Space and Defense Private Equity, with Kirk Konert (AEI)

Today, the Pathfinder podcast brings you a conversation with Kirk Konert, a partner at AE Industrial Partners (AEI) focusing primarily on space and defense. Kirk joined AEI in 2014 just as the firm was institutionalizing and scaling its investment offering. Before AEI, Kirk worked at Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts, and at Wells Fargo’s Industrials Group.AE Industrial Partners is a FL-based PE firm that focuses on aerospace, defense and government services. It launched its first fund in 2014 and has since grown to over $5.5B of assets under management (AUM).Kirk joins us on the show today to discuss:The history of AEI and the evolution of its strategyWhy private equity is a compelling tool in this marketWhat AEI looks for in an investmentPortfolio company synergiesFundraising predictions for the industryAnd much more…Today’s episode is brought to you by SpiderOak, a US-based software company that builds space cybersecurity products and solutions for civilian, military, and commercial space operations. Learn more at https://spideroak.com/ • Chapters •00:00 An introduction to Kirk and private equity03:22 History of AE and its evolution/strategy05:47 Kirk's career arc through joining AE09:41 AE's different investment strategies and how they interrelate13:20 Categorizing the space industry as an investment15:52 What do you look for in an investment?26:13 What drives success and failure of management teams29:56 SpiderOak Ad Break30:47 Fundraising prediction for the aerospace industry34:22 How does a founder with 12 months of runway navigate the market?35:59 Predicting when the market for IPOs will recover41:52 Geopolitical tailwinds for space companies45:16 Advice for a new investor looking to generate the most alpha47:38 What drive's AE's success?49:48 Starship prediction?• Show notes •AE Industrial Partners - https://www.aeroequity.com/Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes • About us •Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 15,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world. Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers. Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing three media properties across multiple platforms: 1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern (https://newsletter.payloadspace.com/) 2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com) 3) Parallax, our weekly space science briefing, hits inboxes Thursday (https://parallax.payloadspace.com/)