Ep 20 - Jonathan Lacoste - From Founder to Investor in the Space Industry, Making Space Un-Sexy & Building in Public

Jonathan Lacoste is an Investor at Space.VC, a Venture Capital firm he started in 2021 after having founded & sold Jebbit (a company focused on aggregating & analyzing user data online for businesses for advertising).We talk about how his experience at Jebbit translates to the Earth Observation industry, why he moved from founding to investing and the learning-in-public approach he's taking. —Episode Sponsors:Radiant Earth Foundation: Apply for the 2022 Radiant MLHub Impact Award for agriculture-related applications for Africa - with a $5,000 cash prize.Element84Dan Pilone’s appearance on the podcast—About Jonathan:TwitterLinkedInSpace.VCShownotes:Tomorrow.io“Why I’m starting a space fund”: Jonathan’s blog post on his decision to start Space.VCPixxelPrevious episode with Jeff Crusey, another Venture Capitalist in the space industrySettlers of CatanBooks & Podcast recommendations:All In PodcastAcquired PodcastSmartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success by Shane SnowWhen Jesus Came to Harvard: Making Moral Choices Today by Harvey CoxTimestamps:00:00 - Introduction02:45 - Episode starts, Jonathan presents himself05:25 - Jonathan’s first experience: 10 years of Jebbit08:50 - Finding a problem in the industry12:10- Coming to a problem with a Beginner’s Mind14:45 - Keeping a Beginner’s Mindset16:50 - Choosing what to do after Jebbit22:10 - Transferable & valuable skills25:20- The space industry is 1st time founders28:20 - Attracting more founders from outside the space industry31:50 - Making space un-sexy38:15 - How companies market themselves (and to whom)40:55 - Creating a VC fund instead of starting a new company44:00 - Continuing to learn46:25 - Building in public51:50 - Keeping up with new companies & Networking56:25 - Deciding who to invest in59:45 - Why Jonathan decided to invest in Pixxel1:03:45 - Software vs Hardware companies1:08:00 - Disagreeing with respect1:13:35 - Jonathan’s take on the wave of companies going public1:19:35 - Dealing with impostor syndrome1:24:56 - Being wrong1:29:30 - Settlers of Catan1:32:00 - Books & Podcast recommendationsFeel free to reach out!My TwitterFor news about the podcastWebsite