A big part of it is that there aren't many good business opportunities in new space yet.
It's not that there are all of these fat juicy plums ripe for the picking, but new space entrepreneurs can't figure out how to write a business plan. It's that there really aren't many markets that would meet a venture capitalists definition of a good opportunity.
And a big part of that is market risk. We have no idea how much people would buy because it's never been sold before (at least at hoped for price points) and just the uncertainty is a big strike against any business plan.
Bob On Tue, 4 Feb 2014 17:34:08 -0500 Bill Claybaugh <wclaybaugh2@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The amount of funding is limited by the quality of the investments, not by the amount of venture capital.The "issue" is that space startups compete against all other opportunities in the economy. The vast majority of those are less risky and offer far higher and more certain returns.Bill Sent from my iPhoneOn Feb 4, 2014, at 17:23, "Monroe L. King Jr." <monroe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:I understand that. There is not nearly enough funding going on is really what I'm saying. Compared to the amount of New Space hype going on. Sure SpaceX and XCOR can get funding. Thanks for the others though for sure I'm interested in them. I'm also just pointing out how high that hurdle is. I think it would help others much to get a better idea of just that. Another MAJOR falling is market data for new space start up's. I imagine that will change as things progress over the next 5 years. Monroe-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [AR] Re: Experience with spaceangelsnetwork.com From: Jonathan Goff <jongoff@xxxxxxxxx> Date: Tue, February 04, 2014 3:08 pm To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Monroe, As Bill pointed out, there have been angel and VC investments in credible startups with solid business plans. That's a high hurdle to reach, but not unattainable. Some companies I personally know of that have closed investment rounds include: PlanetLabs SkyBox Imaging Dauria Aerospace NanoRacks LLC XCOR Aerospace SpaceX Getting serious funding for an aerospace startup is hard, but not impossible, if you have a believable business model, a good team, etc. ~Jon On Tue, Feb 4, 2014 at 2:09 PM, Monroe L. King Jr. < monroe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:To Clarify: The only real funding I've seen in the US has been NASA SBIR's or DARPA funding projects. If there are ANY other funding sources actually working I'd like to know about it. I'm not talking about once in a blue moon funding here. Monroe-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [AR] Re: Experience with spaceangelsnetwork.com From: Lee Valentine <leesvalentine@xxxxxxxxx> Date: Tue, February 04, 2014 1:48 pm To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Space Angels has had nothing to do with XCOR's funding. Lee Valentine, member Board of Directors, XCOR Aerospace On Tue, Feb 4, 2014 at 1:04 AM, Neil Jaschinski <neil.jaschinski@xxxxxx wrote:Hi Jon, thank you for your information. I know the way business angel works from some websites. But this is all theoretical stuff. Investors in Europe and specially in Germany are very conservative. If you came up with some new space ideas mostly you will not be taken serious. On the other hand, what we read about new space in the USA and the way thinks are funded, it sounds like paradise compared to Germany. So I was wondering if it is in real as nice as it sounds. You wrote that your business plan wasn't ready. What was the reactiononthis plan? Did you get this idea funded at the end with a finishedplan?We also hav