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Investing + Tech → Newsletter/Podcast | Hosted by @mollysoshea
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Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston (@PhilipJohnston) on the #1# factor that decides whether data centers in space work:
“The whole thing is actually contingent on the launch cost.”
“If the launch cost gets below around $500/kilo, then it will be much cheaper to do this in space than terrestrially.”
“In space, we don’t need permitted land, so your biggest cost is gone. We don’t need batteries & backup power because we’re 24/7 in the sun. And then we need 8x less solar cells because 1 square meter of solar panel in space produces about 8x the energy.”
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How does insurance work for payloads on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch?
“Insurance is relatively inexpensive for Falcon 9 because it has such a strong track record, 300 consecutive launches without a failure.”
“What it can’t compensate you for is the lost time, which is really the most valuable resource for a fast-moving startup.”
“I'm slightly on the fence of the value insuring payloads.”
— Starcloud CTO Ezra Feilden (@EzraFeilden)
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All the cool kids are visiting @Starcloud_ (I visited earlier this year).
I love @MollySOShea’s videos.
Rocket Lab recently delayed Neutron’s first launch date to 2027.
Starcloud CTO Ezra Feilden (@EzraFeilden) breaks down why it’s taking longer:
“Composite manufacturing is really hard.”
“Very large composite structures often take a bit longer than you expect, especially when you're producing them for the first time.”
“I have a lot of faith that Rocket Lab can get Neutron flying regularly. They've proven that. They have 100 launches of Electron, so they can do scale.”
“We’re definitely rooting for them.”
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Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston (@PhilipJohnston) on the possibility of a SpaceX - Tesla merger:
“This isn’t a hot take, this is just a fact.”
“SpaceX is going to buy Tesla, & they have to wait until the unlocks of the stock because if they do, then everyone’s going to say the price wasn’t fair.”
@elonmusk
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Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston (@PhilipJohnston) on the #1# factor that decides whether data centers in space work:
“The whole thing is actually contingent on the launch cost.”
“If the launch cost gets below around $500/kilo, then it will be much cheaper to do this in space than terrestrially.”
“In space, we don’t need permitted land, so your biggest cost is gone. We don’t need batteries & backup power because we’re 24/7 in the sun. And then we need 8x less solar cells because 1 square meter of solar panel in space produces about 8x the energy.”
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Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston (@PhilipJohnston) says we might see SpaceX selling Starship capacity to commercial customers by 2028:
“We’ll see reusability of Starship probably within a year, or at least we’ll see the capture of the upper stage. Reflight might take a little bit longer.”
“2028 onwards, we’re hoping to see SpaceX selling capacity to commercial customers.”
@elonmusk
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BREAKING: Inside Starcloud, the $2.3B Startup Putting Data Centers in Space
FACTORY TOUR - Redmond, WA
Primes quoted them $75M-$100M to build their first data center in space. They did it for $2.5M.
In just 21 months, Starcloud is one of the fastest companies to go from founding to orbit.
With $450M in total funding from Manhattan West, Nvidia, Cisco, Benchmark & EQT, the team walks me through their mission for AI in space.
I toured the new HQ w/ CEO @PhilipJohnston + co-founders @EzraFeilden & @AdiOltean
AI compute on Earth is limited by power & permitting. @Starcloud_ is moving it to orbit, where solar power is nearly constant. Philip says the dawn-dusk orbit alone could fit about 10 TW of compute, roughly 20x the entire US power grid. Once launch costs fall below $500/kg, he says compute in space will be cheaper than on the ground.
From Starcloud 1, Starcloud 2, to Starcloud 3, we saw:
Tracking Starcloud 1 live in orbit, circling Earth every 90 minutes at 17,000 mph with the first Nvidia H100 in space.
Co-Founder & Chief Engineer Adi Oltean walks through Starcloud 2 as the team fires the latches that deploy its 120 ft solar wingspan. It launches in January with 100x the power of Starcloud 1.
Co-Founder & CTO Ezra Feilden shows the 16-ton secondhand vibe table. The team bought it for $200K, instead of paying $1.5M & waiting 2 years for a new one, they rebuilt it over a weekend.
Engineering Manager Bailey Montaño leak checks the ion thruster after vibe. Bailey designed the radiators, which have 10x less mass & cost 500x less per watt than the ISS’s.
In the fab shop, Ezra shows the Starcloud 3 demonstrator, a 2-ton, 235 kW vehicle that fits 50 to a Starship.
Camilo Lopez cuts stainless on the laser cutter.
Engineering Operations Lead Miguel Rivera, formerly of Helion Energy, teaches me to MIG weld.
The tour ends in the new campus, about 100,000 sqft built to produce 100 satellites a week toward an 88,000-satellite constellation.
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Philip Johnston, Co-Founder & CEO of Starcloud
(00:53) Tracking Starcloud 1 live in orbit
(02:46) Fixing a 16-ton vibration machine in one weekend
(06:59) From founding to orbit in 21 months
(08:17) From SpaceX to Microsoft to Starcloud
(09:49) Inside Starcloud 2
(13:12) A $15M mission to the nearest star
(17:49) What goes on a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri
(19:10) Why SpaceX could be worth $100 trillion
(20:41) “This isn’t a hot take, this is just a fact
(24:22) How big is Starcloud 3?
(26:41) How do you book a ride to space?
(30:11) How Starcloud tests in zero gravity
(33:49) Can GPUs survive space radiation?
(35:46) The first AI model trained in space
(38:40) Will solar satellites block the sun?
(40:57) How Starcloud tests a satellite for launch
(46:45) The paperwork behind a launch
(53:07) Molly puts her welding skills to the test
(1:00:18) The engineer behind Starcloud's radiators
(1:03:07) Inside Starcloud’s new campus
(1:05:55) Why launch slots are the new scarce resource
(1:06:45) Can someone shoot down a data center in space?
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Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston (@PhilipJohnston) says we might see SpaceX selling Starship capacity to commercial customers by 2028:
“We’ll see reusability of Starship probably within a year, or at least we’ll see the capture of the upper stage. Reflight might take a little bit longer.”
“2028 onwards, we’re hoping to see SpaceX selling capacity to commercial customers.”
@elonmusk
Show more
BREAKING: Inside Starcloud, the $2.3B Startup Putting Data Centers in Space
FACTORY TOUR - Redmond, WA
Primes quoted them $75M-$100M to build their first data center in space. They did it for $2.5M.
In just 21 months, Starcloud is one of the fastest companies to go from founding to orbit.
With $450M in total funding from Manhattan West, Nvidia, Cisco, Benchmark & EQT, the team walks me through their mission for AI in space.
I toured the new HQ w/ CEO @PhilipJohnston + co-founders @EzraFeilden & @AdiOltean
AI compute on Earth is limited by power & permitting. @Starcloud_ is moving it to orbit, where solar power is nearly constant. Philip says the dawn-dusk orbit alone could fit about 10 TW of compute, roughly 20x the entire US power grid. Once launch costs fall below $500/kg, he says compute in space will be cheaper than on the ground.
From Starcloud 1, Starcloud 2, to Starcloud 3, we saw:
Tracking Starcloud 1 live in orbit, circling Earth every 90 minutes at 17,000 mph with the first Nvidia H100 in space.
Co-Founder & Chief Engineer Adi Oltean walks through Starcloud 2 as the team fires the latches that deploy its 120 ft solar wingspan. It launches in January with 100x the power of Starcloud 1.
Co-Founder & CTO Ezra Feilden shows the 16-ton secondhand vibe table. The team bought it for $200K, instead of paying $1.5M & waiting 2 years for a new one, they rebuilt it over a weekend.
Engineering Manager Bailey Montaño leak checks the ion thruster after vibe. Bailey designed the radiators, which have 10x less mass & cost 500x less per watt than the ISS’s.
In the fab shop, Ezra shows the Starcloud 3 demonstrator, a 2-ton, 235 kW vehicle that fits 50 to a Starship.
Camilo Lopez cuts stainless on the laser cutter.
Engineering Operations Lead Miguel Rivera, formerly of Helion Energy, teaches me to MIG weld.
The tour ends in the new campus, about 100,000 sqft built to produce 100 satellites a week toward an 88,000-satellite constellation.
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Philip Johnston, Co-Founder & CEO of Starcloud
(00:53) Tracking Starcloud 1 live in orbit
(02:46) Fixing a 16-ton vibration machine in one weekend
(06:59) From founding to orbit in 21 months
(08:17) From SpaceX to Microsoft to Starcloud
(09:49) Inside Starcloud 2
(13:12) A $15M mission to the nearest star
(17:49) What goes on a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri
(19:10) Why SpaceX could be worth $100 trillion
(20:41) “This isn’t a hot take, this is just a fact
(24:22) How big is Starcloud 3?
(26:41) How do you book a ride to space?
(30:11) How Starcloud tests in zero gravity
(33:49) Can GPUs survive space radiation?
(35:46) The first AI model trained in space
(38:40) Will solar satellites block the sun?
(40:57) How Starcloud tests a satellite for launch
(46:45) The paperwork behind a launch
(53:07) Molly puts her welding skills to the test
(1:00:18) The engineer behind Starcloud's radiators
(1:03:07) Inside Starcloud’s new campus
(1:05:55) Why launch slots are the new scarce resource
(1:06:45) Can someone shoot down a data center in space?
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Just in case @etnshow ever does a benchmarking of swords on @sourceryy! 💪⚔️😅
Thanks @MollySOShea and @sourceryy for coming by for the first @Starcloud_ factory tour in our new facility! Check it out! 🙏👌
Rocket Lab recently delayed Neutron’s first launch date to 2027.
Starcloud CTO Ezra Feilden (@EzraFeilden) breaks down why it’s taking longer:
“Composite manufacturing is really hard.”
“Very large composite structures often take a bit longer than you expect, especially when you're producing them for the first time.”
“I have a lot of faith that Rocket Lab can get Neutron flying regularly. They've proven that. They have 100 launches of Electron, so they can do scale.”
“We’re definitely rooting for them.”
Show more
Philip Johnston (@PhilipJohnston), CEO of Starcloud, says @elonmusk is underselling SpaceX’s potential:
“I think they might be worth more than $100 trillion in 10 years.”
“A good chunk of it will come from the fact that Tesla’s Optimus will be up & running.”
“Once you have Optimus building Optimus factories, then you have this incredible exponential.”
“It’s a bit like what’s happening now with the recursive self-improvement, but for the physical world.”
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Thanks for coming by @Starcloud_, @MollySOShea! 🙏👌
BREAKING: Inside Starcloud, the $2.3B Startup Putting Data Centers in Space
FACTORY TOUR - Redmond, WA
Primes quoted them $75M-$100M to build their first data center in space. They did it for $2.5M.
In just 21 months, Starcloud is one of the fastest companies to go from founding to orbit.
With $450M in total funding from Manhattan West, Nvidia, Cisco, Benchmark & EQT, the team walks me through their mission for AI in space.
I toured the new HQ w/ CEO @PhilipJohnston + co-founders @EzraFeilden & @AdiOltean
AI compute on Earth is limited by power & permitting. @Starcloud_ is moving it to orbit, where solar power is nearly constant. Philip says the dawn-dusk orbit alone could fit about 10 TW of compute, roughly 20x the entire US power grid. Once launch costs fall below $500/kg, he says compute in space will be cheaper than on the ground.
From Starcloud 1, Starcloud 2, to Starcloud 3, we saw:
Tracking Starcloud 1 live in orbit, circling Earth every 90 minutes at 17,000 mph with the first Nvidia H100 in space.
Co-Founder & Chief Engineer Adi Oltean walks through Starcloud 2 as the team fires the latches that deploy its 120 ft solar wingspan. It launches in January with 100x the power of Starcloud 1.
Co-Founder & CTO Ezra Feilden shows the 16-ton secondhand vibe table. The team bought it for $200K, instead of paying $1.5M & waiting 2 years for a new one, they rebuilt it over a weekend.
Engineering Manager Bailey Montaño leak checks the ion thruster after vibe. Bailey designed the radiators, which have 10x less mass & cost 500x less per watt than the ISS’s.
In the fab shop, Ezra shows the Starcloud 3 demonstrator, a 2-ton, 235 kW vehicle that fits 50 to a Starship.
Camilo Lopez cuts stainless on the laser cutter.
Engineering Operations Lead Miguel Rivera, formerly of Helion Energy, teaches me to MIG weld.
The tour ends in the new campus, about 100,000 sqft built to produce 100 satellites a week toward an 88,000-satellite constellation.
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Philip Johnston, Co-Founder & CEO of Starcloud
(00:53) Tracking Starcloud 1 live in orbit
(02:46) Fixing a 16-ton vibration machine in one weekend
(06:59) From founding to orbit in 21 months
(08:17) From SpaceX to Microsoft to Starcloud
(09:49) Inside Starcloud 2
(13:12) A $15M mission to the nearest star
(17:49) What goes on a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri
(19:10) Why SpaceX could be worth $100 trillion
(20:41) “This isn’t a hot take, this is just a fact
(24:22) How big is Starcloud 3?
(26:41) How do you book a ride to space?
(30:11) How Starcloud tests in zero gravity
(33:49) Can GPUs survive space radiation?
(35:46) The first AI model trained in space
(38:40) Will solar satellites block the sun?
(40:57) How Starcloud tests a satellite for launch
(46:45) The paperwork behind a launch
(53:07) Molly puts her welding skills to the test
(1:00:18) The engineer behind Starcloud's radiators
(1:03:07) Inside Starcloud’s new campus
(1:05:55) Why launch slots are the new scarce resource
(1:06:45) Can someone shoot down a data center in space?
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Reality of the US & China “frenemy-type” relationship:
“The US & China are much more constructive than we’ve been in the past.”
“China’s going to head their direction. The US is going to head our direction. But we need each other.”
“We need them for rare earths. They need our economy & consumers to sell the things that they manufacture. So we’ll figure out ways to work well together.”
Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton
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“You almost need to be a bit of a cult leader as a founder.”
“Not everyone is capable of being cult leader.”
“People who do it well can hire well and retain well.”
“The biggest bottleneck today is ability to hire.”
— @deedydas
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Franklin Templeton manages $1.8 trillion in assets today.
In 1955, when CEO Jenny Johnson's father took over the family business, it had just $2.5 million in AUM & $10,000 in revenue.
It took nearly 30 years to reach their first $1 billion in assets.
"We eked out a $5,000 profit for the entire year in 1973 or 1974."
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The #1# lesson Perplexity's Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) learned from Larry Page:
“The user is never wrong.”
“You cannot blame them for not being good prompters or writers of skills files or sub-agents. You don’t want everyone to learn these concepts.”
“You want the product to do its magic.”
“It shouldn’t be seen as a skill issue if you’re not able to get the AI to do something for you. It’s a product issue.”
“When a product doesn't work, the instinct of an engineer is to always say, ‘You should go do it this way, then it works.’ Because their mind is thinking, ‘How do I fix the problem for the user?’ Rather than, ‘How do I fix the product in a way where the user doesn't even have to think about the problem?’”
“Imagine if the iPhone needed an FDE to onboard everybody. That’s how AI is today.”
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“You almost need to be a bit of a cult leader as a founder.”
“Not everyone is capable of being cult leader.”
“People who do it well can hire well and retain well.”
“The biggest bottleneck today is ability to hire.”
— @deedydas
Show more
