When Luke Sinclair and Kendall Bristow finished engineering school, they weren’t aiming to build the next Tesla. They just wanted to work on something meaningful. A homemade electric moped — duct-taped batteries on an old push bike frame — became the unlikely seed for FTN Motion, a motorcycle startup rethinking how two-wheelers fit into urban life.

FTN Motion are a New Zealand based startup, transforming urban transport and decarbonising the journey with our ultimate electric motorcycle, the Streetdog.

The journey since has been anything but smooth. Luke recalls the early hype — a viral news story bringing in 100 pre-orders overnight — followed by a sobering reality: supply chain crunches, cash cycles stretching four months, and growth forecasts that didn’t match reality. Over time, FTN has matured into a design-led, manufacturing-first brand with global potential. Their story is one of purpose meeting pragmatism — and of what it really takes to build hardware in New Zealand.

Startup Rollercoaster

⚡️ FTN Motion has kept moving forward by cutting back, resetting expectations, and having investors who valued reality over hype.

The Spark – Two Friends, One Idea

• Lifelong friends, engineers, and adventurers — tinkering with electric mopeds while walking the length of New Zealand.
• Scrappy prototypes: exploding welds, glad-wrapped batteries, cheap motors.
• Realisation: with just a single electric motor, no oil changes, and zero emissions, it was the simplest and cleanest way to commute.

The Peak – Design Breakthrough & Viral Buzz

• Unique Streetdog layout: battery under seat + large front storage.
• Wellington chosen as “test city”: dense, hilly, ideal for early adopters.
• Stuff.co.nz article (2021) → 💥 100 pre-orders in a week.
• Angel investment flowed in, confidence soared.

The Drop – Harsh Reality of Hardware

• Forecasts naïve (10 bikes/week vs. reality: 1.5).
• Cash crunch: parts must be paid for months before customer revenue arrives.
• Over-hired to 20+ staff, lost efficiency and focus.
• SaaS-style growth expectations clashed with hardware realities.

The Reset – Pragmatism Over Optimism

• Team cut to 8, operations streamlined.
• Mindset shift: make today’s numbers work rather than projecting future growth.
• Accepted reality: 1.5 bikes/week is a baseline, not a failure.
• Expansion expectations reset (Australia = maybe 2–3 bikes/week, not 10× New Zealand).

The Discipline – “Don’t Stop the Machine”

• Advisor Roland Krüger (ex-Dyson, auto veteran) drilled in inventory management discipline.
• Lesson: even at low volume, production must keep moving — stopping is fatal.
• Negotiated supplier terms, worked with Hamilton’s local manufacturers for faster, smaller runs.
• Focused on continuous improvement: comfort upgrades, usability fixes, smarter design.
• Realistic goal of climbing from 1.5 to 5 bikes a week in the short term.

The Climb – Patient Capital & Real Growth

• Found investors who were emotionally invested in the mission, not just financial returns.
• Avoided VC pressure for blitz-scaling — a blessing in disguise.
• Closed new round in 2025 → secured runway + credibility with banks for working capital.
• Strong growth opportunities - markets and new products
• Positive signs in unlocking the Australian market, with new orders beginning their final leg to customers and bringing on board our first service and affiliate partners.

Case Study

1. Why This Brand Got Started

Luke and Kendall wanted more than standard engineering careers. The spark was a hacked-together electric moped that felt like the perfect commuter: clean, simple, and purpose-driven. That duct-taped prototype grew into the Streetdog — a sleek electric motorcycle with soul.

2. Launch & First Batch

In 2021, a Stuff.co.nz article changed everything: 100 pre-orders in a week. Angels invested, momentum surged. But sustaining demand was harder. Luke admits: “We thought it was normal. But it got harder — we weren’t selling the dream anymore, we were in reality.” Delivering those first bikes stretched the team thin and highlighted the risks of scaling too quickly.

3. Cash Flow: The Existential Challenge

FTN’s biggest enemy was cash flow. Parts had to be paid for months before sales revenue arrived, creating a nightmare cycle: no cash → no parts → no bikes → no sales. Over time, they survived through:

• Patient angel investors aligned with NZ manufacturing.
• Negotiated supplier payment profiles.
• Leveraged Hamilton’s industrial base for short lead times.

Luke calls it boring but life-or-death: “Automotive companies are basically inventory management. We had to learn that the hard way.”

4. Growth Mindset Reset

Early optimism was their downfall. Luke reflects: “We always thought in six months we’d be selling ten bikes a week. The hard reset was asking: how do we make the business work at 1.5 bikes a week — today?” That grounded approach reshaped strategy for Australia and beyond.

5. Investor Alignment Matters

FTN’s salvation wasn’t just money, but the right money. Early VC rejections turned out to be lucky breaks. Patient, emotionally engaged investors gave FTN “more grace than we deserved.” Luke contrasts this with overseas horror stories of growth-for-growth’s-sake — proof that aligned capital is oxygen for hardware startups.

6. Lessons for Other Founders

• Cash flow is king. Manage inventory and negotiate supplier terms relentlessly.
• Don’t stop the machine. Once production halts, restarting is costly and slow.
• Reality > optimism. Build a business model that works at today’s sales levels.
• Grow in increments. Move from prototype → beta → early adopters → scale.
• Choose aligned investors. Patience and values beat fast money every time.

Key Takeaways

• Validate hype vs. reality. 100 pre-orders ≠ ongoing demand.
• Hardware ≠ SaaS. Don’t apply software playbooks to physical products.
• Cash flow is oxygen. Four-month cycles can kill unprepared teams.
• Investor alignment saves lives. Patient, values-driven backers are more valuable than the biggest cheques.
• Keep the machine moving. Continuous production, however small, is critical.
• Reset expectations. Start with what today’s numbers allow — then grow.

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