Guest: Amaresh Kollipara. Topics: Commercial space, business management, investing, promoting, entrepreneurship, and more. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed Amaresh Kollipara back to the program for a nearly two hour hard hitting commercial space business investment program. I believe this to be a must listen to program. We started our discussion with an update on the Space Angels Network, the impact of the domestic and global economic climate on the space investing potential, and what angel investors look for in a commercial space investment. We talked about business plans, boot camp to improve the plan and the presentation, as well as what membership in the Space Angels Network offers to both members (investors) and companies. We also defined a space business in the context of what an angel might look for in the broader context. Later we talked about a manned mission to Mars and I brought up the stepping stone plan we have discussed on earlier Space Show programs. Amaresh supported the stepping stone or incremental development process and had much to say about it during the program. One listener asked him what the most common problem was for space businesses and he said it was the idea that the company had the coolest and best technology, and the best CEO with a bullet proof management team. Though this perspective is widely held, it is typically incorrect. We then talked about management team track records and Amaresh suggested that being adaptable was more important than the track record. At the end of the segment, Amaresh was asked to explain the difference in angel investing compared to venture capital. In the second segment, our guest returned to the stepping stone discussion and had more to say about HSF to Mars. He talked about enabling commercial ventures that could be done incrementally by the private sector that would enhance and facilitate going to Mars. He also stressed many times the need for the private sector to do more and more rather than funding HSF on the "backs of the taxpayer." Rich sent in a series of emails about microgravity R&D & how best to get companies to value the potential. This discussion consumed much of the rest of the show as we talked about intellectual property, protein crystal growth, computer simulations, DNA, space access, costs, and more. Amaresh mentioned SETI and the confirmation of ET life as a possible driver for space development, plus he said that no matter what we are limited by the rules of physics but we need radical change in how we do things and in our technology advancement. Later in the segment, I asked about the Indian space program and their HSF as well as lunar plans. We also got an update on Earth2Orbit. Our guest repeated that he thought we were at an important inflection point. He responded to listeners asking for startup advice as well as what to study in school to be an entrepreneur. In his concluding comments, he repeated that the space vision should not be on the back of the taxpayers and we need to be enabling commercial steps to reach the goals comprising the vision. Start small, the first ten incremental steps out of a thousand and keep moving forward. Please post your comments on the blog URL above. If you want to email Amaresh, do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
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