SPACE IN 60

Podcast: SPACEIN60 Episode: MIKE PALANK Welcome to the SPACEIN60 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 their first deep venture capitalist guest Mike Palank. Mike is a partner at MaC Venture Capital and has a passion for space. To begin, Mike offers insight into the newly budding venture capital market in Los Angeles, where he is based. Rather than cryptocurrency, he encourages investors to put more value in the emerging space industry. Then, he shares about his own professional journey into the space industry. Throughout his youth, his two biggest passions were media (books, music, movies) and space. He reveals the conversation which changed his life and encouraged him to quit his job at a Chicago hedge fund and move to Los Angeles in 2004. He became a talent agent, but was most interested in the rising tech and entertainment companies completely shaking up the business. He found himself wanting to be part of this big wave of innovation. Eventually, Mike became an outsourced CFO and COO for early-stage startups and became familiarized with LA’s tech ecosystem. In 2017, he launched his second startup MACRO. Since Mike made the transition from founder to VC in 2017, he has remained in the funding realm. As a VC, his main role is to meet with new talent, determine their dreams and ambitions, and then do everything in his power to help them get there. VC is a space where it is necessary to reevaluate your skills and capabilities every few years in light of today’s rapidly changing markets. MaC, his current VC company, ensures that their team, portfolio and talent are reflective of the diverse world in which we all live. Their goal is to play a part in solving problems relevant for everybody. Taking into account the most successful investment firms of previous generations, Mike believes that the best firms have investments in many different areas. The majority of MaC’s financial backing comes from confidence in the people themselves rather than their business model. When MaC first entered the space sector, they decided to say yes to any space-related idea they were presented with and learn as much as they could about the industry. While they were just responding to great introductions at first, the company now has a clearer vision of the areas with the biggest investment opportunities. Next Mike offers advice for founders on finding the right VC company for them. Finally, he shares his dream space investment opportunity and advice for new founders in the space industry hoping to get their ideas to market. Links: Connect with Mike Palank. 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.