The Global Ground Layer, with Bridgit Mendler (CEO of Northwood)

Bridgit Mendler took an unconventional path to founding a space infrastructure company, but it led her to one of the industry’s most overlooked bottlenecks: the ground systems connecting satellites to Earth. Now, she’s building Northwood to modernize that critical layer of the space economy, the part that doesn’t get the headlines but matters as much as anything happening above it.  Northwood recently announced its new Prism product, and we get into the business model, the competitive landscape, the government bet, and one of the most critical questions: if Starlink and Kuiper have already built their own versions of what Northwood is selling, who’s actually buying? We cover: Why ground infrastructure is the overlooked bottleneck in the space economy The announcement of Prism and what it means for Northwood's ambitions beyond its first product The claim that Northwood will rival a terrestrial internet exchange by 2028 The Space Force contract and what the path to a second one looks like Cell tower or cloud bill: how Northwood actually makes money Her future vision for the industry and the infrastructure bet behind it   • Chapters • 00:00 – Trailer 00:44 – FCC Space Bureau 04:28 – How Bridgit decided to work on satellite networking 07:35 – From lake to concept 09:57 – Recent announcement at Northwood 12:20 – Where Northwood fits in the ground station as a service model 15:24 – The Northwood value proposition 16:42 – Average utilization of a ground station 18:10 – Northwood's flexibility 19:41 – Key goals in the next few years 22:15 – "I like to be bullish on space because that's what we're all here for" 22:52 – Biggest near-term opportunity 24:09 – How the competition shapes Northwood 25:50 – Segment of the market Bridgit believes has the biggest capacity for growth 26:45 – Northwood x Space Force: Satellite Control Network 29:48 – The state of Northwood today 32:09 – Competing for talent 33:22 – Revenue model with ground stations and how that will evolve 35:43 – What Northwood's next product set might look like 39:05 – Deployment of Northwood's $100M 40:03 – Investor conversations 42:55 – How Northwood fits in the changing landscape of the space industry with the Moon and SpaceX's IPO 45:17 – What keeps Bridgit up at night? 46:33 – Rapid-fire philosophical questions   • Show notes • Northwood’s website — https://www.northwoodspace.io/ Ross’s’ socials — https://x.com/bridgitmendler Mo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislam Payload’s socials — https://x.com/payloadspace /  https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace Ignition’s socials — https://x.com/ignitionnuclear / https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/ Tectonic’s socials  — https://x.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/ Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/   • About us • Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), Decoding Bio (biotech) and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies. Payload: www.payloadspace.com Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com Ignition: www.ignition-news.com Decoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com