Cold Star Project Jason Kanigan

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/  



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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?   



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Past 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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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 



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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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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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