowan Weismiller
1:45 - How Spexi Uses Blockchain Technology
8:00 - Building a World-Scale Standard for Aerial Imagery
13:00 - Innovation or Idiotic? Game Segment
Hosted by Bryce Bladon (brycebladon.com) | Edited by AJ Fillari (ajfillari.online) |
Sponsored by Spexi.com | LayerDrone.org
Just as the internet evolved from Web1 to Web2 to Web3, mapping technology is experiencing its own paradigm shift. This episode explores how we've progressed from static maps to real-time navigation to contextual spatial understanding—and why this convergence of technologies represents a foundational shift that most people haven't recognized yet.
Mapping 1.0 (3000 BCE - 1990s): Locate
Mapping 2.0 (1996 - 2010s): Navigate
Mapping 3.0 (2010s - Present): Understand
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Host: Bryce Bladon | Editor: AJ Fillari | Sponsors: Spexi.com / LayerDrone.org
Bill Lakeland, CEO of Spexi Geospatial, explains how his company is revolutionizing spatial data collection through a decentralized drone network. From flying aerial mapping cameras in airplanes to building the world's largest standardized drone imagery network, Bill discusses why current imagery solutions are broken, how distributed drone operators can capture better data at 50x less cost than satellites, and why blockchain technology became the missing piece for global scale.
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Guest: Bill Lakeland, CEO & Co-founder of Spexi Geospatial
Hosted by Bryce Bladon
Edited by AJ Fillari
Sponsored by Spexi.com / LayerDrone.org
Host Bryce Bladon shares his journey from co-founding CryptoKitties—the blockchain game that became WIRED's mascot and catalyzed the NFT movement—to discovering the transformative potential of drone infrastructure. Bryce explains his career in identifying emerging technologies, why the drone industry represents a fundamental infrastructure upgrade, and how a conversation about blockchain led him to join Spexi Geospatial.
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Hosted by Bryce Bladon.
Edited by AJ Fillari.
Sponsored by Spexi.com / LayerDrone.org
Introducing the DRONE ON podcast: mapping the tech, economics, and people building the world’s largest drone imagery network.
Hosted by Bryce Bladon.
Edited by AJ Fillari.
Sponsored by Spexi.com and LayerDrone.org