Aaron Pickard

Present: Investor at @mfvpartners (early-stage deep tech). Past: @DormRoomFund, @mattfellowship, and a few dozen satellites. Personal account.

[Aaron Pickard @NotCaptPicard]

Last week @SVDG_official released its annual update to the NatSec100.

This week on Molding Moonshots, I looked at changes in the composition of the list and crunched some numbers about what really happens to successful defense startups.

Links in the first reply.

[Sam @SlBrandin]

The defense industry is really interesting because, in the limit, its an exercise in correctly pricing the extrinsic value of physically hedging conflict risk

What is the right amount of defense spending in a theoretically optimal post-scarcity world where defense capabilities deter all avoidable conflict?

[Christian Keil @pronounced_kyle]

I really dislike this meme.

When I started a company 10 years ago, my idea was bad and I was a nobody, but VCs in Silicon Valley still made time to meet with me.

A few stories stand out:

• @kimmaicutler was the best. Even though she passed, she clearly took me seriously.

• @albertlee became a mentor, and remains one ten years later. He helped me realize I didn't have enough conviction myself in this particular idea to invest 10 years in it.

• @LarsenJensenUSA stayed in touch with me as I moved on and joined an early-stage company — and I believe was quite happy when it became Astranis!

Fundraising is painful. It's super repetitive, scheduling is a nightmare (as was driving from Berkeley to Sand Hill Road for a 15 minute meeting), and VCs aren't all equally engaged in meetings or respectful of founders.

But my experience overall was overwhelmingly positive. That industry leaders take the time to meet with total randos without traditional credentials is what makes this town special!

[Aaron Pickard @NotCaptPicard]

@SVDG_official Article - https://t.co/MlApxPYJXi
Subscribe - https://t.co/KYjgMhINNf
NatSec100 - https://t.co/tU60HscvvA

[Aaron Pickard @NotCaptPicard]

Last week @SVDG_official released its annual update to the NatSec100.

This week on Molding Moonshots, I looked at changes in the composition of the list and crunched some numbers about what really happens to successful defense startups.

Links in the first reply.

[Aaron Pickard @NotCaptPicard]

@jordanbramble Congratulations!

[Jordan Bramble @jordanbramble]

Antares Mark-0 has achieved initial criticality! ⚛️

[Owen West @OwenWest91]

Fielding velocity will increasingly factor in DIU competitions - and how we judge our own unit.

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

The first batch of drones ordered under the Drone Dominance Program have been accepted, and we’re just getting started. Nearly 2,000 additional units have shipped. Many more are ramping up for fulfillment.

Next up is the Gauntlet Phase II qualifiers, set to begin at Camp Grayling, Michigan next week.

https://t.co/AoZwXDh2gO

#MayTheBestDroneWin

[Aaron Pickard @NotCaptPicard]

@HalenMattison Only once they have flight heritage!

[Matthew Gialich @MattGialich]

Anyone who works on space avionics knows what this means.

We’re not going to be orbiting Earth. We’re sending our spacecraft into interplanetary space, and as such, we need to make sure it can handle that environment.

The way we do it? We test. The team traveled out to a cancer center, they have the best proton beams, and we used them to blast our electronics with radiation.

[Mike Annunziata @nunzi46]

I write weekly on ABP, and we’re now over 150 posts since starting in 2023.

@NotCaptPicard captures a lot of the “why” behind that work here 👇

[Aaron Pickard @NotCaptPicard]

Happy Primary Election Day to California voters!

The political equivalent to “no crying in the casino” is “no complaining about the results if you’re eligible to vote and sit out a non-partisan election”.

Go vote if you’re legally able to!

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

Our Rising Smoke Prize Challenge is now live.

DIU, in partnership with Blue Horizons and Air Force Research Laboratory (@TeamAFRL) RF Seekers Branch, is offering a $250,000 prize challenge for a conceptual active RF radar seeker design and future use considerations for use in a 2.75-inch class munition.

The prize challenge is designed to identify top-performing solutions for potential prototyping and eventual transition into a $50M rapid acquisitions program using an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) vehicle.

We will host an "Ask Me Anything" info session on June 8, with the submission window open until July 2 at 23:59:59 Eastern Time.

Learn more and apply here: https://t.co/PEQDrgaDK1

[Aaron Pickard @NotCaptPicard]

There are few things more frustrating to me at work than seeing people who have the authority to share images of awesome hardware sharing AI renderings instead of actual images (perhaps with sensitive parts blurred out), or even human-generated concept art.

[Ben @B_Garelick]

@RepPatHarrigan @NASA Congressman, please consider using actual depictions of the landers, rovers, and MoonFall drones. Many Americans, myself included, are devoting themselves to these programs and deserve to see their work depicted accurately.

[Phil Metzger @DrPhiltill]

Tell every young person who asks for career advice to start building things. Robots, rockets, cars… Join clubs that build stuff. Get internships where you build stuff.

[Eric Berger @SciGuySpace]

Silver lining: The Space Force just got good data on methane exclusion zones.

[Aaron Pickard @NotCaptPicard]

The ULA Sniper strikes again!

[Scott Manley @DJSnM]

Sound synchronized from @NASASpaceflight footage

[AJ Piplica @AJ_Piplica]

this is a really important point. when we started Hermeus, there was nowhere to hire from. Nowhere did engineers get multiple reps at aircraft development in years instead of decades. They used to exist, but they're all dead now. We had to build the discipline from scratch

[SAWT @AI_in_LEO]

Third parties are stringing together new rideshare missions because demand is so high and yet you somehow think launch cost is COMING DOWN???

[Aaron Pickard @NotCaptPicard]

@SpaceX Article - https://t.co/KOdzROqq84
Subscribe - https://t.co/Q1K82O0MSL

[Aaron Pickard @NotCaptPicard]

Orbital Data Center startups have been in the news a lot over the past month. With @SpaceX's IPO approaching, I don't expect that to change.

Last week on Molding Moonshots, I shared some thoughts about them.

Article link in the first comment.