A Launching Pad for Space Entrepreneurs

[Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

FYI,

"A Launching Pad for Space Entrepreneurs"
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22702-2005Jan19.html

: In Washington, he reasoned, amid the giant aerospace firms and the
: government space agencies, he would surely find like-minded
: entrepreneurs -- people who bounced ideas off of each other and
: shared tips on new opportunities and resources in the space
: industry.

: His goal was to make friends with these people, learn the ropes
: from others who had started space businesses, figure out what was
: needed in the industry and launch a start-up.

: "I realized that I wanted to start a space company, but I didn't
: know the first thing about the space business," said Soehnlein,
: 38. "And starting a company is all about who you know and who you
: can bring into the business."

: His plans were derailed at step one -- finding compatriots who were
: trying to start their own space-oriented ventures. Soehnlein knew
: they must be around, but there was nothing to bring them together.
: So for the past 20 months, he has been setting up an organization
: intended to create a community of start-up executives in the space
: and satellite industries.

: Soehnlein founded the International Association of Space
: Entrepreneurs, which launched its first chapter in Washington in
: April 2003.

: At the first IASE meeting, just six people showed up. Twenty came
: to the next, and 75 attended the third. About 500 people have
: signed up to receive IASE's monthly online newsletters, and
: entrepreneurs in Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta have set up their
: own regional chapters.

: Some of the members are merely thinking about starting businesses
: and want to learn the basics, Soehnlein said, but others are
: further along and are interested in finding out whom to approach
: for venture capital.

: "It's a great way for me to learn the business and get to know the
: players," Fisher says. And, he added, "I'm just a fan of the space
: industry. I love space and I want to help foster entrepreneurship
: in the community."

: The Washington area has bigger, more established organizations for
: those who work in the space industry, such as the Washington Space
: Business Roundtable and the Space Foundation, which works to
: promote public appreciation of space programs. Soehnlein said most
: members of those groups are already well-situated in large
: aerospace companies, such as Boeing Co., or satellite firms, such
: as Intelsat Ltd.

: Rather than view Soehnlein's group as a rival, the established
: organizations have embraced it.

: "It's an idea that's long overdue," said Roscoe Moore, chairman of
: the WSBR. "It could really fill a niche that nobody has filled
: before."

: Moore is an entrepreneur in the satellite industry. His Silver
: Spring start-up, PeerSatInc. sells technology that helps deliver
: satellite content to portable devices. The challenges for
: entrepreneurs in this industry are great, Moore says, in part
: because it often takes so much capital to go from concept to
: delivery.

: Soehnlein said that once he started talking about his new
: organization, he encountered "closeted" space entrepreneurs at
: every turn. Some had far-out plans to build habitats in outer
: space, while others had already established software companies and
: were interested in finding out how to get in front of procurement
: officials at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

: Among those Soehnlein looks up to as leaders in the next generation
: of space entrepreneurs, Peter H. Diamandis tops the list. Soehnlein
: was a rapt listener at a recent WSBR meeting, nodding slightly as
: Diamandis matter-of-factly declared that people will die in the
: quest to commercialize space travel.

: "We've got to embrace failures. We've got to embrace risks,"
: Diamandis told the button-down business crowd in a ballroom at the
: University Club. "Space is the greatest frontier -- our children
: and grandchildren will thank us."

: Diamandis gained attention as chairman of the X Prize Foundation, a
: nonprofit that sponsored a competition promising $10 million to the
: first group of entrepreneurs to launch three people into space on
: privately financed rockets twice within two weeks. Diamandis has
: started a dozen space companies and says he made lots of mistakes
: along the way -- in part because there was no one to ask when he
: had questions about the business.

: He lives mostly in California now, but one of the companies
: Diamandis helped found, SpaceAdventures Ltd., is based in
: Arlington. It organizes space-training and simulation programs and
: has sent two private citizens into space on Russian rockets. He
: said he hopes entrepreneurial ventures in the space industry will
: be encouraged by efforts like SpaceAdventures' and by groups such
: as Soehnlein's organization.

: Soehnlein said he spends about 20 hours a week on his International
: Association of Space Engineers. Next month, the group plans to
: launch a revamped Web site at www.spaceentrepreneurs.org with a
: library of resources to answer questions, event listings, member
: directories and message boards.

: As for his own dreams, Soehnlein is working as a vice president at
: Aptela Inc., a McLean telecom start-up. His plans to start his own
: space business are on hold for now.

: But spending so much time thinking and talking about space has made
: him more eager than ever to get into the game. And now, at least,
: he knows a few folks in the industry.

--
Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

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