KC inventor’s untimely death leaves legacy of fearlessness, unfinished vision

Paul Francis pioneered fitness tech for NASA, commercialized it with Bowflex, then raised $4 million on Kickstarter: How the OYO founder’s unexpected death this month cut his storied entrepreneurial journey short — but left a lasting impression on the people who worked alongside him.

Former colleagues are remembering the late Paul Francis as a uniquely talented and tenacious force in the local entrepreneur community — drawing inspiration from his seemingly fearless drive and ingenuity.

Paul Francis, founder of OYO Fitness, talking with Maria Meyers, UMKC Innovation Center, at the first Kansas City Venture Backed-Companies reception in August 2018.

The Kansas City-based founder of OYO Fitness and creator of the SpiraFlex technology used by NASA and Bowflex died in early September in a Johnson County car wreck.

“I really believe that he was brilliant, particularly as an ideator and inventor,” said Graham Ripple, former COO of OYO (On Your Own) Fitness. “He definitely marched to the beat of his own drum. … He was one of a kind.”

Click here to read Paul Francis’ obituary for more insight into his life and career.

Ripple — who worked for Francis for four and a half years — said the founder had an unflappable faith in his endeavors and their successful outcome. OYO Fitness — which Francis launched in 2014 — sells compact, personal gym devices using his SpiraFlex technology and was featured in NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice in 2017.

“He had a willingness to go after things that other people would write off from the beginning,” he added.

Paul Francis, founder of OYO Fitness, carrying an early iteration of his handheld invention at a Startland News Innovation Exchange event in September 2017

To space and beyond

The story of Francis pitching to NASA perfectly illustrates this spirit, Ripple shared. Francis was sitting at a coffee shop at the Country Club Plaza when he read an article about NASA’s concern for keeping astronauts in shape and avoiding muscle and bone atrophy while they were on board the International Space Station.

So, Ripple recalled, Francis just called up NASA and told them he had a solution.

“From there, they said, ‘Hey, well, if you’re ever down here, we’d love to have you present,’” Ripple said. “So he was basically like, ‘Well, I’ll be there next week,’ as if he had a trip planned.”

Francis pitched his idea before a few NASA scientists, who realized the potential, and a couple days later he presented it before a much larger group. Within weeks, Francis was given the greenlight and started working on the project — a resistance-based exercise device using his SpiraFlex technology.

Paul Francis, OYO Fitness

In 2019, Francis — who previously graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in architecture — was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame thanks to his innovation with the technology.

“I don’t know anyone else who would have the confidence, the sense of self, the unwavering belief to call up NASA — of all places — and to pitch to them really an idea that was validated but not fully baked,” Ripple said. “So for him to do that is amazing. He then did that later, where NASA had the technology up in space, and then he is negotiating with major brands about using his technology. And he ends up striking a deal with Bowflex. I heard all of these stories, but then working with him, it was something that I saw in him all the time.”

Click here to read about Paul Francis’ induction into the Space Technology Hall of Fame.

Sonya Andrews, who worked with Francis for 10 years and did marketing/branding for OYO, noted the NASA story illustrates his unique ability to inspire people to jump on board with his dreams and passions.

“His ability to find people and convince people that he was somebody they wanted to work with was a big part of how he was able to achieve what he achieved, especially with NASA,” she explained. “I mean, who else would just call NASA and be like, ‘Hey, dudes, I have this thing and you need it.’ And have them be like, ‘Oh, yes, of course,’ versus them saying, ‘Yeah, we’ll have our manager’s manager get back to you eventually.’”

Even though he kept his personal life guarded in the workplace, Andrews said, over the years, she started to look at him as a friend rather than just a client/coworker.

“You got to know who he was — what his character was — as you spent time with him,” she continued. “You learn more about a person through their actions than you do through their words. So I felt fairly close to him in that way and kind of got to feel like he was almost a part of my family, even though he wasn’t coming to like Thanksgiving dinners or whatever. But when I heard about the accident, it felt like I lost an uncle, because that was the level of friendship that we had.”

Paul Francis with his OYO Fitness device in 2017

Inspiring the next generation

If she learned one thing from working with Francis, Andrews said, it was to be unafraid — whether approaching a great or terrible idea — because a person won’t know the outcome until they try.

“He inspired us to push our own boundaries and learn more than we thought we should or that we might have even wanted to because he wasn’t afraid to just do something and figure it out later,” she explained. “He kind of expected everyone around him to have that same ability to just do it and figure it out as you go.”

OYO Fitness team in 2020: Nick Bolton, fitness director; Paul Francis, founder and CEO; Sonya Andrews, art director; Graham Ripple, chief operations officer; Marcus Sy, manufacturing director (not pictured)

His willingness to embrace crowd-funding campaigns for his OYO Fitness products is a good example of this, she said. OYO’s first Kickstarter campaign was for its second product — the DoubleFlex Black — in 2017 and raised more than $625,000.

“He had no idea what he was doing,” she recalled. “He didn’t even know what Kickstarter was. He was just like, ‘This is the thing that people do. It’s what kids today are doing.’ And so he was like, ‘Well, I guess I’d better find somebody who’s done this before, who has experience with this and have them show me the ropes of doing it.’

“He wasn’t scared to just pull someone in and say, ‘OK, tell me how to do it because we’re going to do it.’ Not like, ‘Can you tell me what is involved in this? Because I’m thinking about doing it.’ It was, ‘Tell me how to do it because we’re going to do it’ and he did.”

In 2020, the company’s campaign for its NOVA Gym raised more than $4 million and became the highest funded fitness product ever on Kickstarter.

“He could pull off things that you never thought that he would be able to pull off,” Andrews continued. “It was such a small group of people. The things that he inspired us to accomplish were pretty amazing. It’s a real shame that he’s not here to see things to fruition. He wanted to grow the company and have a bunch of different products and then sell the company and retire and fly his plane and enjoy life at some point. That he’s not going to be able to do that is just a real, real terrible tragedy.”

Click here to read more about OYO’s record-setting Kickstarter campaign.

But it wasn’t just his OYO team who Francis inspired, according to Ripple. He also showed other entrepreneurs such success is possible from Kansas City.

“OYO Fitness/SpiraFlex technology was an idea in Paul’s mind that he put down on paper and it turned into a multimillion-dollar business,” he explained. “That is the entrepreneurial journey. And I think that so few entrepreneurs get as far as Paul did. So I really think that he did represent something along the lines of like a hope or inspiration or here’s someone who’s done the full arc of entrepreneurship.”