“Trust is not what makes successful co-founding relationships. Having the world-class skillset that you need to succeed is what will then form that trust that will allow you to succeed.” – Delian Asparahouv
Delian Asparouhov (@zebulgar) is Co-Founder, President, and Chairman of Varda Space Industriess, and he is also Principal at Founders Fund. He was previously Chief of Staff, then Principal at Khosla Ventures, where he created essays on the habits and processes of Keith Rabois. Before founding his first company, Nightingale, he was interned at Square as an Android developer.
For more, explore the transcript of this episode.
Chapters
- 00:00:00 – Introduction
- 00:02:43 – Delian’s background in robotics and path to entrepreneurship
- 00:07:32 – Mentorship from Jack Dorsey and Keith Rabois
- 00:21:43 – Leaning into your superpowers when investing
- 00:25:01 – Cultivating optimism in investing
- 00:29:29 – Common mistakes in venture capital
- 00:33:48 – Incubating a company
- 00:38:59 – Getting started in the space industry
- 00:42:09 – What is a space factory?
- 00:45:38 – Problem solving with space manufacturing
- 00:51:35 – Exciting changes in the space industry
- 00:55:43 – Recommended resources in the space industry
Links
- Connect with Delian Asparouhov: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
- Varda Space Industries
- International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)
- MIT
- California Institute of Technology
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
- Paul English
- Interscope Records
- Jack Dorsey
- Square
- Khosla Ventures
- Keith Rabois
- Founders Fund
- Basis points (BPS)
- SWORD Health
- Hinge Health
- Virgilio Bento
- Vinod Khosla
- Will Bruey
- Elon Musk
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Moon Express
- Made in Space
- Opendoor
- SpaceX
- Starship and Super Heavy
- Planet Labs
- Merck
- KEYTRUDA
- Rocket Lab
- Astra
- Dragon capsule
- Boston Dynamics
- Apple App Store
- International Space Station (ISS)
- Spire
- BlackSky
- SpinLaunch
- Payload Space
- Michael Sheetz at CNBC
- Loren Grush at The Verge
- Jeff Foust at SpaceNews
- Ashlee Vance at Bloomberg
- How (and Why) SpaceX Will Colonize Mars
- Lessons From Keith Rabois Essay 1: How to become a Venture Capitalist
- Lessons from Keith Rabois Essay 2: How to Interview an Executive
- Lessons from Keith Rabois Essay 3: How to be an Effective Executive
- Lessons from Keith Rabois Essay 4: How to run an Effective Board Meeting and make an Effective Board Deck
- Lessons from Keith Rabois Essay 5: How to Become a Magnet for Talent and Assess Talent
- Sword Health Investment Memo
- Making Stuff in Space: Off-Earth Manufacturing Is Just Getting Started
- Space manufacturing
- Zero-G Manufacturing: Building in Space
Learn More About This Topic
Manufacturing In Outer Space: Not Such A Far-Out Idea
Forbes offers a quick overview of space manufacturing in this article.
Dylan Taylor of Voyager Space Holdings on Building the Berkshire Hathaway of Outer Space (Outlier Academy, Ep. 5)
Check out our interview with Dylan Taylor as we discuss the future of space tourism and manufacturing, investing in space, and how anyone can get involved in space (even if they didn’t study science).
A great list of the current players in the space manufacturing industry.
Ideas about Space from TED Talks
Explore everything from the history of modern astronomy to the preparing for spaceflight in this collection of TED talks.
Is Now the Time to Invest in Space Exploration?
Nasdaq’s primer on investments in the space industry.
