Broadcast 1320 (Special Edition)

CLASSROOM: Guests: Bruce Pittman, Dr. John Jurist, Dr. Jim Logan, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Classroom Lesson 4: Business and Engineering Due Diligence. Visit The Space Show Classroom Blog for the presentation material from our panelists, http://spaceshowclassroom.wordpress.com. Bruce has a Power Point presentation for your review, Dr. Jurist has his investment laws and a Power Point presentation, and I've uploaded the business plan outline I use when writing a business plan. We started our first of two segments for Lesson 4 with guest panelist Bruce Pittman introducing us to the basics of business, marketing, and financial due diligence. The initial part of our conversation focused on markets and what is real or not real. We talked about multiple income streams and used suborbital flights as a model. We addressed the subject of financial and marketing assumptions and how to determine if they are reasonable. Listeners asked about alternative ways of determining the credibility of a business plan and the people involved with it so don't miss this important discussion. Risk factors, competition, and the need for a risk management strategy were discussed in this segment. Bruce and John talked about the need for a compelling story and the use of third party experts with credentials to help look at a venture, especially on the engineering due diligence side of the analysis. Bruce also said that the same rules apply for space as for terrestrial businesses but there are additional factors which he outlined during this Classroom program. John in Atlanta called about reusable rockets and getting the first stage back. This was a comprehensive discussion on the economics of reusability so don't miss it. Toward the end of the first segment, we talked about proprietary issues in a business plan and the use of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and how that is understood by investors. Again, don't miss this discussion. We started the second segment with Bruce telling us about the Space Investment Summit upcoming in Chicago this May. Check it out at their website, http://spaceinvestmentsummit.com. Its possible you can submit a business plan to the Summit so if this interests you, by all means check it out. In talking about the standards for the business plans, we talked about the presentation and the need for a superb Executive Summary. Later in this segment, we talked about wish list thinking and separating our emotions from the practical job at hand to evaluate the plan or opportunity. In this segment, we talked about timing, having an experienced management team and recognizing when its time to bring in professionals to fill the gaps in management not being filled by the original team members. We described the difference between angel investors and venture capital and Bruce introduced us to the idea of corporate venture capital. Knowing the customer was a recurring theme for this show but as we neared the end of the program, we were asked about a company with only one customer, the government. Listen to what our panel members had to say about this. As we went to the concluding remarks, you will hear Dr. Jurist urge caution and scrupulous honesty. Bruce said it was an exciting time but that it was hard writing good business plans and factor in that it will always take two to three times as much energy to do what you plan on doing and two to three times as much money as you think it will take to get the job done. You can send comments or questions to Bruce Pittman at bpittman@earthlink.net and for the co-hosts, our addresses are on the blog. However, remember, all comments and questions regarding this program should be posted on The Space Show Classroom Blog under Lesson 4 Archives. Any emails I receive will automatically be posted on the blog. The Space Show Classroom blog address is http://spaceshowclassroom.wordpress.com.