Cold Star Project: Recent Episodes
Jason Kanigan
The Cold Star Project digs into the challenges of scaling fast that tech and Space manufacturing founders encounter. Money does not solve all problems--so what now? Listen in to discover what scaling problems you'll be running into soon, and get a serious advantage in starting to solve them before they run you over!
Past Defense Innovation Unit Director, visiting Scholar at Stanford, former large tech company CEO, and current venture capitalist Mike Brown is this interview guest on the Cold Star Project. Host Jason Kanigan asks Mike about the role of commercial technology in Great Power competition. We discuss:
- what "commercial technology" is (not just silicon chips)
- the organizing principle of commercial tech development for great powers, and whether there is a difference in war or peacetime
- what national leaders frequently fail to focus on that punishes the nation
- what the focus of tech dev in peacetime is, and whether the speed of that development matters when war begins
- the shocking truth about the defense industrial base and the tiny number of companies funded by Pentagon spending (6 vendors receive 2/3 of all Pentagon procurement spending)
- infiltration of US commercial tech dev by foreign powers through venture investment, and just how meaningful this is
- the question Peter Zeihan poses about the breakdown of the global supply chain, and whether we in the US ought to be concerned.
USEFUL LINKS:
Mike Brown's 2017 DIUx Report:
https://www.k-state.edu/research/faculty/other-resources/facility-security-office/documents/diux-study.pdf
Secret History of Silicon Valley slides download from my Google Drive:
https://coldstartech.com/steveblank
Innovating Victory: Naval Technology in Three Wars by O'Hara and Heinz:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1682477320/
OpEx Society:
https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star:
https://coldstartech.com/talktous
US Navy Commander and defense contractor Tim Anderson returns to the Cold Star Project to give an update on what he's seen in the space industry over the past six months. This interview has a different format than usual. Host Jason Kanigan and Tim have a relaxed conversation about talent acquisition and collaboration, quantum computing, AI for space, launch systems, and a lot more. The big takeaway? That conversations in the space industry previously held behind closed doors are now happening in the open because of the need for collaboration.USEFUL LINKS:OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
"Recovering aerospace engineer" Rand Simberg is on the Cold Star Project to discuss three space industry issues. With host Jason Kanigan, Rand elaborates on:
- Overvaluing "safety first" in the space industry, and his book, Safe Is Not An Option
- Building codes for orbital, cislunar, and BEO facilities (which do not exist yet
- The uniqueness and benefits of equatorial LEO.
USEFUL LINKS:
Safe Is Not An Option book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Safe-Not-Option-Rand-Simberg/dp/0989135519/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Paul Rulkens is frequently hired by organizations looking to install or improve their high performance culture. Examples are KPMG, Nestle, Uber, Siemens, and Mercedes Benz. But what does this mean in practical terms? What are these leaders bringing Paul Rulkens in to do? Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project continues the conversation with Paul about what it takes to have a high performance culture.USEFUL LINKS:Paul Rulkens website: https://www.paulrulkens.com/OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.orgTalk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
ZC Institute founder Greg Hodgin is the guest this time on the Cold Star Project. Dr. Hodgin is assembling a tech development consortium comprised of space industry labs and researchers. How has he done it? Where does the funding come from? Host Jason Kanigan asks Dr. Hodgin:
- How did you get into the space industry?
- What is your long term vision and how did you arrive at it?
- Can you share strategic vs tactical considerations you thought of in the planning stage for carrying your plan out?
- How did you decide on the “Institute” organization, why this way? How does intellectual property ownership work? Eg. When you have something, who owns the technology?
- Where does the money come from?
- What unexpected factors or reactions have you encountered in your journey putting this group together?
- How will you know when you’re “done”? Does the organizational structure change at that point, eg. to a new company to execute scaled production?
USEFUL LINKS:ZC Institute website: https://zcinstitute.com/OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.orgAmerica's Future Series: https://www.americas-fs.org/Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Michelle Hanlon, PhD, is a well-known space lawyer. With Jason Kanigan, host of the Cold Star Project, she discusses initiatives in space law that have happened over the past couple of years. We address these questions:
- What in your opinion are the major updates in space law in the past several years? How do they impact the industry? (Artemis Accords, Lux/UAE, Space Resource Utilization topics)
- You’ve written that the UN wants to prevent an arms race in space. How does this play out using space law as a tool? Are member states bound to agree to what the senior body negotiates?
- Geopolitics: Is it true that China wants to claim the Moon first, and what can we do about it?
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Are there any indications of how AI will affect space law? (content creation for new law, citing of previous documents in decisions, faster decision making on reporting, crime detection, and enforcement?)
-
What paths to space law enforcement do you see coming any time soon?
USEFUL LINKS:
For All Moonkind website: https://www.forallmoonkind.org/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Fellow copywriter John Caprani joins Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project. Their topic: Methods by which the social media content you post can be an advertisement for your skills. When does this work? When does it not? John and Jason dig into the answers.
Questions covered include:
-
Who is this for?
-
Why is using content as an advertisement for your skills important?
- Where does it lead?
- What does the process and outcome look like, in detail?
- How do you know when you're done?
- How do you try to ensure you don't talk over the level of your audience?
USEFUL LINKS:
John Caprani on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jdcaprani
Jason Kanigan official website: https://jasonkanigan.com
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Robert Twiggs and Matt Craft, through Twiggs Space Labs, have run pilot Space and STEM / STEAM training programs for kids through the state of Virginia. Bob Twiggs is known as the "Father of the CubSat" for his co-development of the CubeSat standard. As they expand to serve the rest of the United States, Bob and Matt appear on the Cold Star Project to share their practices and vision.
Host Jason Kanigan asks Bob and Matt about their:
- Personal histories
- Products & program
- Benefits for students, teachers, space & defense businesses and the nation from the STEM / STEAM training
- Experience with Virginia, NASA
- Expectations with Primes
- Next Steps for themselves and those wanting to be involved.
USEFUL LINKS:
Twiggs Space Lab (TSL) website: https://twiggsspacelab.com/
TSL is very interested in working with academic institutions, aerospace and defense companies, technology companies, and federal agencies, including NASA, DoD, and NOAA. The support can take many forms including:
- Participating in outreach programs and mentoring students
- Sponsoring STEM programs by purchasing STEM products for schools
- Sponsoring STEM Challenges (CanSat, PocketQubes, etc.)
- Consulting with and advising TSL of critical skill development opportunities
- Promoting TSL programs and products
- Financial support through grants or buying STEM products for schools.
Please feel free to contact TSL at bob.twiggs@twiggsspacelab.com ormatt.craft@twiggsspacelab.com
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Sales Performance Team founder Nicholas Loise returns to the Cold Star Project. He was President of Glazer Kennedy Inner Circle - GKIC/Magnetic Marketing, involved with GKIC 8 years; Owner of a Direct Response Agency and Outsourced Sales Leader Company; Adjunct Professor of Marketing, North Park University; MBA from North Park; VP Sales & Marketing Provena Mercy Medical Center 9 yrs, a $156 Million division. With host and fellow sales expert Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project, Nick illuminates how brick and mortar business owners who lead sales teams can get better results. Not only can they increase their enterprise valuation figure, but they can also see lower sales cycles, better visibility into what's happening, and of course improved revenue. Is there a hole in your sales process, or do you have to create your sales process? Join us and find out!USEFUL LINKS: Nick Loise email at Sales Performance Team: nick@salesperformanceteam.comNick Loise phone number: 847-720-4264Playlist: https://www.coldstartech.com/playSubscribe: https://www.coldstartech.com/subsTalk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Jacob Meyer, PhD, is VP of Technology at ATSP Innovations. He has experience with SBIRs and the struggles of creating commercial products from them. Host Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project discusses these challenges with Dr. Meyer.USEFUL LINKS:ATSP Innovations website: https://www.atspinnovations.com/OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.orgAmerica's Future Series: https://www.americas-fs.org/Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Dr. Paul van Susante of Michigan Technological University, a past guest (link below), returns to the Cold Star Project. We're discussing his participation in a number of investigative projects and NASA challenges related to powering our first projects on the Moon. Host Jason Kanigan asks Paul about the:
- LuSTR grant
- NASA Watts on the Moon centennial challenge phase I, where they won the $100k grand prize for scenario 2. They submitted to Phase II, level 1 and were selected as one of 7 teams to advance to level 2 and received $200k
- NASA Break the Ice challenge centennial challenge phase I where they won a runner up prize ($25k). They submitted an entry to Break the Ice phase II, level 1 and were last month selected as one of 15 teams to advance to level 2 (all US teams (13) got $38.5k)
- Winning several other grants and are currently working on those related to landing pad construction, site preparation, hardware testing in their dusty thermal vacuum chamber as well.
USEFUL LINKS:
HuskyWorks website: https://huskyworks.space/
Paul's previous appearance on the Cold Star Project:
https://coldstarproject.com/aus02e42paulvansusante
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
America's Future Series: https://www.americas-fs.org/
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Did you know there are people with a specific skill set who can jumpstart your business? Copywriters like Jon Reyes and Jason Kanigan have the knowledge and experience to grow your business fast. Jon Reyes has been a copywriter for many years and worked for some of the top personal development names. With fellow copywriter and Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan, Jon discusses: working with the major factor of Compliance in copy, and how to scale with compliance as a limiter on what you can say the power of using revealing flaws and shortcomings in copy, the use of repulsive copy and story telling to attract the best audiences and push away those who are not a fit, and how superiority creates skepticism--and how to fight that Conversion Rate Optimization, and how CRO can work on two levels--technical, like button colors, versus business building CRO, such as brand voice structuring copywriting deals today, compared with 5-10 years ago* why a business owner is better off hiring an experienced copywriter rather than an inexperienced hotshot who promises the worldUSEFUL LINKS:Jon's website: https://www.jonreyes.net/Email Jon at: jon@copyblueprints.com OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.orgAmerica's Future Series: https://www.americas-fs.org/Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
- Bill Conley was a DARPA Program Manager, then the US Department of Defense's expert on electronic warfare for four years, and is now Chief Technology Officer at Mercury Systems. Our topic is a comparison of the 19th Century's Concert of Europe vs Modern Day's communication and methods of deterrence. Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks Bill Conley:
- What is effective communication, especially in context of diplomacy and deterrence of conflict?
- Why doesn’t the Behavioralist/Rational Economics approach work in practice when it comes to national conflicts?
- Do you believe the match-up of 2020s China-US is similar to the 1910s UK-German? Are there historical correlations?
- The WWI era was about the disintegration of the old order, and paradigm shifts. Are there indicators of a similar instability of the existing order today?
- As a nation’s capabilities increase, so do its ambitions. Many of these ambitions seem to end up with the idea of autarky. Do you believe we’re close to experiencing another such outbreak of these ideas today?
- How could a modern day China-US conflict proceed?
USEFUL LINKS:
"Mitchell Hour: State of Electronic Warfare in the DOD" [Dr. Conley lecture]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR_PPGDnejo
"What Is Eurasia?" [Dr. Stephen Kotkin lecture]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ghn1X7sRFs
Mercury Systems website: https://www.mrcy.com/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
America's Future Series: https://www.americas-fs.org/
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
President and CEO of Orbital Assembly Rhonda Stevenson is our guest this time on the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan she discusses the challenges of building a truly commercial space company. We cover the capabilities of Orbital Asembly, as well as Rhonda's personal efforts to build consortiums and attract customers to the space industry.
USEFUL LINKS:
Orbital Assembly website: https://orbitalassembly.com/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
America's Future Series: https://www.americas-fs.org/
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Just because you CAN create a product doesn't mean you SHOULD. What Scaling Problems Can You Find In SBIR/STTR Product Commercialization? While small batches may work in the lab, commercializing will require large quantities and unexpected issues from supply chain through chemical reactions may change. The results from these issues may well prove the venture impossible to complete under current conditions.David Driscoll of Storm Castle joins Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan to discuss a real life example of struggling with scaling for commercialization. While the concept had been proven to work, making it happen at a scale that would make money turned out to be a dead end.Jason asks David:Q: What professional roles have you held? From what context are you speaking to these challenges?A: Glacigen (Founder), Montana State University (Senior Research Scientist), Storm Castle Technical Products (Current; Founder)Q: What was Glacigen all about?A: Commercialization of an advanced manufacturing technique; freeze tape casting. FTC is a hybridization of an industrial processing technique with well-established lab scale technique. It produces large area sheets of materials with highly engineered microstructures. Materials which have been known for a long time can exhibit great performance enhancement with new processing. (Flour, baking soda, eggs, sugar, etc…..could be awful or masterpiece it’s all in the processing. We tend to focus too easily on exotic alloys and entirely new materials (good and valuable), when opportunity is left on the table with respect to using existing ingredients better.Q: What kind of applications were you looking at?A: Started all over the board. FTC arrived as a solution looking for a problem. Composites of high temperature materials (hypersonics), solid oxide fuel cell electrodes, catalyst scaffolds, thermal interface materials, actuators….finally battery electrodes. In my eyes, battery electrodes represented the convergence of good technical fit with strong merit, market of relevant scale, and opportunity to address true customer pain point.Q: Which pain point is that, exactly?A: Specifically for customers of high performance applications: energy density (without destroying power density). Cost is important even for those with performance applications.Q: How did you realize commercializing this as a product, rather than having it remain as a lab invention, was important?A: That was intrinsic, and a primary motivating factor of launching Glacigen. I saw potential for real impact in the FTC process which obviously couldn’t be realized within academia. There was a commitment to commercialization from the outset, but some learning required to understand how that looks.Q: What steps did you take towards commercialization? What did you learn? (eg. would you start the process earlier?)A: Early steps were technically focused: scalability, repeatability, application-based proof of concept. Early strategic steps came after technical work, but work focused on matching applications with strong FTC applicability with customer needs ‘pain points.’ We began working with a company building EV batteries. This led to a great deal of learning that springboarded us towards conversations with larger and more established manufacturers.Engaging with the customer more intentionally, and much earlier would have been critical. The first level is understanding need, which we did reasonably well. We misidenitfied barriers to adoption, which could have - in retrospect been identified much sooner. Same applies to thinking you understand strength of market pull, pain points, value propositions etc. Those things need to be constantly tested and when necessary, iterated.USEFUL NOTES:Storm Castle Technical Products: https://www.stormcastletechnicalproducts.com/OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.orgAmerica's Future Series: https://www.americas-fs.org/Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talk
Sales trainer Wes Schaeffer is back on the Cold Star Project, and our topic is his free 12 Weeks To Peak sales accountability program. Host Jason Kanigan participated in 2022 Q4's version and 12 Weeks To Peak has been re-released for 2023. The two sales trainers share elements and results of this free accountability program for founders and salespeople. Come along with us and find out if it's right for you!
USEFUL LINKS:
12 Weeks To Peak website: https://info.thesaleswhisperer.com/12-weeks-to-peak
Jason Kanigan's Effective Prospecting video series: https://jasonkanigan.com/ytep
Past appearances of Wes Schaeffer on the Cold Star Project:
"What CRM Should I Get?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv2JAgKPzHY
"Process Before Login" (choosing a CRM) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRE5MYudGQM
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Past Chief Software Officer of the US Space Force and Air Force Nic Chaillan is back on the Cold Star Project. Over the past year, Nic has developed his own learning platform, Learn With Nic. He has also hosted his own show, In The Nic Of Time. Host Jason Kanigan asks Nic:
- What have you learned in running your own show, In The Nic Of Time?
- What have you learned about the general state of software security in the US from your guests? Did this confirm what you already were aware of, or did they add any detail?
- If you could wave a magic wand and have leaders and developers realize some fundamentals of DevSecOps that are practical to implement as well as effective, what would a couple of those be?
- Are you still convinced we’re lagging and that China is going to overtake and “beat” us? How do you define that: simply economically, or technologically, militarily? What can we do about it, and are you seeing any evidence of leadership attempting to take action?
- I hear more and more Americans becoming concerned about TikTok, even leaders in fields I thought would be far away from the edges of national security. I believe we should be more explicit about what can be done with TikTok, beyond “they’re collecting all our data!”. Have your thoughts about TikTok evolved over the past year?
- What’s your opinion about the InfraGard hack? To me this seems like “the security guys got hacked”. What could have been done to stop this from happening? Is it symptomatic of a condition or just bad luck? What other kinds of software-based platforms should we be worried about the security of?
- Teach us a couple of DevSecOps terms that are probably new to us.
USEFUL LINKS:
Learn With Nic platform: https://www.learnwithnic.com/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Former Air Force Lt. Colonel and instructor Glenn Carlson was president of the electronic warfare industry's Assocation of Old Crows in 2022. Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks AOC President Glenn Carlson: -
- Tell us about how the AOC started
- Tell us about your background, how you joined the Old Crows, and how you became its president
- What’s your mission? How do you stay energized and sharp after 36+ years in the role as a member, board member, and president?
- How did the Journal of Electromagnetic Dominance come about? What’s its purpose and what involvement do you have with it?
- What is the state of electronic warfare in US defense?
- What impact does the AOC have that is likely out of the public eye?
- What does the AOC offer its members?
USEFUL LINKS:
Glenn Carlson LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenn-powder-carlson-ba24a614/
Association of Old Crows website: https://www.crows.org/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Mike Read is in the role of Manager, ISS Business and Economic Development Office at NASA Johnson Space Center. But what does the International Space Station have to do with the commercialization of space? Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks Mike:
- You have a non-engineering background yet are in the space field. Tell us about how this happened
- What is the scope of your responsibilities in the ISS Business and Economic Development Office?
- What constitutes a success over the period of a year?
- Can you share some recent wins?
- How long is the ISS expected to be available?
- If/when commercial operators have private space stations in orbit, is NASA expecting to simply be a customer?
- Who do you want to speak with? What makes a good discussion or project for you?
Useful Links:
Houston, We Have a Podcast 2019 interview with Mike Read: https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/HWHAP/space-tourism-and-commercialization
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
High performance culture expert Paul Rulkens returns to the Cold Star Project, and this time we're discussing how to manage smart people. In "brain" organizations, people have strong opinions and they're often right. So how do you lead these intelligent, educated and strong willed people to achieve great results?
Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks Agrippa Consulting founder Paul Rulkens:
What does “High Performance Culture” mean from Paul Rulkens’ perspective? How do you know when you have it / what’s the target to be aiming for? What does a “success environment” really mean? (is your performance management geared towards accelerating the best, or is it designed to gradually improve the average? This distinction is the secret to creating outliers.)
Regarding managing smart people… What % would you typically find “smart people” in organizations? Is it the same as “high performers”? “Only small chunks of your own time matter”--let’s discuss.
What about people who will say something like, “I line up my tasks and appointments so that I have maximum impact every moment I can? Surely larger amounts of my time and attention matter more than that!” Assuming we have an 80/20 Rule application here (maybe it’s more like 98/2) how do we apply this as leaders of smart people? What circumstances demonstrate this concept?
When you don’t know as much about the subject matter as the smart people around you, what should you do? How can you pull the best out of your smart team?
As the leader, how can you add value to verify the smart people on the team are thinking accurately? What are your three platinum questions when you lack knowledge of any subject matter, and how do you use them? If you’re not a subject matter expert, what can you coach your team on? What else can you do?
Smart people often disagree. What should you do as a leader if your team has disagreements? Regarding Succession planning with smart individuals, what are the 5 actions you can take when important people leave?
USEFUL LINKS:
Past appearance of Paul Rulkens on the Cold Star Project: https://coldstarproject.com/yts02e56paulrulkens
Paul Rulkens website: https://www.paulrulkens.com/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell is back on the Cold Star Project, and our topic is space infrastructure. From the Deep Space Network though JWST and Starlink, host Jason Kanigan and Dr. McDowell discuss what our experience so far has been and what our priorities in the field should be. Cold Star Tech founder Jason Kanigan asks Dr. Jonathan McDowell about Starlink altitude charts, recent discoveries regarding black holes, new space technologies, how JWST missions are determined, and more!
USEFUL LINKS:
JWST Observing Schedule: https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/observing-schedules
Jonathan's Space Report website: https://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/jsr.html
Dr. McDowell's previous appearance on the Cold Star Project: https://coldstarproject.com/auS02E24JonathanMcDowell
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
CEO of Compass Technology Group LLC Becky Schultz joins host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project, and our topic of discussion is commercialization of products developed through SBIR/STTR grant funding. Jason asks Becky:
- Tell us about your background and its relevance to SBIR/STTR awards
- What was your initial intention in getting grant money: to develop tech/IP, or move towards commercializing a product? Why?
- Share your experience with the grant awards process…quirks, takeaways, frustrations
- What problem were you solving and how did you know the market would be interested in buying?
- Your focus on commercialization ⏤ success stories, struggles (supply chain, scaling manufacturing processes?)
- What do you recommend for those seeking grant funding, in terms of purpose/focus/approach/expectation.
Useful Links:
Compass Technology Group LLC website: https://compasstech.com/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
CU Aerospace President David Caroll kicks off a new season of the Cold Star Project as we discuss the challenges of productizing a new space tech invention. After the struggle of winning an SBIR, then developing the technology, what are the hurdles to commercializing the result?
Host Jason Kanigan asks Dr. Caroll:
- What problem were you aiming to solve when you applied for the specific SBIR we're discussing today?
- Who was the customer or target user? How did you discover that a focus on having a customer was critical and a good starting point for tech development?
- What challenges did you have in getting the award, and then running the program? What conditions or advantages does having a partner eg. U of Illinois bring to the table?
- What have you seen in terms of grant awards that has made you scratch your head?
USEFUL LINKS:
CU Aerospace website: https://cuaerospace.com/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Chris Stott has created several successful space businesses and organizations. Yet when he first told me about his stealth project a few months ago, I was more than a little skeptical. Could data storage on the Moon actually work?
Now that Lonestar Lunar has come out of stealth mode, Chris can explain what the company is doing and why. Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks Chris Stott:
- What problem are you solving? Who will use it? How did the business case present itself?
- How was the executive team chosen?
- Why is it cheaper to build a data center on the Moon rather than on Earth?
- What are the steps involved in implementing your solution? Who are you dependent upon eg. launch provider to put equipment there? Do you have sites chosen?
- What improvements do you need to make to commercial data storage & transmission equipment to have it survive this environment?
- In your other life at Mansat you’ve developed considerable competency in the field of spectrum. Given the volume of data I imagine you’ll be moving back and forth, is there any extra requirement?
- How should early adopters contact you?
USEFUL LINKS:
Lonestar Lunar website: https://www.lonestarlunar.com/
Previous appearances by Chris Stott on the Cold Star Project: https://coldstarproject.com/chrisstottcoldstar
Playlist: https://www.coldstartech.com/play
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Marco Cross recently completed his Masters degree in space engineering at Brown University, and is now Engineering & Commercialization Advisor at Cold Star Technologies. His experience includes developing and commercalizing products, chief engineer on satellite design projects, and commercial space launch.
Host Jason Kanigan and Marco Cross discuss:
Topic: SBUDNIC satellite
- Mission overview
- Learnings from building a multidisciplinary team
- Learnings from super lean/super fast construction
Topic: Lightweight hardware prototyping/process
- Industrial design process in the context of mechanical/space engineering
- Use what’s available, not what’s theoretically best
- Prototyping always starts with good learnings up front -I’ve seen a lot of people fail because they get super far down the process without front-end validation
Topic: Selling space, talking about the dream of exploration
- Why selling the idea of space is important
- NASA budgets are shrinking relative to GDP
- Is space recession proof?
Topic: Future of space engineering as I see it
- Smallsats take over large satellites
- More COTS -Constellation-based sensing overtakes large singular sensing systems, like JWST
- Machine learning processing necessary for interpolation of data
- Future areas that need articulation/opportunities for innovation in space.
USEFUL LINKS:
SBUDNIC article by Brown University: https://engineering.brown.edu/news/2022-05-16/sbudnic-satellite-launch
Transporter Launch video: https://youtu.be/CAgiFU3NAo0
Marco’s video "Space Engineering Is Hard And Here’s Why": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNGZYQvCfUM
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Space industry analyst Nicholas Borroz moved from America to New Zealand to get a PhD in International Business, and ultimately start a space consultancy. But how did he break into the field, and what has he learned about the business of space--and the approach of most space sector companies to it? Space business owners, students and inventors seeking venture capital will find important information in this discussion.
Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks Nick:
- How did you end up in NZ? Peace Corps, doctorate … Tell us about your journey in the space industry
- What sorts of services do you offer at Rotoiti? And also, importantly, what you don’t do; What sorts of clients do you work for: segment, geography, and sector); How did you choose these areas of service focus?
- What are some common difficulties you notice space industry market actors facing?
- How can NZ/Oz companies & US companies work together on space projects?
USEFUL LINKS:
Rotoiti website: https://rotoiti.space/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
In this special episode Dr. Gordon Roesler, past DARPA Program Manager and president of Robots In Space, joins Cold Star Tech's Jason Kanigan to elaborate on his idea of a "Space Superhighway". We have logistics systems on Earth, and they provide teremendous economic value: how can we have a similar system in space?
USEFUL LINKS:
Dr. Roesler's article on The Hill: https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/576673-lets-build-a-superhighway-in-space/
White House NSTC paper: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/04-2022-ISAM-National-Strategy-Final.pdf
OSTP request for comment: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/05/04/2022-09549/notice-of-request-for-comment
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/scheduleonce
We are simply not as "science-y" as we think we are. People presented to us as experts, precedent, and emotions non-factually impact our decisions--and can put the wrong people behind bars for a long time. Fashion of the moment, storytelling, and "they way we've always done things" can be enemies of improvement. Do you believe you're immune to such influences?
Lt. Col. Arthur Alphin is a firearms & ballistics expert and weapons systems engineer. In this role he is called upon in court to demonstrate how the opposing side's so-called "scientific" tests, representation of events and other issues in shooting cases simply aren't true. I discovered Art as the creator of a West Point video training series about weapons, and ask him here to elaborate on his experience and observations concerning the validity of court proceedings when it comes to shootings. You likely be extremely surprised and disturbed.
USEFUL LINKS:
Antiaircraft round screenshot referred to around 37:00: https://coldstarproject.com/alphinscreenshot
Arthur Alphin's website https://arthuralphin.com/
Accompanying this discussion I recommend forensic criminologist Dr. Ron Martinelli's appearance on the Cold Star Project: https://coldstarproject.com/ytS02E02RonMartinelli
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Experienced space startup founder Matthew Travis returns to the Cold Star Project. What has his journey and pivot been like as he finds product-to-market fit in the space industry? What need is there for environmentally friendly propulsion for space launch and spacecraft? Host Jason Kanigan asks Matt:
What indicators have you found that point to a need for environmentally friendly propulsion technology for space launch?
Who’s your customer? How did you focus on nanosatellites as your target market?
How will this technology impact the marketplace and the planet’s ecosystem?
Tell us about your journey in developing this technology. What R&D hurdles and successes have you experienced?
When it comes to the operational areas of Sales and Production, what have you learned? Especially since this is not your first space company.
USEFUL LINKS:
NASA’s Green Propulsion Roadmap: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20180006412/downloads/20180006412.pdf
The European Union is moving toward banning hydrazine. Ref: REACH https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/ESA_responding_to_EU_s_REACH_chemical_law
Aphelion Aerospace website: https://aphelionaerospace.com/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Space industry analyst Chris Quilty joins host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project to discuss what makes a good startup in the field. As a 20+ year veteran of space and satellite analysis, Chris founded Quilty Analytics in 2016. Jason asks Chris:
- What was it that made you realize opening your own firm was a better idea after 20 years of working for another firm?
- You speak about benchmarking in your profile ⏤ what indicators do you look for that demonstrate a good investment?
- Are space startups offering the exit opportunities investors want?
- How far are we from having a true “commercial space industry”?
- What’s your opinion of SPACs and how gun-shy do you believe investors will be going forward?
- You’ve stated that you believe the regulatory environment for space firms has become more favorable. Can you explain what has been happening and factors contributing to this?
- How is the defense and intelligence community reacting to the emergence of a commercial space industry. Are they resisting or embracing the change
- Are you seeing out-of-sector venture capital more willing to fund space startups? What should these VCs be cautious about and look for as positives?
USEFUL LINKS:
Quilty Analytics website: https://www.quiltyanalytics.com/
Screenshot of space art: https://coldstarproject.com/quiltyart
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Venture capitalist Adam Anderson got into the space industry by way of cybersecurity. He knows what it takes to start up successful businesses--and when to get out of your own way as the founder so the business can grow further. Host Jason Kanigan asks Adam:
- How did you get involved in space investing? What was your journey to get to now?
- What level have you been involved in in space investing? (company size, maturity level at start/end, pre/post revenue) Has there been an evolution in your choices?
- What “brutal lessons” have you learned by being a space industry investor? What’s the most frustrating thing you keep seeing? -
- How important is the tech when the leadership of a startup is pitching you?
- What’s the thing you keep banging your head against the wall about, wishing people would have ready to bring to you when they come to pitch?
- Is there a consistently encountered hurdle when moving from pre- to post-revenue? Anything blocking the move from zero to one?
- What have you noticed that indicates to you a startup team will be successful? And a failure? What is present or missing?
- From your perspective, is there light at the end of the tunnel⏤is it likely that space industry startups will begin to be developed and funded any time soon as, say, SaaS companies do today?
USEFUL LINKS:
Ansuz Capital website: https://ansuzcapital.com/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Are there new and unexpected ways to gather and interpret data in the space domain awareness field? More Cowbell Unlimited founder John Bicknell thinks so. Combining interests in operations research and national security, John looks to develop valuable predictive insights. Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks John Bicknell:
what is your background and how did you get into space?
- How do you perceive the emerging space environment?
- How do you see the role of the US military in space?
- What is your view of the state of Space Domain Awareness, and what can be improved in it?
USEFUL LINKS:
More Cowbell Unlimited Website: https://morecowbellunlimited.com/
John Bicknell LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbicknell/
LinkedIn company page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/morecowbellunlimited
Twitter handle: @morecowbellultd
COL John Boyd USAF article: Boyd, J. 1976. “Destruction and Creation.” https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58a3add7e3df28d9fbff4501/t/58a4a32ce4fcb5d8f00b7243/1487184684871/Destruction+and+Creation_3+Sep+1976.pdf
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Nicolas Chaillan is the past Chief Software Officer for the US Space Force and Air Force. He lead a number of software initiatives in the US Department of Defense (DoD) and has demonstrated an impressive ability with project and change management. Host Jason Kanigan asks Nic:
For those who haven’t heard of you yet, please give us the highlights of your DoD involvement and CSO experience
How did you make the move to becoming a US citizen and becoming employed by the state in important roles?
Can you explain DevSecOps for those outside the tech field? Why is it important and how have you contributed to US national security and administrative effectiveness with it?
You’ve made no secret of the cultural and change management issues inside DoD that frustrated your work. This was what really caught my attention, as such issues are found in nearly all large organizations and are the kinds of problems I’ve seen up close for over 20 years as a change agent and OpEx guy. Can you share with us some stories exemplifying these problems, and what you recommend to improve the situation?
The Waterfall vs Agile development methodology argument has been going on for some time. But according to yourself and other DoD officials I’ve spoken with, one has clearly outperformed the other and “actually works”. What has your experience been and why do you so strongly promote the methodology?
You’ve repeatedly sounded the alarm about TikTok: what’s the problem with this app and why is it a danger to Americans?
The tech we’re talking about--logistical and operational, decision making, infrastructure security--has a huge impact and yet is operating at a level out of sight of the general public. In a perfect world according to Nicolas, how do you see the strategic direction of US effort being applied to reach the operational state you envision? Let’s paint that picture.
USEFUL LINKS:
Link for Platform One, Iron Bank, Big Bang and more: https://software.af.mil/dsop/services/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Director of the Air Force Research Lab/New Mexico's Space Vehicles Directorate Col. Eric Felt joins us for a discussion of US national security and the state of the space industrial base on this episode of the Cold Star Project. Host Jason Kanigan asks Col. Felt:
- In your talk earlier this year at the National Security State of the Space Industrial Base 2021 event you termed the US position as “tactically strong, strategically fragile”. Can you explain in more depth what you meant?
- In the same talk you mentioned you’re “hearing all the right words but not necessarily seeing the right investment”--budgeting hasn’t changed in the past 5 years (How about an increase from the current 20% of DoD authority invested in purchasing commercial goods & services?). What does this translate into for action, outreach, dialogue, partnerships and more?
- What should DoD’s or AFRL’s Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) / North Star be for the immediate future?
- How valuable would you say improvements made leading DoD to make faster decisions would be?
- It’s easy to run around like Chicken Little, exclaiming the sky is about to fall. How big a threat is China, really? What should we be watching for on the military side?
- What new developments at AFRL NM can you share with us?
USEFUL LINKS:
AFRL/NM website: https://www.afrlnewmexico.com/
State of the Space Industrial Base 2021 Report (download link at bottom of page): https://coldstarproject.com/diustatespace2021
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
The COO of Space Foundation, Shelli Brunswick, is our guest on this episode of the Cold Star Project. After a successful Air Force career Shelli has taken on many mentorship and influencer roles in the space industry. But how impactful are advocacy and mentorship roles in space? Host Jason Kanigan asks:
- Tell us about Space Foundation’s mission
- What have been your biggest challenges as Chief Operating Officer of Space Foundation? What has surprised you?
- Where do you see Space Foundation’s role directing activity for the next decade, and how do you intend to carry that out?
- What’s the long term goal of the Space4Women Network you’re a Mentor with? Can you share a story of how it has worked so far?
- You’re Chairperson of the Space Tourism Society Africa...tell us about the organization, how it formed and how you got involved...and how you believe it’s having an effect
- You’re also Chairperson of the Women In Aerospace Foundation. With your involvement in all these existing organizations, do you believe it’s best to advocate for women in aerospace this way, or is there a need for a new organization that doesn’t yet exist? Something that would address a hole you see in the industry’s needs?
USEFUL LINKS:
Space Foundation website: https://www.spacefoundation.org/
Space4Women website: https://space4women.unoosa.org/
Women In Aerospace Foundation website: https://www.womeninaerospacefoundation.org/foundation/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
As "Lady Rocket", Eva Blaisdell has developed a brand personality in the space industry. She brings relevancy to space for regular people through education and events. In this episode of the Cold Star Project, host Jason Kanigan asks Lady Rocket:
- How and why did you pick the “Lady Rocket” brand? How has this choice of branding affected your impact over time?
- What’s your mission and how do you keep current in carrying it out while staying on brand? (You are clear about using the word “tragedies” in your positioning… people often want to avoid uncomfortable topics, yet you have deliberately called one out: why?)
- What efforts does the Lady Rocket Foundation support? Who is a good candidate for your help, and how do they go about requesting it?
- Who do you believe has the biggest impact on young people and their potential interest in space/STEM? (educators or public personas, specific nations, companies?)
- What’s your biggest frustration with the space industry worldwide at this time? What areas or topics would you most like to put resources into?
- What result are you most proud of accomplishing so far, and why?
USEFUL LINKS:
Lady Rocket Foundation website: https://www.ladyrocketfoundation.org/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Basuti Bolo is a space educator in Botswana and Zimbabwe. In this episode of the Cold Star Project, host Jason Kanigan explores the state of the space industry in Southern Africa by asking Basuti:
- What was your experience growing up, and how did you get involved with STEM? What path did you take to enter your field?
- Botswana and Zimbabwe are landlocked countries… how has their geography impacted its development and ideas of national space programs? Is there cooperation or competition? What does the average Botswana or Zimbabwe citizen think of space and space-based technology?
- What do you believe the most significant challenge for Southern Africans is regarding development and user adoption of space technology?
- What will farmers get out of having the “precise data” promised by spectral imagery?
- Tell us what’s involved in your role as Space for Women Ambassador to Botswana
- If you had the resources to do what you pleased concerning a space education and technology development program for Southern Africa, what would you concentrate your effort upon?
USEFUL LINKS:
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Space business development and aeronautical engineering pro Daniel Penaranda is on the Cold Star Project to share his experience in International Space University - Florida Institute of Technology's (ISU-FIT) Commercial Space Program.
This graduate level course prepares participants for the realities of creating commercial space businesses. Join us as host Jason Kanigan asks Daniel:
- Tell us about your background, and why you chose to attend the Commercial Space Program
- What were your thoughts and emotions going into the Commercial Space Program? Did you have a clear mental picture of what was going to happen and what outcomes you were going to achieve?
- What resources and assignments were you provided, so you could learn by working? Tell us about the assignments
- Was the networking accessible through the program useful? What kind of connections have you made?
- What were the most surprising outcomes, realizations or things you had to change your mind about due to being in the program?
- For space & defense folks who haven’t taken the program, what’s the #1 idea you believe they need to hear?
Disclaimer: We were not remunerated in any way by Daniel Penaranda or ISU-FIT for this discussion.
Useful Links:
The Final Frontier Podcast: https://thefinalfrontierpodcast.com/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Rick Ward is the founder of OrbitsEdge, a space industry firm focused on edge computing. Has the time come for the adoption of edge computing in space? Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks Rick:
- Lay out the case for edge computing in the context of the space industry...We’re about to generate more data and put more strain on the Deep Space Network...how do we handle it? What technology is needed? Do we have this tech today?
- How will the Cislunar economy impact this data pipeline requirement? What timeline could we be looking at for this?
- We’ve doubled the population of satellites over the past two years (Starlink)...may double again over next two and continue to, applying ongoing pressure. Are there any plans to respond to these requirements?
- What kind of anecdotal evidence can you provide that you’re seeing people recognizing themselves that there’s an impending data problem?
- Explain the Compute-as-a-Service … who’s the customer?
- What is OrbitsEdge’s intention to do next?
USEFUL LINKS:
OrbitsEdge website: https://orbitsedge.com/
Previous episode with Rick Ward on the Cold Star Project: https://coldstarproject.com/auS02E27RichardWard
Disclaimer: We were not remunerated in any way by Richard Ward or OrbitsEdge for this discussion.
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Robots In Space founder Dr. Gordon Roesler returns to the Cold Star Project following his appearance as a speaker at the State of the Space Industrial Base 2021 event. We're looking at the need for commercial logistics systems for space, and why the US needs to invest in these in a hurry.
Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks Gordon Roesler:
- Let’s describe our topic: Logistics in space, Commercial logistics systems. What do they consist of, and what do they enable? What are we missing now and why is it a problem?
- How important is logistics in space in terms of our ability to compete with China?
- Describe the importance of modularity in the development of these systems
- What does a “space container” look like and why is the concept so useful? - How do you envision funding to work for developing commercial logistics systems for space?
- What differences do you see between government perspective vs private perspective? Are there things government can do to allow and encourage the funding and development of commercial systems? (who chooses the architecture, how do commercial investors make their money back).
USEFUL LINKS:
Past appearances by Dr. Roesler: https://coldstarproject.com/gordonroeslercoldstar
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Space and defense startups frequently have a tough time "being heard" in the field. Not only that, but these small companies struggle with learning the byzantine paths to discovering and connecting with prime contractors and government organizations who could be looking for their technical help. Katie Bilek co-founded govmates in 2015 to smooth the way and assist in making teaming connections. If you're a space or defense startup founder looking for help in developing these kinds of connections, listen in to our discussion.
Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks govmates' Katie Bilek:
- Why did you co-found Govmates? What need did you see, and what did it take to get the connections and support required? How does Govmates add value to the marketplace? What problem does govmates solve?
- What background do you have that you feel empowered your decision?
- How does membership in Govmates work? What can members expect?
- Who is the right kind of person to be signing up for membership? What stage should their business be at? Is TS clearance a requirement for all members?
- What kind of mistakes do you see new members signing up making, that when corrected or avoided will help their company get seen more effectively and make better connections?
- It’s 10 years from now… how do you see Govmates in form and function? How has it grown and are there any changes in its strategic direction?
Useful Links:
govmates website: https://govmates.com/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Can an artist inspire people to embrace space? This is what illustrator Peter Thorpe has been doing since the mid-1980s. Peter has typically worked as a book cover illustrator, but he has also done logos, magazine covers and posters. With a 20-year span as the Space Frontier Foundation's Creative Director, Peter has had an impact on the space industry. How has this unusual career and impact come about? Host Jason Kanigan asks Peter:
- Art can be a tough subject to convince others that you can be successful with as a living, let alone yourself. How did you encounter this and commit to the Illustrator profession as a young man?
- From the data points it seems you had no trouble moving around the country as a young person. Do you believe this was necessary for your career? With today’s “location-free” roles and computer-driven skills (that, I stress for our younger viewers & listeners, were not options available in 1980!) do you feel you would not have felt the need to move close to the work if you were starting out now?
- You mentioned to me that you attended the very first adult Space Camp in 1985. What was that experience like? What stands out in your memory about it?
- Tell us about the Space Frontier Foundation: its purpose, activities, and your involvement 88-08
- You mention “visual research” as part of your cover art design process in a recent text interview. Share with us how you go about designing a cover
- Let’s discuss “How an artist endeavours to inspire people to embrace space”. What is your point of view on this concept, and how has it developed over the years? What do you especially want your art to accomplish in terms of impact upon people?
Useful Links:
Google Drive folder of some of Peter's art images (these are already available to the public, and were provided by Peter): https://coldstarproject.com/s02e82peterthorpeartwork
Peter's website: www.peterthorpedesign.com
Click on the Rocket Paintings link for 6 pages and an About page for the Rockets
Peter Thorpe Pinterest page for the Rockets: https://www.pinterest.com/peterjthorpe/rocket-paintings/
Peter Thorpe Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/peter.thorpe.design
Peter's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/peterthorpedesign/
Peter Thorpe Deviant Art page: https://www.deviantart.com/peterthorpe/gallery
Peter's short stories: http://www.bigheadmoon.com/
How to make Peter Thorpe Space Art YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80PJqFR9B8k
Disclaimer: We were not remunerated in any way by Peter Thorpe for this discussion.
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
What does it take to get on the test launch schedule at Vandenberg Air Force Base? How do so many organizations unnecessarily delay their time because of unexpected but avoidable issues? Edmund Burke of Space Information Labs joins host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project to explain range safety compliance - happenings, trends, success, and failure.
We discuss:
- The shift to Autonomous Flight Termination and Space Based Range
- Brief explanation of flight termination systems
- Advantages and necessity of intelligent lithium battery systems
- RadTol BMS, and radiation tolerant avionics
- Testing and documentation required to fly (RCC 319-19)
- A decade of watching companies fall short on promises because the didn’t understand what it takes
- Danger of vertical integration for startups
- Important lessons learned
Edmund Burke served as an Air Force Program Manager and Project Director for many years prior to founding Space Information Laboratories in 2004. He served as the Space Lift Range System, Range Instrumentation and Metric Track lead for both Vandenberg AFB and Cape Canaveral, FL. Mr. Burke is a master designer, inventor and business development leader of launch vehicle, missile and small satellite avionics and power system technologies that are required to be Range Safety and Space environmentally qualified. He holds four USPTO utility patents on SIL’s VBITS GPS Tracking and AFTS, VBIRS – Space Based Range, Li-Ion Polymer Intelli-Pack® Battery, Intelli-Avionics® and Chameleon 12U to 27U Open Modular Scalable Reconfigurable Bus technologies. Mr. Burke has a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and a M.S. in Astronautical Engineering from West Coast University.
Useful Links:
Still image of SIL flight termination module: https://coldstarproject.com/edmundburkesilftcphoto
Still image of SIL 2 Amp battery unit and battery management system (BMS): https://coldstarproject.com/edmundburkesilbmsphoto
Space Information Labs website: https://www.spaceinformationlabs.com/
Disclaimer: We were not remunerated in any way by Edmund Burke or Space Information Laboratories for this discussion.
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Past Comptroller General of the United States, professor at the US Naval Academy, former Defense Business Board appointee, and author David Walker returns to the Cold Star Project--and this time we're addressing the question of whether the United States will still be a superpower by 2040. David has authored the book America In 2040: Still A Superpower? A Pathway To Success. What's wrong with America's fiscal policy, how did we get here, and what can we do about it?
Host Jason Kanigan asks David Walker:
-
An investigation of organizations in decline produced the book Exit, Voice and Loyalty by Albert Hirschman. Out of the three choices, Voice is your option… What made you believe writing a book was the best way of influencing others?
-
Let’s hear your definition of “superpower”.
-
What can we learn from past major powers about the problems of maintaining economic growth and military strength over decades?
-
Specifically looking at the US now, what outcomes can we expect by 2040 if we don’t change our course? And your target?
-
What in your opinion is today’s greatest economic and national security threat to America? How do we handle it?
-
You educated me about the concept of “the tooth and the tail” in our last discussion… What needs to change in military investing (development, procurement, deployment) to ensure America remains a superpower over the next two decades?
-
What budget controls and standards changes are necessary to achieve the level of results you want to see?
-
Share your views on tax policy with us and how you envision these to to alter the long term outcome of the US economic situation.
Useful Links:
Get the book on Amazon (NOT an affiliate link): https://coldstarproject.com/americain2040
Previous interview with David Walker on cultural development in government operations: https://coldstarproject.com/yts04e02davidwalker
Disclaimer: We were not remunerated in any way by David Walker for discussing his book or any other topics.
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dr. Narayan Prasad, COO of Satsearch, is my guest on this episode of the Cold Star Project. In an industry often frustrated by lack of funding, Narayan has helped guide Satsearch into becoming a truly commercial space business. But what differences are required, both in mindset and execution? Host Jason Kanigan asks Narayan:
- What led you to the founding of Satsearch? What was that process like and how did you know the market wanted something like that?
- Tell us about your discovery of what really works in business
- What top three or four errors do you consistently see startup founders make?
- Has the Satsearch platform evolved (similarly to NewSpace Hub) along the way?
- What improvements have you made, and what do you intend to make?
- You’ve avoided investment capital despite it being offered to you… why?
Satsearch website: https://satsearch.co/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/talktous
The CRO of Process and Results, Phil Gerbyshak, is on the Cold Star Project to share his experiences and views on what it takes to successfully grow a business. There's a lot more to it than engineering and sales! Host Jason Kanigan asks Phil about sales, process and leadership as follows:
- You’ve had opportunities to lead salespeople, such as coaching 160 sales professionals and 25 or so sales leaders in 4 locations in one role. What’s the number one issue you’ve encountered salespeople struggling with?
- Far too many founders out there think that all you have to do with salespeople is feed them leads and give them product knowledge. What’s missing here, from your perspective? What dangers is the founder unknowingly asking for by adopting this approach?
- Do sales leaders have different priorities and focus in coaching requirements than line salespeople? What was most surprising from your experience coaching sales leaders?
- As a fellow show host, what has been critical for you over the years to keep up the intensity, interest, momentum? What process improvements have you made over time and what impact have they had?
- I see a lot of people get caught up in the technology stack decisions (CRM, internal communications, fulfillment delivery etc.). How important are these, from your perspective? What should organization leaders be focusing on when it comes to revenue growth? What internal issues come up that are more important than tech problems or decisions?
- Should sales leaders be on social media? How can we make effective use of social selling and solution selling?
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/talktous
Past Associate Administrator, Human Exploration and Operations at NASA and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Douglas Loverro is on the Cold Star Project. We're discussing geopolitics, national security, and the space industry. Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks Doug:
- Part of your messaging is to “advocate for greater use of commercial capabilities and manufacturing for future DoD space and launch missions”. As a board member of several space companies, what do you believe most commercial space companies need to figure out or the lesson they most need to take to heart? What capability gaps do you see?
- What is the role of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy… What did you do / what did a typical day look like for you?
- What positive lessons about manned spaceflight have you taken away from the NASA role? Was there a “biggest surprise” in your experience there?
- Tell us about the National Security Space Association, its goals, values, purpose. How can being a member enhance the USA and one’s career?
- What do you recommend people new to space careers get started on today to make the most out of their time and impact?
Doug's white paper on resilience: https://policy.defense.gov/Portals/11/Space%20Policy/ResilienceTaxonomyWhitePaperFinal.pdf?ver=2016-12-27-131828-623
National Security Space Association website: https://www.nssaspace.org/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/talktous
Dr. TS Kelso is a principle scientist behind understanding and using TLE data for identifying, tracking and predicting the orbital paths of satellites. For decades he has promoted the development of programs with increasing ability to work with TLEs. Most recently he has led the creation of CelesTrak, a data visualization tool allowing anyone online to see what satellite orbits look like. But how did this come about? And what are the challenges of using TLEs, a format based on the limitations and needs of old technologies, to track satellites? Host Jason Kanigan asks Dr. Kelso:
- What’s the truth about the state of US technology for satellite identification and tracking?
- Are TLEs good enough anymore? What are we missing out on knowing because of data truncation?
- Other than the sheer bulk of increased satellites and therefore data, what concerns do you have about the future of satellite trajectory ID, tracking, and prediction?
- Regarding tracking, what should we update first: technology or standards?
- How can we overcome the problem of user adoption in standards? What are the main issues you see in getting agreement? Are they mostly nationality-based eg. Russia vs America vs China, or government bodies conflicting, or “Not Invented Here” Syndrome?
- At what point did you realize it was possible to build CelesTrak? What was the biggest hurdle in getting the application up and running? What capabilities do you envision it having eventually?
CelesTrak website: https://celestrak.com
Click "Launch Orbit Visualization"
Dr. Kelso's biography including a considerable USAF career completed as a Colonel: https://celestrak.com/webmaster.php
Cold Star Project Space Situational Awareness playlist: https://coldstarproject.com/ssaplay
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Dr. Andrew Aldrin is back on the Cold Star Project and this time we're diving into the funding sources and direction for the space economy. What needs to happen and what should we be looking at? Does the Silicon Valley investment model fail in the space industry? Are there obvious next steps, or do we need to continue to guess what's on the horizon? Andy shares his valuable experience and perspective in this open discussion with Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan.
We also touch on the ISU Center for Space Entrepreneurship's Graduate Certificate Commercial Space Program. Info on the program: https://www.fit.edu/isucse/
Previous appearances of Dr. Aldrin:
Challenges of Space Entrepreneurship: https://coldstarproject.com/auS02E26AndrewAldrin
How the Soviets Beat the Americans Into Space: https://coldstarproject.com/auS02E31AndrewAldrin
Graduate Certificate Commercial Space Program updates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkglBElSEEU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu06d9R5DZ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rjUrEIAFCU
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous
Dr. Yan Song is back to complete our deep dive into operationalizing cultural development. This complex, systems thinking topic concludes with Yan's Step 4, transforming the culture. But how is this actually done?
Cultural Development with Dr. Yan Song series playlist: https://coldstarproject.com/culturaldevelopment
Slide stills:
Competence slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e06competence
Transformation (step 4) slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e07transformationslide
Operational Perspective slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e07opsperspectiveslide
Ecology slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e07ecologyslide
Cultural Development slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e05culturaldevslide
Key Takeaways slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e07keytakeawaysslide
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Dr. Yan Song and Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan continue our exploration of what it takes to operationalize cultural development in organizations. In this deep talk we're looking at Steps Two and (unexpectedly for me, but we didn't want to leave people stranded) Three in a four-part process. I ask Yan about the following:
I had to laugh because the points on slide 7 “Enter New Territory 1 / 4” are the same things we see in sales. We are all trapped in our mental model of limiting beliefs, and what we say we’ll do is often different from what we actually do. Is there a way we can help ourselves become more aware of these processes and contradictions?
Slide 8 is about feedback loops and learning. In my experience, feedback loops have been the bugbear of organizations: they often are missing; they frequently have bad measures when they are in place; tasks and outcomes fall between the cracks as a result--and this obviously does not lead to operational excellence. Frankly, everybody seems to believe they are doing better than they actually are (including me). I also note the time difference between the “doing” and “learning” modes… I imagine this applies to organizations as well, since they are made of people? Is there anything we can do to accelerate learning?
Slide 9 Entropy Increases… Leonard Cohen’s line “from the wars against disorder”... Yeats’ “the center cannot hold”... Why do we need a defensive system against chaos? What would happen if we adopted chaos (would we go insane, Motorcycle Maintenance style?) This Slide 9 is worthy of tremendous discussion--what’s going on here? A snapshot of human perspective, one which I certainly recognize symptoms of my own behavior in! If things are always falling apart, what hope do we have of keeping an organization together long enough to operationalize cultural development and head towards operational excellence?
On Slide 10 we see the shift we must make. However, there is a lot here to explore and unpack. I like the “collective excellence” term. We can’t achieve cultural transformation (or much at all) alone. Reminding ourselves that the topic is “Bravely entering new territory”, I think we finally see what this can mean: not only picking up new ideas from some sort of inert or “doesn’t fight back” source like a book or a video, but rather exploring the new territory of someone else’s mind and ideas. Passive sources can jarr and possibly have their ideas denied by the recipient without pushback, but a live human will probably continue to argue. What are the consequences of that? (We see it played out often in Facebook arguments where no one changes the mind of the other). How can we avoid shut down?
Cultural Development with Dr. Yan Song series playlist: https://coldstarproject.com/culturaldevelopment
Slide stills: Step Two slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e06step2slide
Reflexive Learning Loop slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e06reflexiveslide
Double Loop Learning slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e06doubleloopslide
Unilateral decision making slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e06unilateralslide
Mutual decision making slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e06mutualslide
Step Three slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e06step3slide
Competence slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e06competence
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Now that we've covered what operationalizing cultural development means, in the first episode of this series (CSP S04E04), Dr. Yan Song returns to the Cold Star Project to tackle the next step. How do we put this into action? What is the first step in operationalizing cultural development? With host Jason Kanigan, Dr. Song digs into systems thinking and the approach he has arrived at for taking effective action on this critical organizational topic.
Jason Kanigan asks Yan:
- “The Truth” is a fundamental concept for both of us. Your process for operationalizing cultural development, as does mine for improving the processes of businesses, begins with confronting the brutal facts. What form does this take and what should investigators be looking for as indicators or starting points?
- In a slide we see a terrible condition of isolated, fearful, territory-protective people who have only the goal of personal survival. These elements come from Barry Oshry’s book Seeing Systems. How do these elements fit into a system, and how can the leader working to operationalize cultural development make use of them?
- It seems that by following the analysis track and improving each separately would not accomplish what we want, which is the improvement of the entire system. What, then, is the organizing principle or purpose of this system and how can we use these elements to improve it? - I am surprised to see Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team book in your presentation...but I probably shouldn’t be. I hadn’t thought his stuff was this high level (though I do think it is good: I think of his content as operational level but obviously I have some education to get on that point!). What is it about Lencioni’s approach that made you want to build it into your cultural development / confronting the brutal facts process?
- Let’s explore Lencioni’s pyramid. When initiating cultural development, from the pyramid we see that trust is the base. Trust typically comes after people see the actions of their leaders, and then those carrying out the tasks operationally can get comfortable with the conflict, need for commitment etc. But the leader has to start, it seems, from the top? Demonstrating focus on measures, proving their own accountability and commitment, then being willing to challenge the team and develop that trust? Where would you recommend people start?
Cultural Development with Dr. Yan Song series playlist: https://coldstarproject.com/culturaldevelopment
Slide stills:
Cultural Development process slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e05culturaldevslide
Steps slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e05stepsslide
Hot Springs slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e05hotspringsslide
Set Up Camp slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e05campslide
Lencionoi - Collins slide: https://coldstarproject.com/yansongs04e05lencionislide
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Systems Thinking thought leader and Fortune 500 executive Yan Song is our guest on this first episode of a series on the Cold Star Project. Our series topic is about culture in organizations. The question we're asking in this episode is: How can we solve the 21st Century challenge of operationalizing cultural development? Begin with the possibility that we can build culture development right into our operations, and have our people improve it as they carry out their daily tasks.
Host Jason Kanigan asks Yan Song:
- How important is organizational culture? Of course it is nice to work at an org with a pleasant, uplifting culture; however, what do we mean in a measurable, rationalist, even economic sense?
- What does “operationalizing cultural development” mean? How are we defining it?
- What are the ‘levers and dials’ of how it works? {Play, Purpose, Potential in the HBR article; compensation is not a factor, not a surprise to many of us; higher customer satisfaction; higher revenue per employee; “ToMo” total motivation; article gets into some behavioral economics with the emotional & economic pressures that I don’t believe are always valid, but we can mention them}
- Is there a relationship between company process and employee motivation? {up to 50 motivation points on a -100 to +100 scale in the HBR article} - What can leaders do to help initiate and support this kind of change? {Huddle, Why, role design in the HBR article; note how these go back to identity and sense of personal involvement}
- How can a leader discern what kind of culture they are in now, and whether senior management will be supportive of such change? We understand “the good” of this improvement, but what if it turns out senior management is scared of the idea?
- How else can things go wrong? What are the consequences if we misstep in our attempts to improve culture? How difficult is it to course-correct? Will there be damage to our reputation and future consequences like promotion blockage?
Useful Links:
HBR article we reference: https://hbr.org/2015/11/how-company-culture-shapes-employee-motivation
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Cold Star Tech founder Jason Kanigan speaks at Brown University's Space Horizons 2021 event. [**NOTE: the first few seconds are indeed silent... in the video version there is a title slide.] The topic is space entrepreneurship, particularly on the commercial side. Jason covers what he has found in interviewing over 150 space industry academics, experts and founders, and the state of commercial space entrepreneurship. In the Q&A we also get into what space students can do to advance their careers. Hosted by Dr. Rick Fleeter and his students.
Space Horizons website: http://www.spacehorizonsatbrown.org/
Books referenced: Space Is Open For Business, Robert C. Jacobson; Business Model Generation, Alexander Osterwalder
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Atul Vashistha, globalization & outsourcing author and business founder, is on the Cold Star Project to explain how the Defense Business Board works. With considerable experience on the board, serving three presidents, Atul offers the perspective of vice chair and having managed board task forces. Host Jason Kanigan asks Atul to detail the process by which the Defense Business Board learns what its client the US Department of Defense wants, and develops its response as a report.
View the slides Atul referred to: https://coldstarproject.com/vashisthaslides
Defense Business Board example study referenced in our discussion: https://dbb.defense.gov/Portals/35/Documents/Reports/2016/DBB%20FY16-01%20Virtual%20Consultantices%20Study%20-%20Final.pdf
Supply Wisdom website: https://www.suplywisdom.com
Atul Vashistha's Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Atul-Vashistha/e/B001IO9RP6
Disclaimer: we were not compensated in any way for Atul's appearance or mentioning his companies or works.
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Marty Waldman's space career has spanned over 44 years and counting. He worked on missile defense, the space shuttle, and many other space projects through the US Navy and Air Force. He is the principal associate at Space Information Labs and president of United Horizons. Also, Marty founded the Southern Nevada chapter of the National Defense Industry Association and is active in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Our discussion centers around the problem of where the power necessary for space applications such as a lunar or Martian base is going to come from. Marty has a solution and you can follow along with the presententation deck linked to below. Host Jason Kanigan asks Marty:
- What are two projects (that you're allowed to talk about, anyway) you're most proud of and why?
- You’ve made an argument for incorporating nuclear power into the space industry. What is the “big idea” you’re promoting and how does it apply to space?
- Why Nevada as a home base for this kind of solution?
- Isn't nuclear technology dangerous?
- Who is the customer of this power solution?
- What kind of projects attract your attention and interest nowadays? What is your vision of the space industry for the next two or three decades?
Useful Links:
Ascend presentation slide deck on nuclear power in space: https://coldstarproject.com/ascendpowerdeck
American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA)
National Website: www.aiaa.org
Las Vegas AIAA Website: https://aiaa-lasvegas.org/
National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) website: https://ndia-snv.org/
Marty Waldman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marty-waldman-6868368/
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
David Walker is a past Comptroller General of the United States, professor at the US Naval Academy, former Defense Business Board appointee, and author. He's on the Cold Star Project to discuss the role of culture in government operations, including with his own experience in the Government Accountability Office and on the Defense Business Board. Host Jason Kanigan asks:
// Defense Business Board //
- what is the purpose of the Board, both the official wording and from your point of view? Do you believe it is meeting that purpose? -What are some of the projects that you worked on?
-what changes or initiatives can the Board make?
-What are some of the biggest business challenges facing the DoD?
-what did your experience as US Comptroller General allow you to bring into the appointment to the Defense Business Board? What perspective do you believe you brought; what were you most “on alert” for? -what most surprised you in your service on the Board? Was it people- or process-based?
// US Comptroller General 98-08 - 15-year, non renewable term appointment, Government Accountability Office (audit institution, part of the legislative branch) //
-roles like this often don’t have a “rules manual” and you must create the role “your way” as you go. Did you find this to be the case? How did you adapt to the situation if so?
-you have a supposedly non partisan bureaucracy working for you as the GAO. How did you find that and how did information flow to you? What kind of decisions did you make? What were your main accomplishments at GSP?
// America In 2040: Still A Superpower? book //
-tell us about the book and your main premise or argument--reviews talk about “fiscal sanity” and government spending
-We think “America’s fine; we still have all the tools”, but what do you think about the constant underestimation of costs and overestimation of capabilities? eg. USS Gerald Ford setbacks...latest is unable to launch planes, $13B price tag for non-functional platform
-Will America still have the financial power to fund itself as a superpower?
-Do you believe space is an important theater for America to remain a superpower? What are other major security theaters?
Useful Links: America In 2040: Still a Superpower? book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L4KBPX5/
[NOT an affiliate link]
GAO website: https://www.gao.gov/about/what-gao-is/
DFB website: https://dbb.defense.gov/
Disclaimer: We were not remunerated in any way by David Walker for discussing his book or any other topics.
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Space Ventures Investors co-founder, managing director and partner Simon Drake is heavily involved in bringing the ability for regular people to invest in space companies. In his role as a space sector venture capitalist, he is able to pull data and see trends that help realizing this vision. In this episode of the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan, Simon discusses:
-
What is your vision of regular people being able to invest in space? What partners are you working with? Can one small investor really make a difference?
-
What is stopping regular members of the public from investing in space companies? Why do we want the general public to be able to invest in space?
-
What have you found in your own research about the willingness of investors to put money into space companies? What are they looking for in terms of time to return, rate of return, companies or projects to invest in?
Risk level research graphic from Space Ventures Investors: https://coldstarproject.com/spaceinvestorsrisk
- How do we avoid space investment by the public becoming a free-for-all driven by hype, so that there is solid value at the core?
South Sea Stock graphic from The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report: https://coldstarproject.com/simondrakesouthsea
-
What legal/regulatory issues have you found in the way of public investment in space? What differences have you seen between European and North American markets?
-
Are there any “unexpected results” you predict from opening space investing up to the public?
Space Investment Interests Research Graphic from Space Ventures Investors: https://coldstarproject.com/simondrakeinterests
Space Ventures Investors website: https://spaceventuresinvestors.com/
Space Commodities Exchange website: http://www.spacecommoditiesexchange.com/
Lunar Resources Registry website: http://lunarresourcesregistry.com/ Playlist: https://www.coldstartech.com/play
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Bleddyn Bowen, PhD, is the author of War In Space: Strategy Space Power, Geopolitics. He has a different point of view on space warfare than the typical one we see from fanboys and mechanistic white papers. On this episode of the Cold Star Project, host Jason Kanigan asks Bleddyn:
- How do you operationally define space power? What are the “levers and dials”? What does “winning” mean in this environment?
- What is ‘space warfare’? Why do you believe Clausewitz remains relevant today and in the space domain?
- How does geopolitics apply to space? Are there equalizing forces?
- What international issues should we be paying attention to that could impact space warfare?
- When it comes to the actualities of space warfare, what are the critical elements?
- What is the significance of the new US Space Force?
- Why did you write and publish a book on the topic (War In Space: Strategy, Space Power, Geopolitics)? Who are you intending to impact, and why?
Astropolitics Research Portal: https://astropoliticsblog.wordpress.com/
Books discussed:
Bleddyn Bowen, War In Space: Strategy, Space Power, Geopolitics (Edinburgh University Press): https://www.amazon.com/War-Space-Bleddyn-Bowen/dp/1474450482
Donald Kagan, On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace: https://www.amazon.com/Origins-War-Preservation-Peace/dp/0385423756
Paddy Griffith, Forward into Battle: Fighting Tactics from Waterloo to the Near Future: https://www.amazon.com/Forward-into-Battle-Fighting-Waterloo/dp/0891414134
[Not affiliate links]
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
State of Readiness author Joseph Paris is the inaugural guest on Season Four of the Cold Star Project. Joseph is also the founder of the Operational Excellence Society and Readiness Institute, and is the go-to expert for OpEx executives of large civilian and military organizations. In this conversation with fellow OpEx pro and Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan, we discuss:
- why the typical OpEx executive focus on tactical cost-cutting rather than strategic capacity and revenue growth is a critical mistake
- what blocks you from having operational excellence in your organization (it's not a lack of TPS or process optimization)
- what to do about the common feeling of isolation within organizations as an OpEx professional
- the reason depending on yourself as the OpEx executive in your organization to develop training programs is job-killing wishful thinking and setting you up for failure
- why communication is often terribly bad within larger companies, and how you can positively guide your firm to becoming a true learning organization
- the problems we see in communication and learning in distributed organizations, particularly during the current global event forcing people to work remotely, and what to do about them
- OpEx killers such as not tracking further projects and successes beyond the initial one prompted by getting a training program.
Jason Kanigan is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Operational Excellence Society. Book a call with Jason to talk about OpEx in your organization with https://www.coldstartech.com/15call
If you want more information about how to become a high performance organization, get the free white paper here: https://readiness.institute/reachouts/operational-excellence-enterprise-readiness-system/
Joseph Paris talk at the first "Make Space Boring" virtual conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtoDucruKQ0
Joseph Paris interview in Season Two of the Cold Star Project: https://coldstarproject.com/yts02e47josephparis
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
Readiness Institute: https://readiness.institute/
State of Readiness book (available on Amazon and linked to from this site): https://state-of-readiness.com/
These are not affiliate links.
Captain David Buehler of the Air Force Research Lab's Space Vehicles Directorate is on the Cold Star Project to talk about the CHPS program. The CHPS program will monitor cislunar space, extending to 272,000 miles and beyond: a 10X reach in range and 1000X increase in volume. With host Jason Kanigan, Capt. Buehler discusses:
- Why is cislunar space of interest to the AFRL?
- What is CHPS?
- Why has the AFRL chosen to develop CHPS?
- What are some of the technical challenges with Space Domain Awareness in cislunar space?
- Why don't TLEs work in cislunar space?
- What are some long term benefits to the Space Force for develping CHPS?
Connect with Capt. Buehler by email: david@afrlnewmexico.com
OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org
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Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
The Australian Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control Complex (SpAARC) in Perth is opening, and Dr. Ben Kaebe is its Technical Interface Manager. What will SpAARC do, and how will it help space startups? Join host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project to find out. Jason asks Dr. Kaebe:
- how he ended up in Australia, having been born in Germany
- the vision for the complex and its user base
- the process and partners of developing SpAARC
- what Earth-based and space applications the facility will assist with
- what capabilities will be available first, and how the complex plans to grow.
Contact Dr. Kaebe by email: b.kaebe@fugro.com
Australian news article on SpAARC: https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/News/bright-spaarc-west
Furgo press release: https://www.fugro.com/media-centre/news/fulldetails/2020/06/26/fugro-partners-with-australian-space-agency-on-new-robotics-control-complex
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Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Commander Tim Anderson is not only a US Naval Reserve officer with responsibilities in war planning, but is also in a defense contractor role managing ship repairs and modernization. In this interview hosted by Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project, Commander Anderson discusses how government and Department of Defense makes up its mind on spending, and how you can make use of that process.
We also dig deep into the potentially great impact of SpaceX Starship on the space industry: payload variants, areas of operation, effect on industry players and more. Why? The dramatic rise in cargo capacity offered and drop in launch and transportation costs promised--even if the numbers are nowhere near as rosy as predicted. Tim Anderson is working on his Masters in Systems Engineering, Space Systems, at Embry-Riddle Aerotnautical University. This degree will confirm the practical knowledge he has from many years in the field. He has two papers in for peer review at the time of recording.
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Col. Eric Felt is the Director at Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate. He is also one of 49 Air Force Research Lab, Phillips Research Site officers selected to join the United States Space Force. With host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project, Col. Felt discusses:
- Regarding the State of the Space Industry 2020 Report that you were one of the four main signatories of, what were your biggest takeaways from both the process of developing this report and the concluding product? How would you recommend space industry folks (civilians included) make use of it?
- What is the focus of the Space Vehicles Directorate; what do you believe are the necessary elements to a plan for keeping American capabilities and effectiveness ahead of our geopolitical opponents?
- We at least have something of a handle on space situational awareness in Earth orbit. But in CisLunar space, also called XGEO, what are your plans for space domain awareness? (track, ID, characterize), and what relevant technologies should commercial companies be developing/looking into?
- Do you have any plans to work on satellite autonomy, or are any current projects being run under your administration that you can discuss?
- You just broke ground on a new AFRL Deployable Structures Lab (deployable carbon antennas and solar panels) $4-million, 7,000+ square foot laboratory, which continues the work of the Spacecraft Component Technology Center of Excellence. What kind of missions will development of high strain composites enable?
- Tell us about the SSPIDR “spider” project (some of the first experiments to be run at the lab) and the capabilities it will bring to Space Force.
State of the Space Industry 2020 Report summary with Dr. Gordon Roesler, link to the report in the description of that video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiwYrhY1kLc
Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate website: https://www.kirtland.af.mil/Units/AFRL-Space-Vehicles-Directorate/
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Gibson Professional Search founder Nigel Gibson is on the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan he's sharing how his executive search firm helps space companies grow faster and with fewer hiring mistakes.
Nigel had a sales & marketing executive career in broadcasting, satellite communications and telecom prior to starting his own satellite communication, telecom and media executive search firm over five years ago. Jason asks:
- I’m sure revenue growth was a key performance indicator in those roles. What other KPIs carry across to your activities now?
- What did you discover as important or valuable in team dynamics, which impacted your candidate screening and hiring decisions?
- What do you believe you bring to the space and satcoms industry as a professional search firm? What advantages do you bring your clients?
- In their words, why do they hire you? What problem are you solving for them?
- Describe your process: what are the most important factors for candidate screening that you use? Why have you settled upon these?
what are the stages you go through with a client? How do you know when you’ve reached the next step? * what do space and satcoms founders typically miss as important in getting the right pool of candidates together, and screening for hire? * in my experience, posting a Want Ad and interviewing are tasks often pushed to the bottom of the pile by executives. They wait until they feel “ready” or the organization is at the breaking point before taking action. What have you found to be the case? * if you could pre-screen potential clients to come to you with one idea about recruiting or executive search already in their heads… what would that be?
Gibson Professional Search website: https://www.gibsonps.com/
Cold Star Tech and its representatives did not and will not receive any compensation for this interview. We provide this conversation as important free information we believe businesspeople need to know.
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Sales Performance Team founder Nicholas Loise is back on the Cold Star Project because we have to have a conversation about founders. Why do founders stumble, and what is the antidote?
If you find yourself as a founder or CEO getting distracted, off target, and not achieving the goals you know you need to be reaching, listen in.
Nick Loise email at Sales Performance Team: nick@salesperformanceteam.com
Nick Loise phone number: 847-720-4264
Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell book on Amazon (NOT an affiliate link): https://www.amazon.com/Trillion-Dollar-Coach-audiobook/dp/B07MVKGV9V/
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In my many discussions with space founders I have found that knowledge of and attention on how to handle insurance and risk issues as a startup is missing. When I met with NY Life agent and financial services professional Domenic Battistella, I knew we had to get this important yet easy-to-miss information out to founders. Domenic is also the lead community organizer and sponsor for 1 Million Cups RTP, and a chef.
Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks Domenic Battistella:
what are some of the primary insurance and risk management concerns that founders should be aware of?
what does Key Person insurance mean and why should startup companies focus on this?
what does Directors & Officers Liability (D&O) mean and what does it cover?
what are the four exit strategies and what should founders be considering about them the moment they decide to open their business?
when should founders be thinking about benefits?
how did you find yourself in this speciality?
Contact info for Domenic Battistella:
Financial Services Professional Agent, New York Life Insurance Company
Registered Representative offering securities through NYLIFE Securities LLC (member FINRA/SIPC), A Licensed Insurance Agency
4140 Parklake Ave. Suite 450 Raleigh, NC 27612
Phone 919-443-9320
Book an appointment http://calendly.com/dbattistella
email dbattistella@ft.newyorklife.com
Cold Star Tech and its representatives did not and will not receive any compensation for this interview. We provide this conversation as important free information we believe businesspeople need to know.
1 Million Cups RTP website: https://www.1millioncups.com/rtp
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Spaced Ventures co-founder Aaron Burnett is on the Cold Star Project to share how providing this platform for crowdsourced investment in space companies helps the industry grow. Host Jason Kanigan asks Aaron:
- Explain the value you believe you’re bringing to the space community with SV
- What was the experience of building the platform like?
- What have you learned and what is the most surprising thing you’ve experienced since the SV launch?
- Who are your ‘target users’?
- Tell us about your process, and any adjustments you’ve had to make
- What money levels are we talking about here? And time frames?
Spaced Ventures website: https://www.spacedventures.com/
https://www.spacedventures.com/raise
Interview with Spaced Ventures co-founder J. Brant Arseneau: https://coldstarproject.com/yts03e04brantarseneau
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What developments have there been in the Internet of Things with regards to the space industry? As smallsat and launch costs continue to fall, what promise does the IoT bring to space? Hub Urlings of the M2sat IoT Lab and Ceryx Projects is with host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project to explain. We cover:
what "Satellite IoT is" for the layperson, and what capabilities it brings for what user bases
what the best use case is for Satellite IoT and its impact
Hub's vision for the Satellite IoT Lab
Hub's biggest takeaway from working on the Inmarsat-C project in the 90s as a product manager
M2sat website: http://2015.m2sat.com/
Wikipedia article on Inmarsat-C: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inmarsat-C
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Nicholas Moran aka The Chieftain is World of Tanks' Director, Military Relations and technical advisor, and has been so for the past nine years. In an industry where advisors are typically discarded immediately after the game releases, this is astonishing longevity--and farsightedness on the part of the developer. Nicholas is also a military historian. Following his release of a video looking at the development of Soviet tank doctrine during the interwar period, host Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project invited Nicholas to be on the show. Major Moran is an active officer in the Texas Army National Guard, and has been deployed to field postings.
Questions for Nicholas Moran:
-
World of Tanks
-
let’s begin with a quick summary of your role with WoT: what do you do and how do you go about doing it?
-
what represents “good evidence” in tank research to you? Do you “know it when you see it” or is there a more objective standard? Are there layers of verifiability or reliability?
-
Soviet armor doctrine video
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in what places did you find the info, and how did you go about organizing it?
-
National Archives at College Park
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where is it, what’s the process of accessing it, how do you know when you’ve got something good out of a box?
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if you could go back to say 1930 and alter one thing (practice, numbering system?) of the Dept. of the Army / Ordnance Branch to be followed throughout the next two decades, what would it be?
-
Crawling around on tanks
-
when you’re taping off squares of outer surfaces and then taking pictures of it, how does that help the game model designers? How do they translate that graphed image into a 3D model?
- what’s the worst case of divergence from a manual to reality (in armor thickness, or some other change) you’ve encountered? -what have been the easiest and the most difficult AFV hatch exits for you?
- have you considered keeping a running “banged shin” count from getting in and out of armored fighting vehicles?
Presentations discussed in this interview:
The Unknown Impact of Albert Kahn On Industrial Architecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iwzXpaSiOc
Dr. Andy Aldrin's interview on how the Soviets beat the Americans into space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krbe1JtqdPA
Major Moran's discussion of Soviet armor doctrine development in the interwar period: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7nr83CYQ9Q
The Chieftain YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp4j9Y9L6jie44iZroCb99A
The Chieftain Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheChieftainWargaming
Archives article: https://worldoftanks.com/en/news/chieftain/us-national-archives/
Can Openers book (NOT an affiliate link): https://www.amazon.com/Can-Openers-Development-Anti-Tank-Carriages/dp/1635618592/
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Bryne Hadnott has quite the resume...currently Image Processing Engineer for BlackSky; Past graduate student researcher at NASA JPL; Masters degree in Planetary Science at Johns Hopkins; Worked on doctorate at Cornell then Johns Hopkins; Research Assistant at the Gund Institute of Ecological Economics; and Undergraduate degree in Planetary Science at Washington University in St. Louis. On the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan, Bryne discusses what it's like postgrad and working in the space industry. Jason asks:
- As far as I know there isn’t a career path laid out for scientists who want to work in the space field...from what I’ve seen you have to make it up as you go. What have you experienced and learned in the process of figuring this out for your own career?
- What were you doing in the summer of 2012 at Caltech as a research fellow, looking at Mars-analogue rocks? What did you learn from that experience?
- You’ve been at BlackSky for awhile now...without getting into anything covered by security or compliance issues, what has that been like? What has your role been focused on?
- Thinking around data science, which I think is a tool you use, have you evolved your process or checklist on deciding on your investigative approach?
- We have a lot of graduate students following this show...do you have any advice or ideas for them concerning the question of whether to go forward towards achieving a doctorate or not?
- What focus do you have for your future work in the space field?
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Dr. Moriba Jah, professor at the University of Texas at Austin, past navigator for many missions to Mars, and space situational awareness expert returns to the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan, Dr. Jah digs deeper into the challenges of space object identification, tracking and orbital prediction, including:
- Why is it a problem that satellite orbit pathing predictions assume a spheroid shape? What issues does this create?
- What can we do to improve the predictive ability of satellite pathing calculations? Why do we need to improve this accuracy--what’s the rush, what’s driving this need?
- What is the technology behind space traffic management: what era is it from, and how does it work? Who operates it?
- What would a better system look like, and who should operate it?
- Why was the Two Line Element format chosen? What’s wrong with TLEs?
- It’s my understanding from speaking with our colleagues, primarily the British, that more information is available or even broadcast, but some is truncated to fit in the TLE format. Why is this done?
- In my own research, I found a Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems blue book from 2009, updated in 2012. From there I went on to the CCSDS website. Thinking is clearly done on the topic: why, then, is (from the outsider’s perspective, at any rate) the pace of change glacial?
- What would a modern satellite data communication system look like? How many lines would you recommend? What would this additional data transmission enable us to do or know?
- In the past year space situational awareness and space domain awareness have finally been getting more of the attention it deserves. What else needs to happen to gain the energy to make change and the funding required to do so?
Previous interview on the Cold Star Project with Dr. Jah: https://coldstarproject.com/auS02E11MoribaJah
Wikipedia page on Dr. Jah: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriba_Jah
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Starting in Europe and ending in the USA, Istvan Lorincz and the other co-founders of Morpheus Space have been on a long startup journey. We discuss:
- their fundraising efforts
- what has stood out as a key but little-mentioned factor in developing a startup
- the realistic expectations founders should have when deciding to form a startup.
Morpheus Space website: https://www.morpheus-space.com/
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Major Bruce Gordon (ret), 130+ combat mission pilot and electronic warfare instructor, returns to the Cold Star Project. This time, we're looking at how EW developed through the Cold War. What does the electromagnetic spectrum look like as a diagram? How are the various frequency bands used? Join us and find out.
First lecture on the history of EW: https://coldstarproject.com/yts02e64brucegordon
Spirit of Attack Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SpiritofAttack/ (order the book on Amazon, or send $20 to Bruce Gordon, 105 Broadbill Ct, Georgetown KY 40324)
Bruce Gordon YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/spiritofattack
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Electronic Warfare instructor and combat fighter pilot Bruce Gordon, author of Spirit of Attack, is on the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan, Major Gordon shares his personal experience meeting RV Jones, a history of EW, and some detail of the Battle of the Beams.
Spirit of Attack Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SpiritofAttack/
(order the book on Amazon, or send $20 to Bruce Gordon, 105 Broadbill Ct, Georgetown KY 40324)
Bruce Gordon YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/spiritofattack
Battle of the Beams article on Wikipedia (entertaining!): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Beams
YouTube video version of this interview (with slides): https://coldstarproject.com/yts02e64brucegordon
VP Global Space Policy of Astroscale US, Charity Weeden is on the Cold Star Project to share her background and the organization's vision for space. Orbital environmental management and in-space logistics are two key areas Astroscale is developing capabilities and influence in. With host Jason Kanigan, Charity discusses:
- the vision, mission and organization of Astroscale
- how the technical, business and policy areas interlink through the organization's efforts
- why space debris is a problem, and what we can do about it
- her background and how she arrived at the VP Global Space Policy role
- what her typical day looks like
- what COMSTAC is, and her role as chair
- looking forward to working in cislunar space and its implications
- the costs of decommissioning and the ways these costs are currently hidden.
Astroscale website: https://astroscale.com/
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United Space Structures CEO and founder Bill Kemp is on the Cold Star Project to share his plans to create real estate via structures for living and working in on the Moon. Safe inside lava tubes, USS will engineer space structures so that people can survive there. Host Jason Kanigan asks Bill:
- What kind of business model does United Space Structures have?
- What kind of tenants do you want to have at your facilities?
- Tell us about the lunar infrastructure service you intend to provide
- What is the “marketplace need” for this offer?
- What level of budget is required to move ahead? Is it needed in stages or as a lump sum?
- What is the potential Return On Investment (ROI) for your lunar facilities?
- How many facilities do you want to build and where?
- What technical requirements are needed to implement this solution? Why not an inflatable approach?
- What kind of partners are you seeking to support the project?
- Tell us about the preparation & learning required to get to this point.
United Space Structures website: https://united-space-structures.com/
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Space Products and Innovation (SPiN) co-founder Ran Qedar is on the Cold Star Project to share his experience taking his space startup through the Techstars accelerator. Host Jason Kanigan asks Ran:
- What problem did potential customers in the space industry tell you they were experiencing that lead to a prototype product?
- SPiN's tagline is “Build a satellite like Lego”. This seems to match up pretty well with Cold Star's “Make Space Boring” mantra. Tell us what your intention with that phrasing is, and where it could lead to
- What has your work with Techstars taught you? What stood out as a key factor that prior to working with them you would probably not have given as much importance to?
- Techstars has strong messaging about “ecosystem development”. What has that translated in for SPiN?
- What quality do co-founders need and what help to balance the team?
- Who would you point to as having been integral to deepening your understanding of business and startups?
- How is the European hardware space startups scene? How are startups supported?
SPiN website: https://www.spinintech.com/
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Barclay's Bank UK Start-Up Entrepreneur 2018 for the progress and achievements of Oxford Space Systems, and founder of Oxford Dynamics, Mike Lawton joins us on the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan, Mike discusses the challenges of developing early stage space startups, including:
- Other than the obvious lifeblood of cash, what other measures have you noticed as important in early stage, high tech businesses?
- You say you get “things wrong slightly less often than I get them right”. When do you know you’ve “gotten things wrong”? What are the indicators and how have you learned to see them sooner?
- What do you believe drives technological innovation? Eg. marketplace vs personal interest?
- What other organizations are you watching in UK NewSpace?
- You mention “the 'dark arts' of raising finance for tech businesses”... explain what this means.
Oxford Dynamics website: https://oxdynamics.com/
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Space lawyer Christopher Johnson from the Secure World Foundation is back on the Cold Star Project, and we're looking at what he has learned this year. Christopher has hosted several Moon Dialog Research Salons and gotten tremendous public input and engagement on space issues. With host Jason Kanigan, he discusses:
- What he learned from the salons
- What differences he noted in platforms used, behaviors and outcomes in public engagement with actor/agency/government versus the public
- What’s needed to move forward with space law engagement and outcomes; what that looks like as you’ve seen so far, in terms of process and outcome
- Incentive versus punishment, carrot vs stick, when it comes to issues like orbital debris control: which do we need most?
- What updates do we need most to Outer Space Treaty areas?
- What are his expectations for the Summit for Space Sustainability hosted by the Secure World Foundation beginning 9 September 2020?
Secure World Foundation website: https://swfound.org/
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Telecan Space founder Jean Paul Carnicer is on the Cold Star Project, and our topic is pitfalls in spacecraft bus engineering. With host Jason Kanigan, Paul answers:
- What’s the most important thing to keep in mind when designing a spacecraft bus? Is there something people NOT engineering the bus tend to forget or overlook when they’re coming up with design requirements?
- Who are the courses listed on the website for; what kind of person best benefits from them; what does the investment range look like?
- How common is outside testing of spacecraft? Do you find resistance to the idea of an outsider testing something they designed?
- Satellite Program Monitoring… how often are subcontractors holding up the project schedule? What issues do you typically find with the launch vehicle agency?
- In a world of engineers working to get funding to develop capabilities, what do you wish new founders would know about starting up a space business?
- What issues do you commonly encounter in contract negotiations with launch vehicle procurement?
Telecan Space website: https://www.telecanspace.com/
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Angolan ground station operator, and now Project Manager intern at Airbus, Eldrige de Melo is on the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan we discuss how space ground stations operate. Eldrige answers:
what do we mean by the term “ground stations”? Is this all about communications, or does it include passive operations like image gathering?
how do ground stations operate? What kind of systems are typically used & what data is gathered? How are humans involved (when is a human decision necessary)?
what does a typical “problem day” look like at the Angolan Space Program Management Office?
what do you think the impact of autonomous satellites will be on ground operators?
is there a technology or problem solving system that you believe would strongly improve ground station operations?
how closely do you pay attention to frequency allocations and the activities of organizations like the International Telecommunication Union and WRC conferences?
what kind of training do you need to become a ground station operations specialist?
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Head of Strategy and Managing Director Venture Capital at OHB Group since 2013 Egbert van der Veen is on the Cold Star Project. Prior to this role, Egbert was Project Lead at the German Aerospace Center for 4 years, working with DLR, ESA, EC and writing advisory reports on technology development trends. Continuing our discussion with investors who fund space companies, host Jason Kanigan asks:
- Your scientific topic while working at DLR was forecasting disruptive space technologies. What did you learn and how does that influence your point of view out in the business world?
- How did you land the role of Managing Director of OHB VC?
- Your scientific career focused on innovation management in addition to space engineering. What does that allow you to bring to investing analysis and decisions that other VCs might not have?
- Tell us about a project or two you did with DLR and their results. What does that experience make you watch out for in future projects?
- In your “scouting” role, what do you look for in space companies? What would be the ideal discovery?
- What has your experience with space companies been like? What state do they typically arrive at your firm? Any insights on the point of view of the founders themselves? Internal operations of companies seeking investment? Their achievement or lack thereof of product-market fit?
- A lot of VCs talk about “capturing the value chain”, yet this is a concept many founders miss in their laser focus on their technical capability. What advice do you have for space founders in regards to taking a step back and viewing the whole value chain?
OHB Group Venture Capital website: https://www.ohb-vc.de/
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2X past DARPA Program Manager Jess Sponable is on the Cold Star Project to share his experiences and aspirations in the space industry. With host Jason Kanigan, our topics cover the development of reusable launch technology, a colorful character (#3 to walk on the Moon) named Pete Conrad and Jess' interactions with him, and DARPA. Our conversation was submitted to and approved for public release by the USAF.
US Air Force approval document: https://coldstarproject.com/jesssponableairforce
Pete Conrad wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Conrad
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Yara Journeys founder Annabelle Beckwith is on the Cold Star Project to share her experience and vision of helping founders and their leadership teams move their businesses from $3 to $10 million (pounds as well!). With host Jason Kanigan she discusses:
- Who is your ideal client? Why do you want to work with them specifically?
- What indicators of values, culture, KPIs do you believe are most important? How common/uncommon are these?
- What operations problems do you typically see, showing potential clients need your help? Do they know they have them, or do you have to show them?
- What’s the most frustrating issue you’ve encountered in the marketplace over and over again, that you would change if you could wave a magic wand?
and some client situations she's been most helpful in improving results of.
Yara Journeys website: https://yara-journeys.com/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Finsophy PBC Founder & CEO Jason Aspiotis is on the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan, he's sharing his vision for retail investors to invest in the space economy while using banking services they would already be using anyway. Jason answers:
What is your long-term view for Space economy growth? What are the driving factors for economic growth?
What is the role of the retail investor in the Space economy?
What are some ways retail investors could become more involved in supporting the Space economy in the near future?
What is the role of banks and other large and/or regulated financial institutions (FIs) in the Space economy?
What barriers of entry exist to getting banks and large FIs more vested in deploying capital into the Space economy?
What could the US government, or other governments, do to incentivize larger participation by private capital sources?
Finsophy website: https://www.finsophy.com/
Space Vault website: https://www.spacevault.world/
National Space Development Corp white paper by Jason Aspiotis: https://coldstarproject.com/jasonaspiotispaper1
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President emerita of Explore Mars Inc. & CEO of Explore Mars Europe Artemis Westenberg joins host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project. What's the truth about the American public's interest in going to Mars? Why should we go there at all? How is private industry likely to get involved? We dig into the political and technological issues necessary to overcome to go to Mars, and what Explore Mars is doing to promote those actions. Artemis also discusses the role of women in the space industry.
Explore Mars website: https://www.exploremars.org/
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Agrippa Consulting president and TEDx speaker Paul Rulkens is on the Cold Star Project to talk about high performance culture. What does it take to achieve, and how can space founders create one? Host Jason Kanigan asks Paul:
- How has your education and experience as a process engineer affected your views on business and company culture/change?
- Other than Jay Abraham, who has a different take on the concept than you, you’re the only other person I’ve seen strongly promoting the strategy of Preeminence. What does Preeminence mean to you?
- How do you encourage others to use Preeminence as a positioning strategy? What does it mean for execution/fulfillment/delivery? How does Preeminence impact operations?
- You’ve developed the concept of Strategic Quitting. What is this and how do you apply it? Are there any circumstances where it would be a BAD idea?
- Let’s dig into “High performance culture”: What do you mean by the phrase?
- Is it actually achievable by organizations, or a pipe dream sold by management consultants?
- How do you recommend leaders start on the development of a high performance culture? Or should it somehow “organically develop”?
- How dependent on hiring great people is a high performance culture?
- Managing change seems to be a big part of what you help organizations with. BUT: Is that even a term you use? What kind of process do you use to go about it, even if under another name or conceptual framework? Can you share some horror stories and successes in the field? What should leaders be looking for as red or green flags?
Agrippa Consulting, Paul Rulkens High Performance Mastermind, Keynote Speaker website: https://paulrulkens.com/
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Space Habitats founder Jannene Kyytsonen appears on the Cold Star Project to share her vision of what it's going to take to build communities in space. We cover many ideas and requirements you may not have yet considered. Host Jason Kanigan asks:
- You got into space from outside the field… your education and experience is in arts and business. How do you apply those to space?
- You’re a member of the Space Industry Association of Australia. As an outsider, I’m curious how that organization works and how it has impacted your journey
- What’s your goal with Space Habitats?
- Let’s explore your Living Lab biosphere concept...what do you need to get started?
- What economic ideas do you have about how the biosphere will operate?
- Talk to us about the importance of simulating this kind of living situation prior to actually getting to Mars, Luna...living underground
- What connection of the psychology of living in claustrophobic places do you see with user adoption of space tourism services?
Space Habitats website: https://www.spacehabitats.org/
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Axa XL's Global Head of Space, Chris Kunstadter, is on the Cold Star Project, and we're looking at the future of satellite insurance. With host Jason Kanigan, Chris discusses:
- why and how he picked a profession allowing him to make money at something he loves to talk about all day
- how he got into the space insurance business
- what space insurance products his team focuses on, and what they avoid
- the current state of space insurance: the market is upside-down right now, so what will the industry to to right itself while continuing to serve clients?
- what role is Chris having to influence space policy and tech development
- what is "risk management in space"?
- defining "space safety" and "good behavior" for actors
and more.
Axa XL space insurance webpage: https://axaxl.com/insurance/products/space-insurance
CONFERS website: https://www.satelliteconfers.org/
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VP of Operations for the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Space ISAC) Erin Miller is on the Cold Star Project to discuss this new organization and her role in it. Space ISAC is part of the US National Cybersecurity Center. With host Jason Kanigan, Erin answers:
- What’s your mission? Your field is acronym-heavy…let’s begin with what an ISAC is...then can you share the need for this Public-Private Partnership (P3), called Space ISAC?
- How do you view your role as VP Ops?
- What are your recommendations for getting the trust necessary for people to let you “fly the plane”?
- Has the US Presidential Executive Order on Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain (May 2019) affected you and the organization?
- What do the member-partners of Space ISAC contribute...what are the expectations? Who are you looking for as a member?
- What’s the “nitty-gritty” for Space ISAC? In terms of integrating with those you want to share info and conduct analysis with, how do you go about it?
- What sorts of space info & asset security concerns and concepts have your attention for the future?
Space ISAC website: https://s-isac.org/
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While working at SpaceX as Senior Mission Integrator Engineer, John Tucker has also made what is becoming the central data platform for the space industry: NewSpace Hub. The platform collects and organizes both company and space sector investment activity. In this interview on the Cold Star Project, host Jason Kanigan asks John about the process of putting NewSpace Hub together. We discuss:
- How did John get into the space industry? What does he do at SpaceX?
- What is NewSpace Hub? Who is it for, and what questions does it answer for them?
- What signals told John that there was room in the marketplace for NewSpace Hub?
- Considering John has a serious day job… how did he find the time for and commit to creating this platform?
- What did the first iteration of the site look like? How did he arrive at that look and feel?
- Has his vision of NewSpace Hub changed since the start?
- As John grows the platform, what new features and capabilities is he developing? How does he get feedback that tells him to move in these directions? What methods does he use to assess tools and directions?
NewSpace Hub website: https://newspacehub.co/
Make Space Boring virtual conferences: https://coldstartech.com/msbconf
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Following a three-and-a-half decade UK defense career culminating in managing RAF Fylingdales and in the role of Aerospace Battle Manager, Ralph "Dinz" Dinsley founded Northern Space and Security (NORSS). In this discussion with Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan, Dinz lays out the case for moving space situational awareness from military to civilian management.
Dinz answers:
What is “Peace and Development”, the postgraduate studies subject you applied yourself to for your Masters degree? What exactly is “Aerospace Battle Manager”, the role you held for a dozen years? What would you describe as the main reason behind the establishment of NORSS? What problems do you solve, and for what organizations? Is the military dominance coverage of the orbital environment still fit for purpose? Under what domain should space traffic management be? What is the Space Law Games, which you co-initiated? What do you hope to discover from the exercise? Where do you find yourself getting pulled into discussions as a well-known individual in the UK defense sector?
NORSS website: https://www.norss.co.uk/
RAF Fylingdales website: https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/stations/raf-fylingdales/
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Joan-Pau Sanchez, PhD, is a lecturer in space engineering at Cranfield University. He was one of the first to publish a Near Earth Orbit asteroid map. With host Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project, Dr. Sanchez discusses:
- what some of the “new rich families of exploitable orbits which may enable radically new mission applications and services” are
- his thoughts about the current alarm of “cluttered Earth orbit”, which we are moving towards with the planned launches of tens of thousands of smallsats
- what the “Traveling Salesperson Problem” is in ADR/servicing satellites
- how algorithms to solve such problems can be developed without the help of supercomputers
- his experience with the Comet Interceptor program and working with ESA
- the uses of his paper, “Optimal Sunshade Configurations for Space-Based Geoengineering near the Sun-Earth L1 Point"
- the project he lead, also covered by his student Florian Gautier in Episode 50, researching landing cubesats on an asteroid using the ZARM drop tower.
Comet Interceptor program website: https://www.cometinterceptor.space/
Comet Interceptor program Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Interceptor
Interview with Florian Gautier discussing his experience with the ZARM drop tower asteroid landing project: https://coldstarproject.com/yts02e50floriangautier
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Michael Maloney of Satellite Design for Recovery returns to the Cold Star Project, and we're continuing our discussion of the problems in space traffic management. While many people think STM is already figured out, the truth is this is a phantom idea. Current systems are cobbled together and do not represent a serious solution to the problem.
With host Jason Kanigan, Michael discusses:
- what space traffic management is and why we need it
- how we can measure capacity and utilization in STM
- why Air Traffic Control can be used as a model in developing a functional STM solution
- what limits there are in executing a Space Traffic Management program
- a future path to STM including better Space Situational Awareness, mitigation of space debris, and timely remediation.
Satellite Design for Recovery website: https://satdfr.org/
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University of Kansas Doctoral candidate (Physics and Astronomy) Florian Gautier is on the Cold Star Project to discuss several of the research projects he's been involved in. With host Jason Kanigan, Florian describes his aerospace engineering and astrophysics education journey from Europe to North America and opportunities to work on:
- Student CubeSat project at ISAE-SUPAERO to develop 12U cubesats for missions like ATISE
- Land3U project, simulation of CubeSat landing on asteroids, sponsored by ESA Drop Your Thesis! 2018 programme (the drop tower used is fascinating)
- AGILE, development of a new compact particle detectors suitable to be flown on a CubeSat.
I also ask Florian, who has two Masters degrees (Astronautics & Space Engineering and Astrophysics, Space Science & Planetary Science), about his future goals and where he thinks space work will take him.
Land3U Project website: https://www.esa.int/Education/Drop_Your_Thesis/Students_simulate_a_satellite_landing_on_asteroids_in_ZARM_s_Drop_Tower
Space UP France website: https://www.spaceup.fr/
The Last Jeudi website: meetup between space fans every last Thursday of each month: https://www.spaceup.fr/the-last-jeudi/
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Dr. Simone Paternostro (Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy), is an analog astronaut through the Austrian Space Forum and manages ISS payloads with the ESA. On the Cold Star Project, host Jason Kanigan asks Simone:
- How did you get involved with the Austrian Space Forum and Dr. Gernot Groemer?
- What is an analog astronaut? How do you go about selecting (or being assigned), preparing for and simulating a mission? - What are the next steps in your career following this analog astronaut experience?
- Tell us about your role as a Multi-increment Payload Planner for the ISS
- What have you discovered about using the Kalman Filter in calculating flight paths and attitude?
- You note “Simulation and Testing in Matlab/Simulink” during your doctoral experience at U of Nottingham in your LinkedIn resume...for those of us who haven’t been there, what was involved, what were the facilities like and how do you make use of them?
Austrian Space Forum website: https://oewf.org/en/
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Dylan Taylor, founder of space investment firm Voyager Space Holdings, has a perspective on growing companies that's different from traditional venture capitalists. Voyager takes a majority share ownership and the long view, unrestrained by typical fund life windows. Dylan is on the Cold Star Project, and host Jason Kanigan asks him:
Does Voyager take over the day-to-day management of its acquisitions? Do you put your own CEO in charge? What values/vision do you look for in leadership?
Tell us the story of the first acquisition for Voyager, and what you learned in the process. What did you learn to do differently next time? What could have cost you a ton of money if you hadn’t done things a certain way?
How has space investing changed over the last several years?
How is space investing different from other types of investments in other industries? What makes a sector-specific fund a better investor than a generalist?
In addition to being a business person, you are also a philanthropist. Why?
You founded the non-profit Space for Humanity. What is Space for Humanity’s mission?
It was announced recently that you have commissioned the first private moon payload on the Xplore mission for the benefit of Space for Humanity. What is that all about?
Do you find that you’re the very first potential investor a founder or group of co-founders has approached...or have they been through discussions with one or more other VCs first? How has this affected discussions?
What other project are you working on or are excited about? What frustrates you about the industry, if anything? What gives you the most hope about where the industry is going?
Voyager Space Holdings website: https://voyagerspaceholdings.com/
Space for Humanity website: https://www.spaceforhumanity.org/
2211.World website: https://2211.world/
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Dr. Graham Lau aka The Cosmobiologist is my guest on this episode of the Cold Star Project. We dig into:
- his co-hosting of the Ask An Astrobiologist Show
- the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science
- his work as a research scientist, and the future application of his knowledge of sulfur cycling in glacial environments with Jovian moon investigation
- the public's view on science fiction, and what could be improved in that approach
- getting young people interested in science
and more.
Dr. Lau was a speaker at the second "Make Space Boring" virtual conference hosted by Cold Star Technologies, recording of which is available here: https://coldstartech.com/msb-virtual-conference-2/
Dr. Lau's personal website: https://cosmobiota.com/
Blue Marble Space Institute of Science website: https://www.bmsis.org/
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Brant Arseneau, partner at 9point8 Capital, Board Member of Spaced Ventures and Mentor at Creative Destruction Labs is on the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan he answers:
- What is your opinion on the current state of raising capital for space startups?
- How does capital typically form in a nascent industry?
- Is the space industry different from other industries?
- Can you explain the challenges in the capital supply chain?
- Other than venture capital are there other capital sources?
- Doing business in space is risky, so are there any financial risk mitigation tools available to companies?
- What are investors looking for from space startups and what type of investors are out there?
9point8 Capital website: https://www.9point8.net/
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Joseph Paris of Xonitek and founder of the Operational Excellence Society is on the Cold Star Project to discuss OpEx and his book State of Readiness. With host Jason Kanigan, JP explores:
- What OpEx means to him, and it's not Lean Six Sigma, TQM or TPS
- The definition of "State of Readiness" and its implications for industry
- How his strategic view of Operational Excellence came about, and what Strategic OpEx looks like
- Whether Joseph believes a change agent with "no past" with the organization they're working on is essential to produce good results
- How commonly opinions are masquerading as "facts" within organizations, leading to groupthink
- What happens when senior management stop being involved with OpEx improvements
- The notion and value of "packaging ideas for delivery" to communicate with stakeholders who may not understand operational excellence terminology
and more.
Xonitek website: https://xonitek.com/
Operational Excellence Society website: https://opexsociety.org/
(valuable articles here)
[Disclaimer: since this interview was recorded, Cold Star Technologies has become a Bronze level sponsor of the Operational Excellence Society, and the founder Jason Kanigan is now on its Board of Advisors. This was not the case when we recorded our discussion here, and there is often a long gap between recording and release dates. In this case, the recording was done on March 17, 2020 and released July 2, 2020. This interview is not intended to be an advertisement and was done in an independent spirit, with no view on how the future would turn out.]
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Nicholas Loise has quite the resume, headed by his current role as Fractional Sales & Marketing Leader, Founder/Owner, Sales Performance Team. It includes being President of Glazer Kennedy Inner Circle - GKIC/Magnetic Marketing, involved with GKIC 8 years; Owner of a Direct Response Agency and Outsourced Sales Leader Company; Adjunct Professor of Marketing, North Park University; MBA from North Park; VP Sales & Marketing Provena Mercy Medical Center 9 yrs, a $156 Million division. On the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan, Nick explores:
- Why he choose “execution-focused” sales areas of business
- Where clients have told him they need help in sales
- What he sees that is wrong in selling and sales processes today, that Nick is earnestly driven to correct...and how does this improvement lead to organizational results?
- When he believes clients should be approaching Sales Performance Team for expertise
- In his experience, how often is the salesperson in need of improvement vs the sales process?
- [In Jason's experience over the past 25 years, he has seen companies large and small who do not control or have consistency in their sales process. You can walk across the hallway and find a salesperson who is doing the job completely differently from their fellow sales employee.] What are the consequences of this lack of consistency? How does it affect buyer experience? And financial results? Ability to determine what went wrong or even what went right?
- What does Nick hear that tells him, “This is going to be a great project”?
- What did he see at his years of GKIC and his own agency that caused Nick to start Sales Performance team?
Sales Performance Team website: https://salesperformanceteam.com/
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ManSat Chairman Chris Stott returns to the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan to talk further about satellite spectrum and space advocacy. Activist-authors Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, the economics of space, space scholarships and more are our topics.
ManSat website: http://www.mansat.com/
SpaceIsle website: https://www.spaceisle.com/
SSPI website: https://www.sspi.org/
International Institute of Space Commerce website: https://iisc.im/
Geeks Without Frontiers website: http://geekswf.org/
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Chairman & CEO of the ManSat group of companies Chris Stott is on the Cold Star Project, and our main topic is satellite spectrum. Where does the authorization for satellite communication frequencies come from, and how is it distributed? With host Jason Kanigan, Chris discusses:
- the definition of "satellite spectrum"
- how ManSat got the authority to distribute satellite spectrum, and from whom? Who is the target market, and what does the process of working with ManSat look like?
- what SpaceIsle.com is and how it is different from the ManSat corporate site
- experiences he has had as a member of the ISU Board of Directors
- projects he has worked on and produced as a "Multi Award winning Documentary Film Maker and Executive Producer", per his LI profile
- what the Space & Satellite Professionals International organization is and what his involvement is
- how Chris helped develop Geeks Without Frontiers.
ManSat website: http://www.mansat.com/
SpaceIsle website: https://www.spaceisle.com/
SSPI website: https://www.sspi.org/
International Institute of Space Commerce website: https://iisc.im/
Geeks Without Frontiers website: http://geekswf.org/
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Managing Partner of space venture capital firm SpaceFund Meagan Crawford is on the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan she explains:
- how SpaceFund defines "space company", and why that matters
- what the surprising thing most often missing from pitch decks is that founders should make sure they include
- what the realities are of the exit landscape for space companies
- her recommendations to space companies so they avoid another OneWeb situation
- where and when Meagan believes working with the newspace marketing firm she co-founded, Brand Delta-V, fits for space founders
- advice for careers in space, particularly for women
- her mission as host of the Mission Eve podcast, and what being a show host has been like.
SpaceFund website: https://spacefund.com/
Mission Eve podcast: https://cscf.space/missioneve
Brand Delta-V website: http://branddeltav.com/
Center for Space Commerce & Finance website: https://cscf.space/
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Dr. Marek Ziebart, Professor of Space Geodesy at and Director of University College London's Space Geodesy and Navigation Group, is on the Cold Star Project to discuss space object tracking and situational awareness.
Dr. Ziebart is a fellow of the Fellow Royal Astronomical Society, journal reviewer, and winner of several awards including 2018 Tycho Brahe Award from the Institute of Navigation. Host Jason Kanigan asks about:
- what space geodesy is
- a quick look at how GPS works
- the definition of antenna thrust and its usage
- what happens at the Space Geodesy and Navigation Laboratory at UCL
- what tools Dr. Ziebart uses to collect and process spacecraft orbit determination and prediction
- outcomes of a European Space Agency project to design a combined navigation and communication system for manned and robotic landings on Mars that he was Principle Investigator of
- conclusions of a study for the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, simulating the launches of multiple mega-constellations and their impact on space populations over the next 25 years
- our shared interests in photography and Dr. Richard Feynman.
Still images from Dr. Ziebart's simulations
2019: https://coldstarproject.com/marek2019
2028 estimate: https://coldstarproject.com/marek2028
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General Partner at Starbridge Venture Capital and President of the Moon Society Michael Mealling is on the Cold Star Project. Michael has long been both a technical and business leader in the space field. Our main aim in this episode is to clear up the question of What Kind Of Space Companies Do Venture Capitalists Invest In?
- With host Jason Kanigan, Michael Mealling discusses:
- how venture capital works for space companies
- what Starbridge's definition of "space company" is, and what factors make a space company an attractive investment opportunity
- what Starbridge does not invest in, and why
- the reason the space sector needs more sector-focused VCs
- why venture capitalists are not typically interested in space mining, space solar power, antimatter, Mars colonies etc.
- where Michael sees space investment headed over the next decade
- the Moon Society's mission and current events.
Starbridge Venture Capital website: https://www.starbridgevc.com/
Moon Society website: https://www.moonsociety.org/
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Dr. Christopher Newman is Professor of Space Law and Policy at Northumbria University. We're talking about an important but not oft-seen issue in space, which is a part of many areas such as space situational awareness: environmental protection.
The first thing you're likely to notice is that phrase, like many things in space, does not quite mean what you first thought. It is farther reaching and more broadly applied. Dr. Newman and Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan discuss:
- Why we should care about environmental protection in space
- What capabilities exist for environmental protection to be included or executed through space law
- The issues with enforcement of any agreements
- Christopher's experience with implementing environmental protection though space law
- What the good doctor would download directly into his students' skulls, "Matrix-style", if he could
and more.
Space Watch Global story on the development of the Space Law Games: https://spacewatch.global/2019/08/space-law-games-at-the-4th-global-space-traffic-management-workshop/
Space Law Games website: https://spacelawgames.wordpress.com/
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E2MC space venture capital firm founder Raphael Roettgen is on the Cold Star Project for this inaugural episode of Season Three. With host Jason Kanigan he explains:
- what lead him to space as a career focus, and specifically investing in space
- how he finds prospective space investments
- what segments of space he finds especially interesting at this time
- how he makes up his mind about whether to invest in a space company or not
- what the most surprising thing Raphael discovered again and again in space and high tech firms he was tasked to look into in past analyst roles
- what he sees in the near future of investing in space companies
- his view of how other classes of investors, such as angels, family offices, private equity and strategics, see the space industry
- the potential impacts of the recent slew of prominent space failures (OneWeb, Intelsat, Sky & Space, Speedcast)
- why he started his own show, the Space Business Podcast, and what his biggest takeaway has been from doing the first several episodes.
E2MC website: https://www.e2mc.space/
(Space Business Podcast link in the top menu)
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Dr. Paul van Susante comes with the heritage of the Colorado School of Mines, but is a professor at Michigan Technological University. He is well-known in the Lunar and Mars construction & ISRU field, contributing to CLASS and as co-Investigator on several experiments.
On the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan we discuss:
- what properties and result of the lunar regolith Paul is focusing on
- how his background in robotics and mining terrestrially, and at the Colorado School of Mines, applies to the new environments of Luna and Mars
- details of projects he has worked on
- the Mining INnovation Enterprise (MINE), which Paul founded
- what the Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab is all about
- factors and considerations, materials and processes, he believes are most important for next steps in ISRU on the Moon and Mars.
Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS) website: https://sciences.ucf.edu/class/
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Founder & Principal at Space Law & Policy Solutions Michael Listner is on the Cold Star Project. He's also author and editor of The Precis, a space law quarterly briefing letter. Our subject of discussion is Realpolitik and space law, and I ask Michael about:
- where he finds himself most often with another interpretation, either conceptually or with the letter of the law, with other space lawyers
- what clients are seeking when they approach his firm
- what he believes is at issue regarding the White House's April 6th Executive Order regarding space resources--Michael called it "posturing for the space resources food fight and a pushback against the [Hauge] Building Blocks"
- the standout issues of space law from his perspective, with regard to commercial operations
- whether international safeguards exist or not to avoid war, as nation states move to use space resources and occupy space locations
- who are some key people Michael follows in the space field.
Space Law & Policy Solutions website: https://www.spacelawsolutions.com/
The Precis page: https://www.spacelawsolutions.com/the-pr-cis-.html
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Gary Calnan, co-founder & CEO @ CisLunar Industries out of Denver CO, is on the Cold Star Project. They're on a mission to create industrial capabilities in cislunar space that will enable sustainable space exploration and a permanent human presence beyond Earth. To make this a reality, their goal is to create the Space Foundry: the first in-space capability for recycling metal already in orbit and reprocessing it into refined raw materials for in-space manufacturing and construction.
With host Jason Kanigan, Gary explores:
- at what point (or number) a “permanent human presence” beyond Earth exists
- what “industrial capabilities” he believes need to be developed first
- the purpose, elements and implementation plan of the Space Foundry
- his recent proposal to the ISS NL (“Electromagnetic Control and Manipulation of Liquid Metal in Micro-g”) - what legal issues Gary foresees for capturing and recycling metal already in orbit
- what he believes it will take to reach a point of in-space manufacturing and construction
- whether the development of manufacturing and refueling capabilities on the moon impacts in-space efforts more or less than developing in-orbit capabilities.
Cislunar Industries on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cislunarindustries/
International Space Station US National Lab website: https://www.issnationallab.org/
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Dr. Troy Howe joins host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project to discuss the ways Howe Industries is using NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) grants to innovate in space.
We cover:
- What is Howe's SPEAR project and the NIAC-supported objectives - How the NIAC grant proposal process works
- What project milestones look like
- How a new thermocouple design by Howe could extend mission lifetimes
- What other smallsat technologies Dr. Howe believes need to be developed so the upcoming Europa mission can be successful
- Could the approximately six year process from founding his company through achieving grant approval been sped up, or is this pace simply typical?
- What does the Center for Space Nuclear Research, where Dr. Howe was for four years as a research scientist, focus on, and what was he most proud of in his work there?
NIAC Phase-1 SPEAR Probe info page: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2019_Phase_I_Phase_II/SPEAR_Probe/
Howe Industries website: https://www.howeindustries.net/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
PhD candidate and Co-Chair of the 2019 Caltech Space Challenge Fabien Foyer is my guest on this episode of the Cold Star Project. This is a fascinating event and I wish I could have had the chance to participate, but I'm far too old. Fabien describes the Challenge, which is free and open to students all over the world.
Links:
Website: http://www.spacechallenge.caltech.edu/
YouTube Lectures channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC61nwlhQpl9Dw_b0SOjaHqA
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Jason Kanigan of Cold Star Tech speaks at the first "Make Space Boring" virtual conference. His topic is lowering the awful 40%+ partial plus full mission failure rate of small satellites.
The recordings of the rest of the event and speakers is available at https://coldstartech.com/msb2conf
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Founder & CSO of AAC Clyde Space Craig Clark is on the Cold Star Project, and our topic is how Clyde has strongly contributed to the pioneering of the UK small satellite industry. With host Jason Kanigan, Craig shares:
- what the most important thing he learned from 11 years as a team leader at Surrey Satellite Tech was
- a snapshot of the UK space industry...where he believes its principle expertise or competitive advantage is, and where it is headed
- what he learned on the UK’s Space Leadership Council, and what impact he believes the Council has
- how Clyde minimizes the smallsat field's awful 40+% partial plus full mission failure rate...what he has learned about refining quality assurance to produce cubesats in bulk without compromising reliability
- what the most challenging thing at the moment is, given that getting people together to manufacture something is not easy to achieve
- the mission he is most proud of so far, and why.
AAC Clyde Space website: https://www.aac-clyde.space/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Buy Then Build author Walker Deibel is on the Cold Star Project, and host Jason Kanigan is asking some tough questions. Rather than building a business from scratch, Walker recommends buying an existing business with a proven market that's interested in what you want to sell. We discuss:
- What Walker says when people have the belief that you must have lots of cash available to be able to buy an existing business
- What the biggest “yeah but” is he's encountered from people who have read the book
- What Walker recommends to do when you’ve found a business where one partner is eager to sell, but other partners are not
- When a mechanism like a leveraged buyout is a bad idea
- Why operations as a topic isn't covered much in By Then Build, while the “math of the business” is well covered
- What sort of problems company owners approach him about helping them fix, and whether they often have the wrong idea about what you do, or are typically “pre-sold”.
Four opportunity quadrants screenshot: https://coldstarproject.com/deibelquadrants
Buy Then Build on Amazon (NOT an affiliate link): https://coldstarproject.com/buythenbuild
Buy Then Build website: https://buythenbuild.com/
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Past Deep Space Industries CEO Daniel Faber today runs a company called OrbitFab. As a pioneer of space mining and resources development, what is Dan doing now? Kickstarting the next massive new space economy by creating "Gas stations in space", that's what!
With host Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project, Daniel Faber discusses:
- how he got into asteroid mining as a business, and what the process was like getting the concepts and people of DSI together
- if DSI had gotten the tech and finances in place to start mining Near Earth Objects, what the first thing would have been that Dan would have wanted to do with those resources as they were brought back and processed
- what he would do differently if he had it to do all over again
- OrbitFab's mission and whether any "legacy goals" from DSI continue
- his educational experience in Antarctica and how that affected his point of view in the space field
and more!
I was impressed with Dan's experience with building space companies with investors...it's a minefield and he has some powerful knowledge of what to avoid.
OrbitFab website: https://www.orbitfab.space/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
David Barnhart is the Director of the Space Engineering Research Center at the University of Southern California; CEO and co-founder of Arkisys, and a former DARPA program manager. On this episode of the Cold Star Project, we're looking at David's history of robotic concepts in satellite construction. With host Jason Kanigan, David Barnhart explains:
- how he helped develop satellite design-synthesis tools to cut design time down to days from months, and how he expresses the impact of these time savings
- the way he developed hybrid robotic concepts for satellites with DARPA, including robotic assembly and repair craft
- the Phoenix Project he managed at DARPA to create assemble-able satellite modules, and how these could be used
- what the most misunderstood idea about DARPA that people have is
- the focus of Arkisys and what he's learned as CEO.
Arkisys website: https://arkisys.com/
Playlist: https://www.coldstartech.com/play
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Head of Sales & Marketing for CubeSpace Benoit Chamot is on the Cold Star Project, and with host Jason Kanigan we're looking at attitude determination and control systems (ADCS) for satellites. We discuss:
- how Benoit earned Masters degrees from both Lausanne and MIT, and the projects involved
- the critical ADCS system for satellites, and the components they're made of such as sun sensors, reaction wheels, PCBs
- why CubeSpace chose to focus on reaction wheels, designing and manufacturing their own CubeWheel product
- why the company encourages South African space industry and opportunities for young engineers
CubeSpace website: https://www.cubespace.co.za/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dennis Wingo, Founder & CEO of Skycorp Inc., has a lot of wisdom to share about the space industry. He's the author of “Moonrush: Improving Life on Earth with the Moon's Resources”, and calls himself a Technoarcheologist.
With Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan, Dennis discusses:
- what the term "advanced mission planning" means for him, and what it looks like in action
- the concept of orbital assembly, and how it can be achieved
- the DARPA/Skycorp Time Domain Relative Navigation System (TDRNS) project
- the space logistics system he created and licensed to Orbital ATK for extending the life of satellites
- his thoughts on the April 6, 2020 US Presidential Executive Order regarding the use of space resources
- economic reasons for returning to the Moon.
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
USAF JAG and space lawyer Bryant Baker, JD, is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan, and our topic is the future of space law. We're looking at it from the US perspective and how we can proceed with the possibility of minimizing conflict.
Bryant discusses how he got into the space law field, and how governance can be created through practice.
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
How did the Soviets beat the Americans into space with the launch of Sputnik?
Dr. Andrew Aldrin, Director of the Aldrin Space Institute and ISU Center for Space Entrepreneurship at Florida Tech, did his PhD in Soviet studies. In doing research and interviewing people involved, Dr. Aldrin developed a unique perspective on the the topic which he shares here with Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan. It is a story that will surprise you: entrepreneurship in the most unlikely of places.
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Nicole Shumaker, Research Specialist at Texas A&M, is in a unique role focusing on identifying opportunities for and developing synthesis in lunar construction methods. What gaps are there in the field between research, institutions, business and government? That's the key question Nicole is continuously answering, bringing people together in lunar construction efforts who may otherwise have not known the other existed.
Resulting from her effort is acceleration of research and technology development in lunar construction. Nicole meets with host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project to discuss her work and developments in lunar construction methods.
Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS) website--see Programs and Seminars tab for recorded and upcoming lectures: https://sciences.ucf.edu/class/
NASA ISRU page: https://www.nasa.gov/isru
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Luc Maisonobe of French company C-S is known as "the father of Orekit". This open governance low level flight dynamics library is used by many private and government organizations worldwide to identify and track space satellites.
Luc Maisonobe joins Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan to discuss:
- how the idea of Orekit was conceived
- the way the technology required for Orekit was identified
- where the data for Orekit comes from
- what Luc would do differently now from a process perspective compared to the project's beginning
- whether Orekit will evolve into a different kind of program, with increased usage and data from more launches
- how the open governance model for project management has worked, including accountability, and what unexpected thing has come out of it.
Orekit space flight dynamics library: https://www.orekit.org/
Orekit forum: https://forum.orekit.org/
Orekit forge: https://gitlab.orekit.org/orekit/orekit
Orekit quality dashboard: https://sonar.orekit.org/dashboard?id=org.orekit%3Aorekit
Rugged geolocation library: https://www.orekit.org/rugged/
Orekit as a service: https://oraas.orekit.space/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Grant Anderson, Co-founder, President and CEO of Paragon Space Development Corp., is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan to discuss life support and thermal control in space applications.
We cover:
what mission Paragon is on in space
- what Grant believes has been critical in learning as a business leader at Paragon for a quarter-century
- how critical NASA's connection with thermal control experts is, with the focus on Artemis
- Paragon's involvement in the StratEx Space Dive
- the most surprising thing learned from the Mars One Surface Habitat Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) project
- what people need to know about thermal control and satellites.
Paragon website: https://www.paragonsdc.com/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Richard Ward of OrbitsEdge is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan to share the promise of edge computing in orbit. Described as an enabler by NASA, OrbitsEdge is working to put compute processing power into space.
We discuss:
- what edge computing is
- why this focus for a space business
- what barriers to adoption Rick foresees
- the state of the space industry in the computing field today
- the projected impact of edge computing in orbit on the commercialization of space over the next decade.
Satellite still from end of episode: https://coldstartech.com/orbitsedgepic
OrbitsEdge website: https://orbitsedge.com/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dr. Andrew Aldrin is Director of the Aldrin Space Institute at the Florida Institute of Tech, ISU Center for Space Entrepreneurship; past President of Moon Express; and a former Boeing Business Development Director. Andy joins Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan to discuss the challenges of space entrepreneurship.
Developing technical capability is not enough to have a business. This may seem obvious; however, out there in the real world it is not often the case. We cover the Commercial Space Studies Graduate Certificate Program he leads, what Dr. Aldrin has seen that space graduate students need the most, what it's like having Space Angels as a supporting partner of the program, and insights from his past space business roles.
FIT-ISU Commercial Space Studies Graduate Certificate Program info: https://www.fit.edu/isucse/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dr. Gordon Roesler, past DARPA Program Manager and founder of Robots In Space, is on the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan of Cold Star Tech, Dr. Roesler discusses the coming capabilities and uses of robotic technologies in space.
Servicing satellites, recovering dead spacecraft and potentially recycling them, allowing in-orbit construction rather than having to expensively ship everything up are just some of the ways robots in space will have an impact on the industry.
Robots In Space website: https://robots-in.space/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dr. Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is my guest on the Cold Star Project, and our space topics are many. Main-belt asteroid 4589 McDowell was named after him in 1993, and he was a contributor to Sky and Telescope magazine from 1993 - 2010. Since 1989 he has authored and edited Jonathan's Space Report, which tracks all known space launches.
We discuss:
- the Chandra spacecraft x-ray telescope, which recently hit the 20-year-old mark
- what Dr. McDowell has discovered about dark matter and quasars
- whether or not he believes the ISS can be considered practical for commercial ventures
- how much time and attention Jonathan's Space Report (JSR) takes, and what opportunities have arisen for him because of the consistent effort maintaining it
- how good or poor registering and tracking of space objects really is, and whether we are truly ready for megaconstellations.
Planet4589 site: https://planet4589.org/jcm/index.html
Jonathan's Space Report signup page: https://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/jsr.html
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
SaaS Channel Marketing pro Stewart Townsend returns to the Cold Star Project, this time to talk about his new platform. Cloud.Vision. With Cloud.Vision, Stewart is leading Europe's SaaS founders, salespeople and marketers into a strong level of understanding and ability to execute in their software-as-a-service channel marketing efforts.
While industry data and best practices for SaaS channel are well understood in the United States, Europe's SaaS industry has been greatly underserved in this area...until now. Stewart Townsend's Cloud.Vision platform will have Europe's industry leaders share their experience and numbers to help strengthen the entire field.
Visit cloud.vision
Stewart's previous appearance on the Cold Star Project, discussing SaaS channel marketing and micro vs macro efforts at selling software-as-a-service, is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm8wVxzexhA
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Michael Maloney, founder of the advocacy organization Satellite Design for Recovery, is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan to talk about the need for including a critical but not-yet-required component to the design of all objects launched into Earth orbit.
Satellites and other orbital objects should have mandated design requirements for rendezvous, capture and disposal. The cost of not doing so will be chaos in orbit. Mike is here to tell us about these consequences.
Satellite Design for Recovery website: https://satdfr.org/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
With guest Sean Ahlum, the Cold Star Project dips back to Season One and a look at the startup scene in Wilmington and South Eastern North Carolina. Jason Kanigan, the host of the Cold Star Project, has lived in Wilmington NC for nine out of the past ten years.
Sean is the VP of New Product Business Development at ABILITY Network, and the founder at seaCreatively consultancy. I especially wanted him on because of his experience as Senior Director of Innovation at Castle Branch for four years, during which he headed up energetic community development efforts as Senior Director of a startup incubator co-working space in Wilmington called Tek Mountain.
We cover the current condition of the startup scene in ILM and SENC, including:
- what has changed in the past 10 years (I personally arrived in Wilmington to live in 2009, right after the 2008 crash, and support for startups was practically nonexistent)
- Sean's experience with the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce board of directors, making use of his post degree certificate in Responsible Board Governance
- the mission of his consultancy, seaCreatively, especially in relation to helping the right kind of startup
- what Sean Ahlum has directly done in the fields of corporate innovation and community management
- how he sees Big Data / machine learning affecting delivery of healthcare services, and what the next realistic step is for AI in healthcare.
Connect with Sean Ahlum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seaneahlum/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dr. Christopher Dreyer is the Associate Director of Engineering and co-creator of the Center for Space Resources at Colorado School of Mines. The School offers an exciting Space Resources Program and Dr. Dreyer has played an integral role in developing it. Chris meets with Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan to discuss the Program.
We cover:
- how Chris got involved with the idea of asteroid mining
- the way one creates a curriculum for something that hasn't existed before - why the School decided to go with an online program format instead of in-class
- exactly what is taught in a course Dr. Dreyer developed for the program, such as Space Resources Fundamentals
- what if any relevance Earth-based capabilities and experience the Colorado School of Mines developed has for asteroid mining
- technologies available and being developed to prospect for and process resources in space
- how close or far away Dr. Dreyer believes we are to actual asteroid mining.
One of the first things I noticed on Dr. Dreyer's LinkedIn profile was a recommendation from Dr. Joel Sercel, also a guest on this show. Dr. Sercel's Momentus firm and Dr. Dreyer's School do have a relationship and we discuss that in this episode.
Dr. Sercel's appearance is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce9RrmQwr4U
Space Resources Program: https://space.mines.edu/
Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall
Boring legal stuff: This is an impartial interview and Cold Star Tech and its representatives did not receive any compensation for it. Nor do we receive any compensation for any other episodes. No one reviews our content before it is posted. All opinions are those of Jason Kanigan, Cold Star Tech's founder.
Clinton Clark is the Vice President of First Impressions at ExoAnalytic Solutions, and our topic is space situational awareness.
- Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST)
- Space Domain Awareness (SDA)
- Space Traffic Management (STM)
- Space Situational Awareness (SSA)
are all terms--some newer than others--applicable to what ExoAnalytic does.
Clint Clark and Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan dig into what these terms mean, how the company goes about providing such services, and their impact on space.
ExoAnalytic Solutions website: https://exoanalytic.com/
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Founder of TWO seven-figure businesses, under-30 Ken Cesar, is back on the Cold Star Project. This is an unusual episode because it's Cold Star Tech founder Jason Kanigan and Ken Cesar having a frank discussion of what's wrong with the Internet Marketing-driven business model and mindset... and what it takes to build a real business today.
Ken insisted we have this nothing-held-back, no-sacred-cows conversation because he, like me, is irritated with the copy-and-paste popup businesses we've been seeing so much of for the past several years.
They're created by rushing newbie business owners who have no idea what they're doing beyond copying a broken business model--and making something that MAY generate a splash of revenue for a short time before quickly becoming obsolete. The "owner" has therefore built precisely nothing. It is an epidemic getting worse and worse, and we want to do something to fight it.
Ripping off someone else's business, such as copying an Amazon drop shipping knife sales operation and trying to supply the product at a lower price...which is probably a business already ripped off from someone else... is NOT the way to long term or even medium term sustainable success. There are other things you need to be focusing on: things that are not at all being talked about in the IM-driven world.
Expect contrarian concepts and a depth of inquiry and understanding you won't hear anywhere else.
Ken's previous appearance on the Cold Star Project: https://anchor.fm/cold-star-project/episodes/Ken-Cesar---Scaling-To-Seven-Figures-Twice--And-In-Different-Fields---Cold-Star-Project-e26975/a-a57que
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Robert Whearty is Senior VP, Space Projects at Marsh, an insurance brokerage for the space industry. He's also a satellite engineer. On this episode of the Cold Star Project, Bob joins host Jason Kanigan of Cold Star Tech to explain how insurance for satellites works.
We take a broad look at the state of the space insurance field right now, with questions like:
- what's the process for insuring a satellite or constellation?
- is the money supply for space insurance expanding or contracting at the moment?
- how is space insurance different from traditional insurance fields?
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dr. Pete Worden, NASA Ames Research Center Director from 2006 - 2015, is the guest on this special episode of the Cold Star Project. Dr. Rick Fleeter hosts at the Space Horizons 2020 conference at Brown University on February 8, 2020.
Dr. Worden shares his views on his long career in the Space field, and because he is answerable to no one we get to hear some powerful opinions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Worden
Dr. Fleeter is a Professor at Brown, host of the annual Space Horizons conference and Cold Star's Technical Engineering Advisor.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Managing Director of Space In Africa, Temidayo Oniosun, is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan. Voted in 2018 as one of the World 24 Under 24 Leaders and Innovators in SPACE and STEAM by The Mars Generation, as well as one of the recipients of 35 Under 35 space industry recognition award by the International Institute of Space Commerce, Temidayo is an important voice in the Space field.
Hearing what is going on from outside the traditional North American and European centers of space industry is valuable and so we strive to bring you such interviews. Here, we discuss:
- what brought Temidayo to the love of space?
- what he believes is the most exciting development in the African space industry right now
- what he wants people living outside Africa to know about space investment on the continent...unexpected capabilities, rising stars
- the state of the African space economy, and how much or little cooperation is happening between nation states
- how he gathers the data for his Space In Africa industry reports, which are typically bought by executives and analysts outside the continent...and who makes for the best consumers of this information.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Xinabox co-founder Judi Sandrock from South Africa is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan, and we're talking about their modular smallsat teaching tools.
XinaBox designs, develops, and sells modular electronics for the IoT and STEM education markets, in senior schools as well as universities. The technology allows for rapid IoT, embedded and electronics prototyping and development, without soldering, wiring or other hardware knowledge … just coding.
We discuss:
- successes and challenges of working on the MEDO Space (Meta Economic Development Organisation) and the Space STEM program in Africa
- what's missing in STEM education, both in Africa and abroad
- what Industry 4.0 is and why it's important
- How Xinabox is creating a huge opportunity for impact in STEM education worldwide
- How the Xinabox team was involved in the ThinSat and xSat STEM satellite constellations.
For those listening on the audio version, a still of an Xinabox kit is at https://coldstarproject.com/xinabox
Further info about Xinabox products including shop: https://www.xinabox.cc (not an affiliate link)
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dr. Pauline Faure, Assistant Professor at California Polytechnic State University's Aerospace Engineering Department, is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan. We're talking about what it's like to be a student in Cal Poly's CubeSat Lab.
Dr. Faure has international experience in Europe, Japan and the USA. The lab has completed eight missions in the past year including the bus for Lightsail 2. This is a great interview for space students.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Astralytical founder Dr. Laura Forczyk is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan to talk about her new book, Rise of the Space Age Millennials. We also cover a number of other space topics, such as commentary on policy questions like:
- reduced ISS crew size
- NASA's Commercial Crew Program
- Space Tourism
- US Space Policy
- Megaconstellations and astronomer rights
Rise of the Space Age Millennials book page (not an affiliate link): https://www.astralytical.com/rise-of-the-space-age-millennials
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Space lawyer and scifi writer Laura Montgomery is on the Cold Star Project, and we're digging into how Congress, US agencies and operators work to create and enforce space regulations.
With host Jason Kanigan, we discuss:
- the basics of how space law works in the US and for US citizens abroad
- how Laura's FAA experience built and impacted her approach to space law
- the question of sovereignty in space law ("They didn't say I couldn't so I can"; OST Article 1 vs Article 2)
- the way regulatory and treaty issues can impact space law
- how human space flight is regulated in the United States of America
- how Laura's space law practice has influenced her science fiction writing.
Laura Montgomery is Proprietor of Ground Based Space Matters, Adjunct Professor of space law at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law, a former manager FAA space law branch (3 years) and senior attorney for commercial space transportation (18 years).
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Michael Lyon, founder of Xtronaut Enterprises, is a mentor at the Creative Destruction Lab tech accelerator, with a history of work in the space tourism and education fields. He has been an Adjunct Professor at the George Mason University School of Management, and was general counsel with James Cameron on Deep Ocean Expeditions (Titanic, Bismark).
- On the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan we discuss:
- the experience of traveling in a submersible to hydrothermal vents 8600 feet beneath the ocean surface
- what Michael has learned as a mentor at the Creative Destruction Lab
- what space and AI company founders need to do before they start looking for seed round funding
- the deadly things startups consistently miss to protect themselves legally as they begin operation
- how Michael's company, Xtronaut Enterprises, is involved in the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission
- the hurdles to commercial space tourism and how the field may develop.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Jim Cantrell, founder of StratSpace, was SpaceX's first senior business development executive. StratSpace has been involved in 46 satellite and deep space missions, with clients ranging from NASA, USAF, NRO, major aerospace companies and many space startups including ICEYE, Moon Express and York Space Systems.
In this episode of the Cold Star Project, host Jason Kanigan asks Jim Cantrell about funding and building space companies. We dig into:
- what investors at different levels are most looking for in space ventures, beyond making a profit
- how Jim's hiring practices have changed and what he looks for to bring the right people on board
- why StatSpace focused on smallsats as a core business, rather than launch vehicles
- experience with ICEYE, OSIRIS-REx, and other missions
- Jim's fun projects of restoring vintage racecars.
Playlist: https://coldstartech.com/play
Subscribe: https://coldstartech.com/subs
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
On this episode on the Cold Star Project, hosted by Jason Kanigan, our guest is Dr. Moriba Jah. Dr. Jah had an amazing career as navigator of a number of NASA Mars missions, and is now Director, Computational Astronautical Sciences & Technologies, Oden Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.
I was referred to Dr. Jah by Fred Kennedy, past director of the US Space Development Agency, as a person "leading the charge" on space traffic management.
In our interview, we cover:
- the reason current collision detection equations are so lousy, and what we can do to improve them
- how photoacoustic sensing can be improved and used to develop Resident Space Object (RSO) signatures
- what we need to learn before machine learning/AI can be used to identify threatening behaviors or as a forensic tool after anomalous events
- what credibility metrics are for collision prevention, what's missing, and why we need these
- how Bayesian equations can be used to improve our space tracking data, orbital collision detection models and certainty
- what curved space is, and what is challenging about modeling RSO travel within it
- what we can investigate and build so we have a tool to estimate debris fields upon reentry--no models of which exist now.
Notes:
Dr. Moriba Jah's article on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriba_Jah
Orekit database by CS Group (creator of which will be a guest on an upcoming episode): https://www.orekit.org/
Playlist: https://coldstartech.com/play
Subscribe: https://coldstartech.com/subs
Talk to Cold Star Tech: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Jason Kanigan is producing a weekday update series of short videos, called Make Space Boring. These cover who he's meeting and what he's studying in the space field. If you'd like to follow along, sign up here for updates by email: https://www.coldstartech/msb
The Lazy Project Manager, Peter Taylor, is on the Cold Star Project to share his experience in what it takes to improve project performance. Space engineers, like other technical executives, are typically excellent at the practical and material side of project tasks; however, as in other industries would greatly benefit from improving their project management skills.
With host Jason Kanigan, Peter discusses:
- the origin of the ‘Lazy Project Manager’ (book: https://www.amazon.com/lazy-project-m... -- NOT an affiliate link)
- whether project managers are learning or becoming ‘productively lazier’
- the upcoming new book releasing in January 2020 (Project Management: It's All Bollocks: https://www.amazon.com/Project-Manage... -- NOT an affiliate link)
- Project Sponsorship weakness
- Lack of connection from C-Level execs to on the ground project change delivery
- The rise of ‘projects as usual’ with people delivering change as part of their day to day job - The future of project management, including the potential impact of artificial intelligence / machine learning / data science.
Cold Star Tech is on a mission to bring automotive-style continuous manufacturing process improvements to smallsat and cubesat commercial operations. In doing so, costs will be lowered; profits will be increased; and most importantly, smallsat mission success rates will be raised. User adoption of space technology is our goal.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
What's the difference between ITAR and EAR for space companies? When do the International Traffic in Arms Regulations apply instead of the Export Administration Regulations?
Join Cold Star Tech president Jason Kanigan in a brief look at these export regulations and how they are applied. You'll likely hear some surprising things about how ITAR and EAR apply to space companies.
I am not an attorney and this is not legal or "professional" advice. All views expressed are my own.
Sign up for "Make Space Boring" updates by email: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
The Mini Bee asteroid mining craft prototype is the topic of this episode of the Cold Star Project, and Dr. Joel Sercel is our guest. Momentus Space and TransAstra are teaming up with a NASA NIAC grant and other investors to prove the concept of this new asteroid mining technology.
Dr. Sercel has considerable experience in the space field, having designed JPL's space project process. We cover:
tradeoffs in vehicle design of the Mini Bee process for Mini Bee proof of concept "process maturity" concept for Air Force projects he lead biggest surprise in his JPL experience smallsat market predictions.
Mini Bee project info on NASA site: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2019_Phase_I_Phase_II/Mini_Bee_Prototype/
Cold Star Tech is on a mission to bring automotive-style continuous manufacturing process improvements to smallsat and cubesat commercial operations. In doing so, costs will be lowered; profits will be increased; and most importantly, smallsat mission success rates will be raised.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Space lawyer and Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center Christopher Johnson is on the Cold Star Project. With host Jason Kanigan, the Secure World Foundation space law advisor shares what the public needs to know about space law.
Space law is a complex and often unclear subject, operating on corporate, national and international levels. Chris explains how space law approaches topics such as:
- Government regulation of services and nation state liability
- Planetary protection
- How space resources may be used
- Property rights on celestial bodies
- Achieving consensus on space policy and regulations
- Militarization of space.
Notes:
Softwood lumber dispute summary: https://aacb.com/facts-to-understand-about-softwood-lumber-dispute/
Space Law summary resource: https://spacepolicyonline.com/topics/space-law/
Secure World Foundation: https://swfound.org/
Cold Star Tech is on a mission to bring automotive-style continuous manufacturing process improvements to smallsat and cubesat commercial operations. In doing so, costs will be lowered; profits will be increased; and most importantly, smallsat mission success rates will be raised.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
In May 2019, the President issued Executive Order 13873, declaring a national emergency concerning the national Information and Communications Technology and Services (ICTS) supply chain security, and instructing the Department of Commerce to take action. On November 26, 2019, the Department of Commerce released proposed rules "to identify, assess, and address ICTS transactions" posing risk to US ICTS, the US digital economy's critical infrastructure, and national security or security and safety of US persons.
Join Jason Kanigan of Cold Star Tech in a quick look at the reasons why the Executive Order was issued, what the Department of Commerce intends as a solution, and the possible effects of the proposed rule.
Executive Order 13873 (May 15, 2019): https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-securing-information-communications-technology-services-supply-chain/
Department of Commerce response (November 26, 2019): https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2019/11/us-department-commerce-proposes-rule-securing-nations-information-and
I am not an attorney and this is not legal or "professional" advice. All views expressed are my own.
Sign up for "Make Space Boring" updates: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Simon Gwozdz, founder of Equatorial Space Industries, is on the Cold Star Project with Jason Kanigan to tell us about the space industry outside of the North American and European theaters.
The commercial space launch operator shares his efforts to develop a dedicated nanosat launch vehicle in Southeast Asia, as well as the initial success he and his team have had.
We look into issues space startup companies face, unexpected local Singapore-based space expertise, and differences between the North American and European centers and his local area of operation.
Equatorial Space Industries qualified for the Top 500 Deeptech Statups worldwide, and is drawing increasing attention as an up-and-comer.
More about the company at https://equatorialspace.com/
Cold Star Tech is on a mission to bring automotive-style continuous manufacturing process improvements to smallsat and cubesat commercial operations. In doing so, costs will be lowered; profits will be increased; and most importantly, smallsat mission success rates will be raised.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
WRC-19 concludes with new ITU regulations for operators of smallsat megaconstellations.
But what are these new smallsat / cubesat regulations, and what do they mean?
Join Jason Kanigan of Cold Star Tech for a quick look at the history of and reason for the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, 28 October to 22 November 2019, regulations for International Telecommunication Union members on small satellite constellation deployment milestones.
With these regulations, the ITU seeks to ensure member state operators do not "warehouse spectrum" and block other, smaller operators from access.
I am not an attorney and this is not legal or "professional" advice. All views expressed are my own.
Sign up for "Make Space Boring" updates: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dr. Riccardo Albertoni, a member of the Airbus team in charge of developing electric propulsion systems including the one used on the OneWeb constellation, is our guest on the Cold Star Project.
His team was the 2017 & 2019 Winner of the Airbus Defence and Space Award for Excellence, and he lectures on electric propulsion at the Airbus Space Academy.
Dr. Albertoni explains how electric propulsion for satellites works, as well as its role in the market.
While electric propulsion has several advantages, it is not a fit for every type of mission. He explains to host Jason Kanigan that there will continue to be room for conventional combustion propulsion systems.
Dr. Albertoni concludes by sharing his views on what new developments are upcoming in the electric propulsion field.
Cold Star Tech is on a mission to bring automotive-style continuous manufacturing process improvements to smallsat and cubesat commercial operations. In doing so, costs will be lowered; profits will be increased; and most importantly, smallsat mission success rates will be raised.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dr. Amelia Greig of the University of Texas at El Paso's Center for Space Exploration and Technology Research is on the Cold Star Project to talk about her experience. We're looking into both her own experience as a student and professor, and that of her graduate students in today's programs.
Dr. Greig earned an Australian National University doctorate in plasma physics & electrical propulsion, a Postdoctorate in Plasma Physics at CalTech, and taught aerospace propulsion, space environment and spacecraft thermal control at California Polytechnic State University before moving to the University of Texas.
I wanted to hear from "boots on the ground" about what's going on in academia regarding smallsats. So we cover what kind of courses students are interested in, the hands-on opportunities they're being given in addition to classroom theory, and Dr. Greig's vision for the future.
In addition, she shares her thoughts on what graduate students can and should be doing before and as graduation approaches so they can maximize their job opportunities. Networking done well during this time can pay off strongly into their career.
You can connect with Dr. Greig at adgreig@utep.edu
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Dr. Rick Fleeter, associate adjunct professor at Brown University and visiting lecturer at La Sapienza (Rome), has decades of personal history with small satellites.
“I got started in microspace through amateur radio and AMSAT. In the early 1980s I had the unusual experience of spending evenings building small satellites in a garage in Redondo Beach, CA, paid for essentially with small contributions by the team that was building them, while during the day working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and then TRW, where it was insisted that without something close to $1 billion there wasn’t much you could do other than paper studies.”
Rick Fleeter was launching smallsats in the 1970s, when they were considered merely a hobby or toys. Since then he has helped change the perception of cubesats to useful tools by leading well designed, cost-minimized projects. As an example, Brown's Space Engineering department built a satellite for just $5000. He has written books, founded the company AeroAstro and the Space Horizons annual conference at Brown.
In this interview, Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan asks Dr. Rick Fleeter about the smallsat and cubesat field, new developments, frustrations with space, and even company development.
Inquiries for Dr. Fleeter can be emailed to: rick_fleeter@brown.edu
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Host of the top space educator YouTube channel, Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur, is on the Cold Star Project and we're talking about the future of smallsats.
Isaac Arthur shares his views with host Jason Kanigan on:
- the potential impact of economies of scale and the sheer number of cubesats about to be put into orbit
- tracking problems and space debris cleanup possibly resulting from mission failure, end of life, and collisions
- connectivity improvements leading to SAR (search and rescue) & lifesaving operations
- the next two or three decades of industry & commercial development of continuous launches to place and replace satellite constellations
- the future of smallsat technology and "space jobs."
Check out Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZFipeZtQM5CKUjx6grh54g
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Why a forensic criminologist / incident investigator on a Space podcast? Dr. Ron Martinelli has much to share with us about how to analyze documentation properly, derive lessons from it, and become a truly learning organization.
Dr. Ron Martinelli is a nationally renowned forensic criminologist who is the only police expert in the country who is also a Certified Medical Investigator at the physician’s level.
Dr. Ron directs the nation’s only multidisciplinary Forensic Death Investigations & Independent Review Team and specializes in forensic investigations including officer-involved and civilian self-defense shooting death cases.
Everything he has to share is directly applicable to improving smallsat mission success rates.
In this episode of the Cold Star Project we're digging into:
- ways in which evidence can be misleading
- the effectiveness or lack thereof of bodycams (and all cameras)
- how movies & TV portray psychological profilers versus real life
- the way "the story can change over time" and lessons invalidated that you thought you had learned--and indoctrinated the entire culture about in the meantime, getting it all wrong
- the importance of processes & systems to collect critical data.
Find out more about Dr. Ron Martinelli at https://drronmartinelli.com/
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Phoenix Launch Systems co-founder and Vogue Aerospace president Matthew Travis is on the Cold Star Project to share his plans for enabling simplified, rapid access to space.
With a nanosatellite launch system and versatile space transportation system, Matt is engaged in the mission to bring launches to a daily occurrence. His experience with smallsat components and interest in streamlining products and processes provide the drive to keep costs minimized and a goal of US $750K launches.
We discover what Matt learned about the reliability of third party component specifications and other experiences "from the front lines" in this interview.
Contact Matt by email at matthew.travis@phoenixlaunchsystems.com
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Cold Star Tech: "Make Space Boring" - Smallsat Manufacturing Process Improvement & Data Science
My guest on the Cold Star Project this time is the Director of Education and a partner at the Boston Career Institute, where they train sterile processing techs.
I have been interested in the sterile processing field for some time as it exists at the intersection of the opportunities I enjoy most:
- compliance culture
- time-based critical mission
- (and hopefully) desire to be the best.
That last is not always in evidence out there.
Steve Yanovsky's insight to this world was fascinating to me. I have spoken with Steve before but we had not gotten to this level of detail. This conversation immediately got me started on looking for evidence of such culture mismatches elsewhere...and I suspect they are just about everywhere.
I have certainly seen this kind of issue in the world of sales training: the VPs of Business Development have zero idea what the "boots on the ground" problems their front line salespeople are experiencing...they only care about their numbers.
Especially if you are in the healthcare field this will be an eye-opener. I'd recommend it as alarming listening for anyone interested in the world and human affairs, though.
You'll hear about how:
- Sterile Processing Departments (SPDs) could lose 70% of their workforce because they can't get their staff certified
- the Sterile Processing Tech (SPT) field is much bigger than equipment / setup / sterilization
- much discretion left to the tech, supervisor, etc. on carrying out of tasks
- SPTs can "get ahead" in hospital work environments
- the missing culture connection of the SPD directly to patient care in the operating room is causing training and delivery problems.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
This time on the Cold Star Project we're looking at Albert Kahn. Kahn’s firm pioneered standardization and modular systems, and had the biggest impact on industrial architecture in the 20th Century--yet is almost completely unknown both in the USA and Russia despite having done major projects in both countries.
Kahn's USP was designing buildings on time & under budget, with good quality of construction. The "Why" of hiring his firm was not about hiring the artist (as with contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright) but rather the "corporate guarantee" Kahn's leadership brought to the table.
The USSR's transition from an agrarian to industrial economy was certainly sparked by the teaching and involvement of Kahn's firm as the Soviets hired them to teach their engineers and build their first giant mass production factories.
I'm indebted to Claire Zimmerman and Sonia Melnikova-Raich for the information used to create this episode.
http://www.we-aggregate.org/piece/the-labor-of-albert-kahn
After the release of this episode, Ms. Melnikova-Raich reached out to approve linking of her paper here: https://www.academia.edu/19601168/The_Soviet_Problem_with_Two_Unknowns_How_an_American_Architect_and_a_Soviet_Negotiator_Jump-Started_the_Industrialization_of_Russia
Playlist: http://bit.ly/cspplay
Subscribe: http://bit.ly/cspsubs
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
CPA Luis Lomanov and author of Financial Foundations works with high growth tech firms to give them scalable financial infrastructures. In early stage, fast growth periods, Luis excels at helping these companies avoid taking on big costs too soon. These include processes and systems the owners are typically not thinking about, which enable them to avoid:
- getting sucked into unprofitable "busy work" that takes them away from sales
- hiring a $150K/yr CFO too early -their people and systems breaking when the level of activity quadruples
- KPIs that don't help the owners in making decisions
- running out of cash unexpectedly in the middle of a growth spurt.
This discussion about scalable financial systems between Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan and Upward Insights Managing Partner Luis Lomanov will show you the key perspective to have about money processes as you grow.
Connect with Luis Lomanov on LinkedIn.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Todd Hockenberry returns to the Cold Star Project to share his experience with and views on how to make inbound marketing effective for service organizations.
While many service companies believe they understand their ideal customer avatar and buyer's journey, the fact is they're often irritating their best customers. What those customers want is not what the company believes they do--or what the organization wants to "push."
Todd Hockenberry is the author of "Inbound Organization: How to Build and Strengthen Your Company's Future Using Inbound Principles." Learn more about Top Line Results and Todd through this Welcome Link:
https://www.top-line-results.com/cold
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Brian Reynolds helps family-run firms, often in the manufacturing space, in the $50 - 100 million revenue range "replace stale and ineffective business models with modern, integrated sales & marketing processes."
In this episode of the Cold Star Project hosted by Jason Kanigan, Brian Reynolds talks about the challenges of navigating the family through a process of discovery...so your plans can survive the holiday dinner you are not invited to.
Is the business' vision separated from its tasks? Is there succession planning? And how important is branding to the owners? These are key questions Brian raises in our discussion.
Brian notes that it's a terrible idea to run your business as if nothing bad will ever happen. Yet that is how most are operated. Listen in and find out what you can be doing differently as a business owner to ensure yours doesn't get stuck.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Space Initiatives Inc. president Charles Radley is on a mission to make collision detection between objects in orbit much more effective.
The current technology is not as good as you might think, and there is an opportunity to improve space collision detection at an affordable investment.
A major danger of orbital collisions is not just the crashing of one object into another, but a cascading series of impacts called the Kessler Syndrome. The worst outcome for a Kessler Syndrome incident is an orbital debris field blocking launches for generations. And it is not a fantasy.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Thick Face, Black Heart by Chin-Ning Chu is an operations manual for realists. It's a field guide for people who want to develop a thicker skin. It's all about the art of stopping being a people-pleaser and becoming just a little more ruthless in the pursuance of your goals.
Marc Mawhinney is the founder of Natural Born Coaches and the connected group The Coaching Jungle on Facebook, a 16,000-strong container for coaches of all kinds. After having a real estate business implode under him (discussed in a previous appearance on this show), Marc dusted himself off and moved in a different direction. Using Thick Face, Black Heart as his guide, Marc has created new success while "keeping his belly covered" as sales trainer David Sandler would say.
If you're a fan of The Secret, you owe it to yourself to see the contrast available in Thick Face, Black Heart. Join Marc Mawhinney and Jason Kanigan for this fun discussion of entrepreneurship "behind the scenes."
You can find the Coaching jungle via thecoachingjungle.com
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Todd Hockenberry is on the Cold Star Project to share his experiences with growing industrial manufacturing firms through effective inbound marketing. He has many valuable stories to share about improving your results.
Being overly focused on the product results in a way of thinking about your business that stops sales from happening. There is far more going on in your buyer's mind than wondering about a list of features.
Todd's way of thinking about industrial manufacturing marketing begins with answering the question, "How does the buyer of this product actually buy?" And that leads to the strategy, then the tactics through the right inbound marketing content. The details of the situation around the buying decision are the key to this content, not features.
Todd Hockenberry is the author of "Inbound Organization: How to Build and Strengthen Your Company's Future Using Inbound Principles."
Learn more about Top Line Results and Todd through this Welcome Link: https://www.top-line-results.com/coldstarproject
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Your organization's speed of response is critical, whether it's taking advantage of opportunities in the marketplace, delivering on a critical mission, or responding to an angry customer.
Yet most companies' documentation processes are terrible. And without good, timely documentation, you won't learn anything.
Tune in for examples of how poor or non-existent documentation processes have resulted in failure of organizations...and most disturbingly, lessons these organizations thought they learned becoming invalidated as the story of what happened changed over time. That changing story is a direct result of poor documentation.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Verne Harnish has a great diagram in his book Scaling Up. I use it all over the place. The diagram shows 28 million firms in the USA, divided into categories by revenue. You might be surprised at just how few companies reach $50 million.
And between each category, you must go through what Harnish terms the "Valley of Death"! To scale up to the next revenue plateau, you must adapt or die.
How well you adapt is directly impacted by the way you're thinking about your business.
Over the past year or so, I've been searching for different ways of thinking about businesses. Yet the newbie crowd, who are only interested in what I call "newbie talk"--focus on traffic and conversion, tactics, hacks and magic bullets--hear what I bring back from my searches as "philosophical" or just plain nonsense.
But the fact is, having talked about "newbie talk" topics from 2011 through around 2016, I'm simply no longer interested in those topics. They seem like kids' stuff to me. You can still get all my old content out there for free.
In this episode, I'm giving a clear example of different thinking. Three different organizations have three different ways of thinking about...and solving...the same problem.
Until now, you've likely been unconsciously following just one way of thinking in your business.
You probably never thought there was another way of thinking about it.
Yet your competitors are surely thinking in those different ways.
Which of you will succeed?
The one that adapts the best--which is the one that THINKS the best.
Listen in and discover something new. This is just as real to me as rocks and trees. It's not philosophy.
Brightideas.co and flowster.app founder Trent Dyrsmid is on the Cold Star Project with Jason Kanigan to share the incredible value of SOPs in building your Amazon Wholesaling business.
Trent immediately documented his processes as he created his own Amazon wholesaling operation, and makes these SOPs available to other sellers.
Not knowing your numbers is the #1 issue he sees with business owners. And to do that, he has specific programs he recommends you get training on and use.
We also talk about different Amazon business models and why wholesaling is likely the best choice for newbies today.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
"What's the best SaaS dashboard product?" is a common question I'm asked.
And my answer is: the one you build yourself.
No one knows your KPIs as well as you do...and the limitations in the thinking of the dashboard developers will blind you if you use their product.
Talk to Cold Star about your situation: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Avis' Manager of Strategy & Innovation, Attila Dobai, returns to the Cold Star Project with Jason Kanigan to share his experience over the last several months causing disruption in his marketplace.
While leading an innovative program to offer truck rentals at major retailer parking lots, Attila also managed to take a Harvard Business School course on disruption, attend a live networking event at Cambridge afterwards, speak on two stages, and become an examiner for the Baldrige Awards.
Yes, it was a busy Spring for Attila. Join us to hear the details and learn about marketplace disruption.
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
I asked Wes Schaeffer, the Sales Whisperer, back on to the Cold Star Project to follow up on his previous appearance, "What CRM Should I Get?" Turned out there were plenty of details for us to cover, so you could understand what you need to get together before you go out shopping for a new CRM.
If you don't write down the process you're using to gather leads and market to them, you'll get suckered in by bloated CRM programs that sell you features you don't need and will never use. Wes explains the steps you must go through to make sure you don't fall into this trap, and instead get the right CRM for you--the one you will actually use.
You'll learn a lot from our straightforward discussion, and if you want Wes' free CRM training package afterwards, it's at https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/pbl
Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Adam Crowl returns to the Cold Star Project to talk about a "moon-based gas station," point-to-point travel, and why many space-focused people want us to go to Titain. To become a spacefaring society we're going to need infrastructure, and what we're discussing today could be an economically and physically practical part of that.
Adam's blog is http://crowlspace.com/
More about Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/
Space news aggregator and educator Fraser Cain is on the Cold Star Project to discuss Elon Musk's Starlink and his experience with startups.
SHOW NOTES:
First we cover the Starlink constellation:
-what is it (high speed worldwide ISP satellite network)
-compliance requirements -space junk / Kessler Syndrome problem - lowered planned altitude solution -astronomers not consulted - streaks of satellites crossing images blocking view (somewhat fixed)
-privacy & political considerations - it's a broadcast network - no intermediary / routing - all traffic will go at same speed.
Fraser co-founded 2 businesses in the 90s that went public and another that he made a lifestyle business:
-Absolute Software for a laptop theft recovery system
-Communicate.com web development for large companies
-Communicate owned early one word domain names
-discovered self-knowledge of where his genius range / fun point is in business
-found his "fun factor" is in educating and directly connecting with readers through Universe Today
-"20 years later still having a ball"
-features: minimal staff, built to last, strong purpose (not Exit for money, but "how do I make this more fun for me?")
-uses Pateron because he doesn't like paywalls
-how self-directed vs Patreon-directed? His readers want the "chefs special"
-If-Then Statements about Happiness that don't work out in reality (people end up sadly surprised), so pick something you love.
Get on Fraser's newsletter distribution list at https://www.universetoday.com/
Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall
Self-educated nuclear propulsion expert Eustratius "Stuart" Graham joins host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project to bring us up to speed on this topic.
Stuart is consulted by Space industry professionals and is building an online repository of history and information about nuclear propulsion for space vehicles.
Our discussion is a great primer for you to understand the historical development of nuclear propulsion (which was primarily completed in the 1970s) and how it is being planned for use today.
Beyond NERVA blog and encyclopediac site: https://beyondnerva.com/
In today's solo episode of the Cold Star Project, I'm sharing an example of how harsh demands force people to think outside the box. And that's often not good for you.
The brutal demands on Germany of the 1919 Versailles Treaty ending WWI prompted Weimar politicians and military officials to come up with creative means to circumvent those restrictions. These means enabled Germany to pay off reparations much more quickly than anticipated and get out of economic domination, and also train and upgrade their armed forces in a way the treaty was specifically designed to prevent. Germany took their activities "off the radar" of the victorious Allies.
If you can't see an event, you can't audit it. As we've covered in past discussions, poor documentation results in stories changing over time...and the lessons you thought you learned often being invalidated.
Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
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BUILDING a business
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RUNNING a business
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Running a SUCCESSFUL business
are all different things, and Ken Moskowitz of AdZombies is on the Cold Star Project with Jason Kanigan to tell us stories that highlight the differences.
We begin with the question, "Do companies actually learn anything?", and continue with how to put the right people into the right seats.
Our discussion about scaling covers:
- business structure that doesn't fit the corporate model
- delegation of control and the corresponding trust needed in your people
- dealing with being easily distracted as a founder
- the difference between what Ken thought scaling was and what he found it to really be
- what to deliberately ignore and what to concentrate up on when deciding whether or not to bring on a new employee
What business are you in? What business are you really in? And what business should you be in, to "future-proof" your business? Ken poses and gives his real-world examples to answer these questions.
This is one of the top five interviews I've hosted.
Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Daxy Perez, founder of Legacy Podcasting and the Podcasting Success Secrets group on Facebook, is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan to talk about growing your podcast.
We discuss:
- how to pick the right audience to boost your chances of podcasting success
- determining your conversion strategy, ie. what you as the podcast host want your listeners to do next
- what podcasters can do to increase their podcast audience size
- the best attitude for podcasting success
- how to focus on the psychology of your avatar or target audience to improve the effectiveness of your podcast's marketing.
He also describes from the examples of his clients what an underrated podcast looks like, sharing important details podcast hosts can build into their own shows.
Daxy points out that podcasting is not "like launching a product; it's not.: it's like starting a book. All right: now there's a lot more work to be done."
Talk with us: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Swell System founder Derek Schmidt is back on the Cold Star Project and he's got some new stories of scaling to share. We discuss:
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How business owners are using Swell to document their processes, so they can free up their own time and energy and learn
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How agency owners can give up control of key tasks like bidding on jobs without fear that their people will screw up
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Derek's appearance as a Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED)-featured tech presenter for a $50K grant - info at cednc.org
Swell is an integrated business management solution and is one of Cold Star Tech's Preferred Vendors. More information can be found through our referral link at https://coldstarproject.com/preferred-vendors/
Talk with us: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Are Companies Actually LEARNING Anything?
("No.")
Without accurate documentation, the story changes over time. And if the story changes over time, what can you say you've really learned?
If you're not documenting what happens in your business, you and your people won't learn anything. Operational excellence will be an impossibility.
You say, "Yeah, I know that," but I know hardly anyone is documenting anything. The processes, and the data that results from them, are in their heads or not recorded at all.
And they data they do have? The accountant doesn't know what their production people need--and the production people don't know to ask accounting for it.
So you don't "know that."
How do you sell a scaling business? Particularly a process-based, zero employee business?
Peter Hoskins of RareCurve has succeeded in multiple six and seven-figure exits and this time on the Cold Star Project we're discussing the details of how he did it. What factors were involved in this seven-figure sale?
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How did Peter get the business organized to sell?
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How did he find an appropriate buyer?
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What kind of commitment was required to make the sale happen?
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How long did it take?
These and many other questions are answered in this extensive interview with a business creator who understands the importance of process and documentation. Join Peter Hoskins and Jason Kanigan for this in-depth conversation about selling a scaling business.
Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
10XTS (advanced fintech and regtech solutions provider) and Founder Institute - Cincinnati prime mover Michael Hiles is on the Cold Star Project and we're talking about big thinking and capital markets. This is a conversation far above the "tips and tricks" level and could well be an eye-opener for you.
We talk about fintech software, blockchain and cryptocurrency, creating your own opportunity zone investment fund, and improving capital efficiency. You'll learn the difference between "balance sheet" dollars versus "hustle revenue" dollars and what scaling your financial processes might look like.
The kind of fund Michael shares details about here is useful to offset tax gain liability.
We also cover how you can begin to develop your own expert contact base, which is the key to opening doors to working at a higher level.
Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
On average 130 people die from opioid overdose every day [CDC.] "If I see injustice you must act": David Reeser is a leader in the true sense of the word. In striving to leverage the AI skills of his other business and harness the power of the community in Wilmington NC through opiAID, David is leading the work to over come the opioid epidemic.
The process begins with language: recognizing that victims of the opioid overdose crisis are our neighbors. And we help our neighbors.
David is one of the most genuine, Be-Here-Now people I have met. His intention on solving this deadly problem is laser-focused and I have no doubt that he will achieve the goals opiAID has. I attended the monthly meetup held to update stakeholders at Tek Mountain, and was very impressed with the 30+ medical, therapist, startup and other professionals in the room.
From the opiAID website: "opiAID is a technology assisted therapy (TAT) offering an integrated communication platform that allows ALL Partners the ability to coordinate their efforts to save the life of at least one Neighbor. With real-time communication and accurate data – all working on a compliance-driven and fast cloud-based platform – this SaaS application will result in better reporting and more accurate data. Ultimately, lives will be saved and the cost of combating this disease will dramatically decrease.
"For our Neighbors, we are designing a wearable device with the capacity to detect cravings and alert a family member or counselor in the event of an emergency. If an overdose is detected, the device will deliver Naloxone and reverse the effects of the opioid, all while alerting emergency medical professionals of the Neighbor’s location."
opiAID is gathering community members and leaders in a way that hasn't happened before: it's more than technology.
opiAID website: http://www.opiaid.tech/
opiAID article in WRAL Tech Wire: https://www.wraltechwire.com/2018/11/12/wilmington-startup-opiaid-applies-ai-power-to-substance-abuse/
CDC information page on the opioid overdose crisis: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html
Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
NinjaOutreach was a 4 year startup SaaS for founder Dave Schneider. He and a co-founder worked with this idea for years, developing an MVP and then improving it until the opportunity to sell the product came along.
Dave's story is unlike the typical "We're perfect and did everything right" tale you'll hear spun by most SaaS founders. In this episode of the Cold Star Project you'll hear honesty about capabilities, marketing, churn and more that will make you sit up and take notice of what it really takes to succeed in the SaaS world.
While other founders will give you a snow job about how well they're doing and the performance of their product, Dave Schneider steps up to the plate to share the reality of what the SaaS experience is like for a whole lot of founders who choose this path.
Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Peter Loving is the founder of the SaaS Founders and Execs group on Facebook, and from this position he has seen the pitfalls of many SaaS founders as they try to scale.
In this interview on the Cold Star Project, Peter shares the critical problems he has seen new SaaS founders run into again and again.
If you're thinking about becoming a SaaS founder, or are one who is struggling to find customers, this interview will show you the big issues between you and having a scaling business. And they are typically things you should consider before you begin your SaaS business...not when you're in the middle of it and stuck.
Talk to Cold Star Tech: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
I've had so many conversations with business owners and business brokers, and found:
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the owners are confused about why the brokers don't value their businesses as high as they thought they would...
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and the brokers are frustrated that the owners believe someone would give any value to a sloppy and undocumented business with no repeatable processes written down.
Just because your business has been around for some years is no cause for valuation at all. If you can't hand that business to another person and expect them to get the same results you did in a repeatable way, you haven't created value in regards to the sale of your business.
John Garuti III is a business broker I've known for some time and keep running into through my contacts. So I'm having him on the Cold Star Project to explain what brokers are looking for when they're developing a valuation figure for a business.
Owners, listen up! In this episode is your path to the valuation of your business you imagined when you started out on your entrepreneurial journey. You'll hear from John Garuti III the pitfalls and the boosters of business valuation in the world of selling and buying businesses. If you think he's a fit for you, connect with John on LinkedIn.
What at first seemed like a straightforward infrastructure upgrade for this clipart image sales firm turned into a nightmare.
Brad Gosse of Vector Toons was stuck trying to find a way to scale the storage and delivery functions for sales of his cartoon images, and WordPress had broken. WooCommerce was no longer doing the job.
And it turned out this problem was far more complex and challenging than anyone realized...including "experts" who said they'd figured out the way to solve it. Scaling WordPress for over one million images turned out to be a project failure.
Join us for an in-depth explanation of the problems in breaking WordPress as a sales and delivery website for media files, and what it took to find an effective solution at scale.
Brad started with around 30,000 images and is now over 3 million: imagine the strain this put on his IT infrastructure as he found his accelerator.
Talk to Cold Star Tech to discuss solutions to scaling in your business: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Jason Kanigan of Cold Star Tech is on to talk about the recent increase in the price of Facebook and other platform advertising.
Prompted by past guest Ken Cesar, and the change of the marketplace as it matures, Jason shares what he believes you should be doing as a business owner to stay alive. The costs of advertising are going to increase...and the complexity and time necessary to gain an ROI-positive customer will continue to rise: what will you do to ensure your business is around next year?
You need to get more out of what you've got. Generating more leads is not the answer. Converting more of the leads you are paying for is.
We look at conversion improvement methods such as:
-using an indoctrination funnel
-getting out of the groupthink of dashboards
-documenting and refining your processes
and more!
Need help with what we've talked about in this episode? Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
What's needed next for the people of Earth to kickstart space infrastructure?
The host of what I consider to be the best "Space explainer" channel on YouTube, Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur, joins us here on the Cold Star Project to share his knowledge.
-Power production
-Asteroid mining
-The legalities of interactions in space
-Smallsats
-Space stations
and even unusual space advertising are discussed.
Are you interested in the business of Space? Then stay tuned to this podcast and Jason Kanigan.
Book a time to talk to Cold Star Tech: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
And check out Isaac's amazing channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZFipeZtQM5CKUjx6grh54g
Young founders, particularly in tech and SaaS, are turning themselves into COOs instead of CEOs.
The mistake here is this unconscious choice turns you into someone who works IN your business instead of ON your business.
I explain what the true role of the founder/CEO is, and how you can free up your time and energy by making the conscious choice to get a Chief of Staff into the COO role.
What you think you should be doing are NOT the decisions and activities that are effective as a founder/CEO.
Recommended book: Chief of Staff by Tyler Parris
If you're ready to talk to us at Cold Star Tech to get clarity on your business, use this link: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Working with European and North American SaaS firms, Stephen Lowisz of 21 LEAP provides the sales systems and personnel to ignite fast growth.
You should be looking to grow your revenue by at least $1.2 million to work with Stephen's organization.
The entire lead nurturing sequence to get the prospect ready to talk to a live human being is also in 21 LEAP's scope. Automation without the perception of spam is the result, as Stephen segments large prospect lists into different and relevant pain points.
Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Crowlspace.com blogger and Space expert Adam Crowl is back on the Cold Star Project with Jason Kanigan, and this time we're digging into the Breakthrough Starshot initiative.
Many improvements and technologies are planned to result from this proof-of-concept project to send a fleet of lightsail vessels to Alpha Centauri. Each of 100,000 tiny ships will require:
- Cameras
- Processors
- Photon thrusters
- Battery
- Protective coating
- Lightsail.
A laser battery will provide the initial thrust.
Details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Starshot
Is it time to discover the hidden challenges and opportunities in your business? Book a call with Cold Star Tech at bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Applicant Pro founder Ryan Kohler is on the Cold Star Project, and the way he scaled to $13.5 million ARR will surprise you.
Pushing back against the conventional wisdom of "finding pain points and solving a problem your target market admits to having," Ryan found success with his recruiting industry app in an unusual way. Instead of looking at the more obvious direct connections and what users said was important, he investigated the ways stakeholders were actually using (or not using) the app.
And that lead to some critical discoveries...and a lot of revenue.
Ryan's story is a powerful scaling tale because it demonstrates how user adoption is often driven by hidden motivations...and that the customer does not always know what's in their best interests--or even what they truly want.
Join us for a discussion that will give you new ideas of where to look for the clues of success. Your business awareness level will be raised!
Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
We act (or fail to act) based on what we believe to be true.
Bruce Lee said, "Defeat is a state of mind; No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.”
He's also quoted in a Bob Proctor training as having said to learn his martial arts knowledge, his students (that's you) first had to get rid of their own.
Jason Kanigan of Cold Star Technologies shares two important examples of how we are fed images that produce emotional responses, and so-called "facts" we blindly accept. Examples like these produce action or inaction responses from you, and as long as they are in control, you lose. To scale your business and reach the next revenue plateau, you must move through the Valley of Death as described by Verne Harnish: if you don't change how you are doing what you're doing, your business will die.
And to change how you're doing what you're doing, you need to change the ideas behind those actions.
The truth is that most of us never stop to inspect ideas. We receive them and automatically respond based on our cognitive biases. But these filters are subconscious, and we are under their control.
If we chose to treat the dominant ideas in our mind with more awareness, we could regain some of that control.
The factors explained in this episode are critical to your ability to scale. To get a fresh, outside perspective on your business, book a time to talk with us at http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Whether the term is "Define," at the beginning of Attila's 'DOITS' process, or "Select," at the start of the 'SREDIM' problem solving methodology, the first thing you do in process improvement is critical.
Your precise choice of what to work on is a factor more important than any other: what you choose to focus on will determine the impact, success or failure of your improvement project.
Attila Dobai, a Manager of Strategy and Innovation at Avis and six sigma black belt mentor, is on the Cold Star Project to discuss with Cold Star Tech founder Jason Kanigan the massive importance of choosing your improvement subject wisely.
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What does it take to charge a $50K setup fee for working with your firm? Jim Padilla of Gain The Edge is on the Cold Star Project to share his experience and the details of what it takes to do so.
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the value
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the mindset
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the sale you first have to make to yourself
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the credibility elements
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the process necessary to work with the buyer
are key and all explained in this episode. Just wanting to bill big fees is not enough: you need to have several pieces of the puzzle in place to be able to take this impactful step.
Book a call with the experts at Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
"If you are not growing, if you are struggling to find clients or actually get something out of your partnerships and relationships, then you aren’t doing a good enough job making it clear what you do best."
TJ Gamble of Jamersan specializes in enterprise ecommerce development, but started in a geographic location nowhere near anything. In two decades of running his business, he's figured out how to develop trust with people far away from his location, and how they buy.
Geographic proximity can be a huge factor in recommendations and referrals, so getting around this issue was key to TJ's success. Specialization and partnerships, he discovered, were the tools to get the clients he wanted.
"Understanding the psychology of positioning and niching and that it’s just all about being memorable is probably the biggest thing I wished I had learned earlier in my career. All the experts say to niche, but no one really explains why too well." Join TJ to hear what he wishes he'd been told ages ago.
To get focus on your own specialization or partnership questions, book a call with us at Cold Star Tech: https://www.coldstartech.com
Right Hook Digital partner Scott Seward is on the Cold Star Project to share what it took to build his agency to consistently well over $200K MRR. It's a story with mergers & acquisitions, realization that the internal processes were not up to further growth, contrarian thinking in lengthening rather than shortening the sales process, and a lot more.
Agency work is not just about sales, and Scott has learned this lesson well. The right systems need to be in place to support those sales figures, or else customers will leave when fulfillment of the service is lacking.
If you're ready to get serious about your processes and systems, talk to us at Cold Star Tech https://www.coldstartech.com
In the beginning you'll cobble together a solution for your customer's problem, using a patchwork of apps and systems. But if you're solving a genuinely important problem for your target market, you'll soon discover this is no longer good enough: it's inefficient, clumsy, and frankly unappealing. When you arrive at that moment, what will you do?
Jonathan Kiekbusch of SEO Butler knew he not only could but had to improve the infrastructure of his solution, so he would be able to provide a much better experience and outcome for his customers. The answer was to invest a significant amount of cash into a complete redesign of the company's website...and the systems behind it.
Jonathan says: We founded SEOButler 4 years ago, as a totally bootstrapped startup, originally on Opencart, which to no surprise was a total mess.
Originally we started with just a couple of digital products/services. As customer and order volumes grew quickly we started to consider moving platform. Eventually we moved to Wordpress/Woocommerce.
Over the years we grew significantly and kept applying patches / plasters to the site in order to continue to make it run. It started to crumble around us.
Our website seobutler.com couldn't handle customer volumes, complex processes and other complexities, basically resulting in us not being able to maximize our earning potential.
Site load times were through the roof; same with bounce rates. Lots of issues.
We track our support tickets, and discovered the volume of tickets related to bugs on the old site kept increasing.
We also started interviewing customers to identify exactly what it was that they weren't happy with.
Identifying processes that caused friction with our customers was a huge learning point.
Eventually we gave in and decided to completely rebuild the website from scratch, investing over $30,000 to work with experts: hiring a special designer, specialist developers for both front and backend and doing it “the right way.”
Initially the experience was “painful” because we always undervalued our main way of creating revenue for the business. But now that the project is almost completed (we are in public beta), we are so grateful that we finally made the decision to go this route.
Listen in on our discussion and discover not only what point you might be in a similar situation, needing to bite the bullet and create a significant upgrade to your capabilities and solution, but also what huge benefits there are to making this kind of investment.
Is it time to talk about what improvements you could be making to your product infrastructure--to give your customers a fantastically better experience and you a smoother, more profitable operation? Let's talk! Book a call with the experts at Cold Star Tech: https://www.coldstartech.com
Sure, you can go around identifying symptoms and taking actions to resolve them. But you're not identifying or reaching or handling the root problem.
Jason Kanigan of Cold Star Technologies gives a clear example of how focusing on handling symptoms, and not digging to find the root cause problem, is not only a waste of resources...but may actually hurt people.
The things we think are problems are frequently only surface level symptoms of those deeper problems. It's easier than you think to get distracted and make this error.
We also look at a proven problem solving methodology, so you can get the idea of how to use it in your business.
Ready to have outside expert perspective look at your situation? Book a call with us at bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Attila Dobai is Manager of Strategy and Innovation at Avis, the vehicle rental company. I thought this would be an ossified industry--after all, it has been around forever--but was surprised at how interested they are in continuous improvement. There are about 50 six sigma improvement professionals there.
Attila is on the Cold Star Project to share details of an innovation he has recently made at Avis, giving access to a new distribution channel for truck rentals with a major retailer. We also discuss his proprietary DOITS continuous improvement methodology.
Attila says: Continuous improvement started in manufacturing. Problems with efficiency and effectiveness in manufacturing are commonly solved using methods such as DMAIC (six sigma), SCORE (LEAN), TQM, or with the Toyota Production System. These systems are great at solving problems in manufacturing and have seen some success in service or transactional based businesses.
Traditional problem solving methods for efficiency and effectiveness in service or transactional businesses are difficult to implement and sustain or scale. They often focus solely on cost reduction thus missing opportunities for real growth.
I have developed the DOITS method for continuous improvement in service/transactional businesses.
DOITS stands for:
Define - define the problem to be solved and the optimal problem solving method (fire fighting or stop gap, efficiency/effectiveness improvement to margin, or innovation).
Observe - observe the problem and identify potential root causes in context.
Improve - start improving with a mentality that failure is ok. We want small rapid failure to discover the best solution.
Test - Test the improvement using solid data analytics. Did the improvement drive the desired outcome.
Sustain/Scale - If your goal is to maintain an improvement then implement methods to sustain it and scale it for the rest of the business. If your goal is to grow then implement methods to scale the solution beyond your business.
Continuous improvement implementations in service/transactional businesses seem to have a lifespan that is shorter than their manufacturing peers. I believe this is because service and transactional businesses solutions are more centered in human behavior.
Business owners/executives may feel that traditional continuous improvement fails to deliver improvement over the long term or they may feel that it puts them on a race to the bottom. They may feel like traditional CI disavows the intuition that they have relied on to get to where they are. I recommend the DOITS system for CI for businesses that want to drive growth and scale.
If you're ready for the transformation having clarity on your processes and being able to put your finger on the areas needing improvements will bring to your business, we should speak. Book a call with us at http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar
Derek Schmidt lives in the same town I do, so we were able to meet in person! For the first time we have an on-location shoot for the Cold Star Project, and we're talking about Swell Systems. Swell is an integrated business management solution: marketing, sales, and customer relationships.
You'll learn how and why Derek created Swell, first as an internal system for solving problems his business had--and that means it's designed right for you, because it wasn't done in an ivory tower.
Is it time to talk with the professionals about your internal systems? Book a call with us at https://www.coldstartech.com
TurnOnDynamics founder Peter Joeckel is on the Cold Star Project to share the disturbing truth about ERP sales processes and implementation projects: they're broken. And SaaS founders will recognize exactly the same problems occurring in their field.
No ERP implementation project ever had a bad demo...but that doesn't make the system a good match-up for solving the customer's problem. Peter Joeckel covers the serious issues with RFQ, bid document, presentation-dependent, and features-heavy sales and purchasing processes, and how these result in bad projects.
Is it time for you to get serious about the systems and processes in your company? Do you want to get to the bottom of what's wrong with your operations? Then book a call to talk with us at Cold Star Tech at coldstartech.com
FreeeUp co-founder Nathan Hirsch is on the Cold Star Project to share his challenges encountered during scaling his Virtual Assistants marketplace business.
When the original back end systems can't keep with the front end user demand, what do you do?
Nathan says: " I'm sure you have used the other marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr. I built my first company to over twenty million in sales using freelancers and I always wanted a faster way. I built FreeeUp to address the frustrations I had. FreeeUp receives hundreds of freelancer applicants each week to join the marketplace.
"We interview and vet them, take the top 1% (based on skill, attitude and communication), and make them available to our clients quickly whenever they need them. On the backend, we have 24/7 support to make sure people have a good experience. Lastly, we have a no turnover guarantee covering replacement costs if the freelancer ever quits. We have been growing rapidly since we started three years ago and work with thousands of business all over the world. "
If you're ready for champion corporate systems to improve the operations of your business, we should speak. Book a call at https://www.coldstartech.com
Celene Hoag is the "glue" holding a fast-growing white label content creation business together.
Like any other relatively young business, Anansi Content Solutions faced growing pains moving from being a small agency of a couple of people primarily working “in” the business to a larger team of five and working “on” the business.
Figuring out who to hire next, going through periods of being super swamped and over-capacity, then increasing the team (which incurs other expenses and training time) caused cashflow issues because they suddenly had one more mouth to feed. And the project load didn’t magically increase to accommodate the new person.
They also had a string of virtual assistants (VAs) coming and going due to a series of random occurrences so that took a lot of extra energy to continuously hire and train people.
Doing everything themselves, while simultaneously trying to build the foundation of the business, clearly didn't work effectively. They knew where they were at, and had a clear picture of where they wanted to be, but really struggled with what the path from point A to point B looked like.
Two main things have helped Anansi grow so quickly and smoothly:
- Having so many detailed processes mapped out for tasks, divided by projects, admin and sales.
Having processes clearly documented also allows new team members to step into their roles much quicker because instead of spending training time showing them how to do basic things, Celene can spend it showing them how to do them really well, and also answering their questions.
Being able to invite partners to the Teamwork app on their projects and have them see the backend is an added bonus, because they see just how detail-oriented and organized Anansi is. This has a big impact on trust.
- From Brent Weaver from UGurus was the concept of structuring the business around a Single Scalable Seat. This means having a single role which you can measure cashflow and capacity around, and easily scale up or down by adding or removing people.
If you want the clarity and effectiveness of having processes like those described in this interview, book a call at coldstartech.com
The next step for humanity is to become a spacefaring society. What kinds of things should we expect to be necessary as we make that transformation?
The author of blog Crowlspace.com joins us on the Cold Star Project to answer questions about the importance of space exploration, and what our first priority should be in Near Earth activity.
Is it time for creative problem solving in your business? Do you finally want to recover your time and put your finger on the real problem? Talk to us at coldstartech.com
"Extruded Book Product" may be a bad-sounding phrase but it's great business!
Ever heard of The Hardy Boys...Nancy Drew...The Bobsey Twins? These and many more were series produced according to a strict formula for an eager target market of children by an army of ghostwriters. Created by one man over a hundred years ago, the Stratemeyer Syndicate is a model for those wanting to create a scalable content creation business today.
Listen in and discover the elements of Stratemeyer's successful formula and how he created a book empire that lasted well over 85 years.
If you're eager to talk to us and come up with some ideas for creating a similar concept for your business, book a call at coldstartech.com
Information used to be the core deliverable for a consulting company. Companies were paid simply to give advice and make suggestions.
The traditional (billable hour) generalist consulting company is fundamentally inefficient. Too much competition and too many complex problems. You can’t just throw bodies at the problem and figure it out as you go.
Consulting companies are now asked to be execution partners. They are asked to share in the risk of the project.
Consulting companies have to find a profitable way of operating in a new competitive landscape. When information/analysis can no longer be the core deliverable, and hourly-based pricing is incredibly difficult to scale, what should you do?
If there is one specific mechanic that changes all of these dynamics...it is the productized service.
1 - It promises a clear deliverable in advance. The knows what they are buying. 2 - It easier to manage a project than it is to manage billable hours.
The pressure (pain) is found in the daily operations of a consulting company: - Bad sales calls. Lots of talking. No one buys. -Custom proposals and RFP process. Constant guesswork on both sides (client/consultant) -Scope creep. Vague projects get more vague. -Clients don’t follow directions. They (un)intentionally do things to damage the project.
Have you ever asked "how to turn my service into a product"?
Watch this interview episode of the Cold Star Project with Alzay Calhoun, the Coveted Consultant founder, for answers on how to productize your business to scale.
Is it time to put your finger on the true problem in your business? Get the Red Team: https://www.coldstartech.com/red-team/
Marcel Petitpas, co-founder of Parakeeto, joins us on the Cold Star Project to talk about what happens as you grow your agency and realize the deeper level of tracking you need.
You'll discover all the data you need to see critical agency KPIs are spread out between a bunch of different tools:
- Timesheets in a time tracking tool (Toggl or Harvest)
- Expenses, Payroll, OPEX in accounting (Quickbooks or Xero)
- Budgets & proposals in spreadsheets in google drive
- Resource plans in another tool or spreadsheet
- Sales pipeline in a CRM
- Project status reports in a PM tool and more.
Trying to bring all this data together in a spreadsheet to calculate Utilization, Profitability, and do any level of forecasting for resources or finances will be a real administrative burden. And the existing tools in the marketplace to help you do so are both expensive and few and far between.
That's where Parakeeto is coming in. All this data needs to be turned into information you can use to make decisions. Not just a dashboard, but a tool you can calculate with after it collects the data. And most importantly, you need to become aware that this problem is going to happen to you as you scale.
Is it time to talk to the experts of scaling from 12 - 500 people at Cold Star? Book a call at www.coldstartech.com
Can't you just "hire a commission salesperson"? What happens when you try to scale your sales team? If it's been All-You so far, the founder acting as the sole salesperson for the business, what challenges will you run into when you try to change that? Jon Paramore is here to answer these questions and show you the missing steps in finding great salespeople.
SCALING YOUR SALES TEAM
Sourcing the right salesperson is not an easy task. Despite many business owners feeling their sense of discernment is good, hiring mismatches often occur when they try to bring in someone for their sales team. Good talkers in interviews frequently do not translate into powerful performers...there's a gap between what the candidate says and what they actually do on the job.
HIRING SALES REPS
Listen in and get a great education on what it takes to attract genuine salespeople who get results for your business.
Is it time to talk to the experts of scaling from 12 - 500 people at Cold Star? Book a call at www.coldstartech.com
The founder of the SaaS Growth Hacks group on Facebook, Aaron Krall, is here to share his definition of Onboarding...and how that process can be used to fuel the growth of your tech firm.
Too many founders operate in isolation, creating a solution for a problem no one else acknowledges. Tech marketing also concentrates on features, which the majority of the buying marketplace does not understand. Aaron shows you how to get a different result by focusing on what your customers are actuall saying--instead of what you believe to be valuable.
SaaS Growth Hacks facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SaaSgrowthhacking/
Is it time to talk to the experts of scaling from 12 - 500 people at Cold Star? Book a call at www.coldstartech.com
"I love the mind mapping idea," is a comment I frequently hear when I'm explaining process mapping to a new audience. But they're not the same thing, and this is my attempt to explain the difference.
To me, mind maps are subjective conceptualizing, creating space to fill in, and finding out what's important to you about a topic. Process mapping is a much more tactical, much more objective step-by-step diagrams of how things actually work in your business.
Is it time to get the process experts at Cold Star Tech working for you? Book a call with us to find out at coldstartech.com
In this solo episode of the Cold Star Project, founder Jason Kanigan explores an example of perverse incentives. The Belgian Congo and atrocities committed there in the name of good accounting are today's topic.
Also covered are modern examples of perverse incentives, and eight points from a Forbes article on how to develop good performance measures that result in behaviors you want. It's all too easy to accidentally create a KPI or measure that results in bad behavior.
Look for the Humans WILL Game episode for the factory production scam example.
Is it time to talk to the experts of scaling from 12 - 500 people at Cold Star? Book a call at www.coldstartech.com
The guy who wrote the book on Infusionsoft, Sales Whisperer Wes Schaeffer, is my guest on the Cold Star Project. "What CRM Should I Get?" is a question we've both heard unrelentingly over the past half-decade. Wes has an answer, and it's not what you think.
Demystifying the selection process is key to your success: don't get sucked in by feature-rich promises of an app you may never appropriately use...but still pay full price for.
Wes' "Process Before Login" video and map: https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/pbl
Is it time to talk to the experts of scaling from 12 - 500 people at Cold Star? Book a call at www.coldstartech.com
Mikaels Labs founder Harry Kanistik is here on the Cold Star Project to share how machine learning and AI are being used to grow businesses.
"AI" in particular is a buzzword these days and frequently misapplied in the effort to make marketing sound cool. Harry's firm is on a mission to help companies scale with real machine learning and AI solutions, so listen in to hear what those terms really mean.
Is it time to talk to the experts of scaling from 12 - 500 people at Cold Star? Book a call at www.coldstartech.com
In large organizations there are "gravity wells" of power bases...and different agendas being run by different departments. Cold Star Tech founder Jason Kanigan gives an example from his past work experience in leading an organization out of an unethical time and into one where standards were consistently upheld.
On the way, friction between departments and agendas caused much difficulty. With this example on the Cold Star Project, we hope to demonstrate the kinds of issues you'll run into in trying to make similar changes happen.
To get clarity on the issues your company faces, book a time to talk at https://www.coldstartech.com
Matt Kurleto has built a tech business of over 60 staff...and he has a lot to share about what to do at what stage in development of your organization. Join us on the Cold Star Project to hear inside info about the challenges of scaling that you won't hear anywhere else.
More about Matt Kurleto at mattkurleto.com
Get the help to scale--and find out what stage you're at--with a conversation with the Cold Star Tech Red Team: https://www.coldstartech.com/red-team/
CEO of $50 million software firm Datastorm and outsourced CMO Stephen Monaco joins us on the Cold Star Project to share his expertise on Voice of Customer programs.
If you don't have a VoC program, you need to start working on yours right now.
If you do have one, you should speak to Stephen to find out how you could be getting more impact with it.
When it comes to knowing the right step in marketing, feature design, product development and more, Voice of Customer programs are the engine of profitable growth.
Is it time to talk to the experts of scaling from 12 - 500 people at Cold Star? Book a call at https://www.coldstartech.com
Lior Ohayon, founder of ScopeLeads, is on the Cold Star Project to share his experience with founding a prospecting saas. Revenue generation requires active, consistent, focused activity, and Lior digs into how to:
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know when somebody wants what you're thinking about making
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keep focused on the actual prospecting time required
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retain offer/solution focus as a product creator in the face of support desk-driven feature creep threat.
For an assessment of your organization's operational and scaling infrastructure visit https://www.coldstartech.com/red-team/
SaaS Sales Process Scaling consultant Patrick Lavergne joins us on the Cold Star Project to share his experiences in helping startups grow fast.
Pat Lavergne concentrates on startup SaaS, which is a smaller size of firm than Cold Star Tech typically focuses upon. This is a powerful look into what it takes to burst out of the 'hustle and grind' mentality of startups and into a more formalized operation that gets consistent, repeatable results.
When you get past this point, talk to us at Cold Star Technologies about operational excellence: https://www.coldstartech.com/red-team/
Channel strategist Stewart Townsend joins us on the Cold Star Project to share stories from both the low and the high perspective in scaling SaaS. As a front line salesperson with a well-known SaaS, and then as a strategic channel consultant, Stewart has much to tell us about the challenges of scaling tech firms.
Want to find out what you've got? Get the Red Team Experience: https://www.coldstartech.com/red-team/
What's the problem with relying exclusively on walkthrough demonstrations of features for Software-as-a-Service? Cold Star Tech illuminates the number one SaaS demo sales-killer observed over the past decade.
Then we look back at the mature SaaS VAR industry and what happened to it in the cataclysmic years of 2009-11 following the 2008 economic meltdown. Lessons from that period are applicable to today's Internet Marketing-driven SaaS field as it matures.
Under-30 Ken Cesar describes the true challenges in scaling to seven figures, which he has achieved twice so far...first in a cash flow (agency) business and second in a wealth builder (ecommerce) business.
While some people may brag and make a course about hitting say $30K in sales, Ken knows that is a tiny revenue amount in the real world. He's here to share the brutal truth about what's really required to make it in business. Expect stories and information you won't have heard in the bizopp space--that is feeding you mindless enthusiasm instead of Ken's cold, hard truth.
The sales problems SaaS firms had in 2007 persist today! It's as if nobody has learned anything over the past decade. In this episode of the Cold Star Project, we investigate a fascinating example of marketing that resulted in significant operational change.
Marketers and salespeople, in addition to SaaS and tech company founders, will find a unique point of view and great value in this discussion.
Ben Watkins of Intrinsic Executive Search is here to share the challenges of hiring as your tech firm is scaling fast. We discover just how quickly the job description you were hiring for becomes outdated if your business is growing fast...and what you must be doing as a founder or CEO to keep pace.
Concentrating on the San Francisco area and Europe, Ben Watkins focuses on helping scale emerging High Growth Software / SAAS firms.
Brightmill founder Taz Lake specializes in identifying and fixing all the things that could go wrong with your website and data as you scale. In the rush to grow, tech pieces get left behind and quickly become outdated.
Serious vulnerabilities and damaged capabilities ensue...only for the business to find out about it when something badly breaks. From website security problems exploited by hackers (think Target, Equifax) to government regulatory changes, Taz knows the challenges that might blindside you and your customers through your website.
If you want an organization-wide status check of vulnerabilities in your business, get the Red Team Experience from Cold Star Tech: https://www.coldstartech.com/red-team/
You have your blinders on when it comes to where you'd get your biggest bang for your buck in improvement projects! Sure, the bonfires are attention-getting and put off a lot of heat and smoke--
--but let me me make this crystal clear: You've been living with them all this time until now.
No matter how bright, scary, and smoky they may be, the tire fires are not the biggest contributor to the success or failure of your business. If they were, you'd be out of business by now.
No...the secret is somewhere else. Listen in and I'll tell you where.
Should we speak to find out where your biggest bang for your buck in improvement projects is? Book a call at https://www.coldstartech.com/red-team/
The founder of Hello Process, Matt Daniell, is here not only to share his experience in the value of processes in scaling, but also a story of outright theft going on right under the nose of the accounting department of one of the biggest American railways.
Humans Will Game, as I said in another podcast...and Matt has stories to share about what founders ought to be doing instead of fighting fires and trying to tackle everything themselves.
If your business is at under $500K ARR, you should speak with Matt about Hello Process. If you're above that figure, especially at the $2million ARR mark or greater, talk to us at Cold Star Tech about the Red Team Experience: https://www.coldstartech.com/red-team/
Convertri founder Andy Fletcher shares all the challenges of scaling a saas to $500K ARR...the lead generation, the payment processing, the operations, and more...
If you see the need to get a leg up on this kind of stuff BEFORE you're immersed in the mire of scaling, get the Red Team Experience. Book a call to discuss your situation at https://www.coldstartech.com/red-team/
My previous co-founder, Jeremy Pope of The Closing Engine, joins me on this episode of the Cold Star Project for a fun and relaxed discussion. We dig into the critical importance of knowing your culture, and its impact on hiring decisions.
You cannot hire willy-nilly...and you WILL make mistakes.
The Closing Engine manages third party sales teams for offers of $6000 and up. And if you think that's easy, you've got another thing coming.
What you think is a Tech problem is always a People problem. Companies with three letter initials have been around a long time, trying to create little clones of themselves with their technology--and yet the same problems they say they eradicate still exist! Why? Because they are not getting at the source of the issue. In fact, the technological "solutions" are often causing more people problems! Listen to this episode of the Cold Star Project for a surprising example.
Your business has weak points. One of them may be you. Remember the CEO of Uber?
Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project takes you on a quick tour of leaders who appeared to be in unassailable positions...but were knocked down only a short time later. A warning for all founders: strong governments are inherently unstable.
In this episode of the Cold Star Project we dig into the fascinating lives of the Gilbreths. Together with Taylor they are the "parents" of scientific management and time & motion studies.
If you're going to enhance your knowledge of operations improvement, ergonomics, and productivity, you need to know about Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.
Like electricity, television, and smart phones, people make use of their business without understanding it. How much do you really know about what goes on, and how you and your people accomplish it?
Consistent results and fast scaling come from full understanding of how things are done in your company. In this episode of the Cold Star Project, we look at many examples of things commonly used by people who don't understand them. Can you do that? Sure. Is it optimal? Nope.
What are you giving up by not understanding the things you use? The path to scaling fast is accomplished by knowing how you do what you do, and demanding consistent standards of behavior and results.
Create a scoring system for anything--production, sales, whatever--and people WILL game it so they are shown in the best possible light and given the most results. Jason Kanigan shares a deep level example of gaming piecework production and rewards in a factory to demonstrate.
Do not think because you hired nice people that they aren't gaming the system. And don't blame them, either: you set the rules. They're just doing what humans--what you--would do.
Cold Star Technologies has, in the course of investigating and documenting processes, uncovered many scams, misrepresentations, and cases of outright theft in client organizations. Do not believe you are immune. Humans WILL game.
As the founder of a fast-scaling business, you must make the highest best use of your time. But what does that even mean? Jason Kanigan, host of the Cold Star Project, gives several examples.
Founders should not be doing front line, technical functions. You need to be focused on leading the team, developing strategic partnerships, and driving revenue. Executive time being badly used is one of the biggest problems we see at Cold Star that is blocking tech firms from scaling fast. Don't underestimate it.
As you scale and your team grows, what unexpected challenges arise? We love online collaboration tools that allow instantaneous communication between remote team members, for instance...but what happens when you get four or more individuals in a Slack channel? Turns out you can't get anything important done.
Listen to this episode of the Cold Star Project in which Jason Kanigan explains the Deep Work-killing surprises that strike companies that are scaling fast.
Paul Graham's Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule post: http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
You've got a startup, and need to drive revenue--but how long can you wait for SEO to kick in? You can't wait. You need leads NOW. And the topic of how to get them is what Competitors.app founder Razvan Girmacea discusses with Jason Kanigan in this episode of the Cold Star Project.
No one can scale without leads.
Founder of The Coaching Jungle (group on Facebook) Marc Mawhinney grew a real estate agency to over 100 people...only to have it all blown away. What triggers, warning signs, events did he go through that you as a founder should know about so you can recognize when it's time to quit? Marc's story will tell you.
And then his comeback tale will inspire you to keep taking action in scaling your business!
CTO of Kyvio (know your visitors inside and out) Steven Peijl joins Jason Kanigan to share the power of processes in scaling from 7 to 8 figures. You can't simply be doing "double of the same" to make a leap like that: you must be doing different things and things differently. By recording your process steps, you achieve consistency...and there is a way to get conformity in results without killing innovation.
Health industry marketing and tech whiz Andy Greene shares a seriously cautionary tale of arrogance and self-destruction in the world of SaaS. Just because you CAN make a product does not mean you SHOULD. This lack of matching solution to problem, message to market, is a real problem in the SaaS world: founders go out and expend resources creating a solution nobody wanted. Then they struggle to sell it, and the audience just doesn't care.
You can avoid these deadly problems--listen to Andy Greene as he's interviewed by Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project!