SPACE IN 60

Podcast: SPACE IN 60 Episode: AARON BURNETT Welcome to the SPACE IN 60 podcast, where Clint Graumann, Andrew Pylypchuk and Chad Baker bring you into the world of the NewSpace industry! Today, Chad, Clint, and Andrew are joined by guest Aaron Burnett, Founder of Spaced Ventures. To kick off the conversation, Aaron shares that his platform Spaced Ventures is a direct response to his own interest in having access to invest in space companies. The lack of access to the public was also bothering him and he saw the same feelings among other space founders. Building a space venture is all about introducing market efficiencies into the private space market so companies can be funded much faster and innovation can be ramped up. Essentially, Spaced Ventures is a marketplace in which individual investors and companies investing their own money can come to the platform and make their own investment decisions. With 10,000 users, they are working to build the world’s largest community of space investors. They share the same model as platforms like Kickstarter, except they offer actual security. Aaron reveals that he has been investing since he was just 12 years old. While he was interested in sci-fi as a kid, it was the Falcon Heavy landing which really solidified for Aaron the idea that what once was science fiction was now actually happening in the real world. He began to question how he could add value to the industry. After speaking with many founders in the space industry, he saw the opportunity to help them raise money. This wasn’t a linear feat and actually took a lot of time for his ideas to cohesively come to life. In late 2020, Spaced Ventures began their first round of friends and family funding and finally received their license in 2021. In just 8 months, the platform has acquired 5 deals. Aaron shares his current benchmarks of raising $1 million for a single company and eventually reaching 1 million users on the platform. The benefit of crowdfunding is that anyone, not only millionaires, can invest. To Aaron, accessibility is incredibly important for the space industry. The team at Spaced Ventures is working towards democratizing space by creating access to early-stage space opportunities. He believes it will ultimately turn space from something inspirational and aspirational into something that is inspirational and actually achievable. Most people are completely unaware of how cool and futuristic the things happening in space right now really are. Before wrapping up, Aaron shares the truth behind his picture wearing a SpaceX space suit and alludes to the inherent riskiness of investing. Links: Connect with Aaron Burnett and learn more about Spaced Ventures. Connect with Clint Graumann on LinkedIn and Twitter. Connect with Andrew Pylypchuk on LinkedIn and Twitter. Connect with Chad Baker on LinkedIn Learn more about SPACE IN 60 and connect on Twitter.