#5 - Being a Space Enthusiast, Venture Capitalist & Building Factories in Space with Delian Asparouhov

Today, I have a very interesting guest, one who wears 3 different hats - a self-proclaimed space enthusiast, a venture capitalist and a space entrepreneur, Delian Asparouhov. 

Delian is a Principal at Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that has invested in SpaceX, Palantir, Facebook, Airbnb and more. Delian also recently cofounded Varda Space Technologies that is building factories in space in order to manufacture products for use on Earth.

In this episode, Delian and I talk about his story, how he juggles multiple roles and his perspectives on the space industry including the recent phenomenon of SPACs. I also got to hear some of his plans for Varda and how he sees in-space manufacturing evolving over the next few years.

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01:53 Delian's story

07:04 Why Delian is passionate about space

08:52 How Delian managed to keep track of developments in space tech without actually being in the space industry

13:20 Why are we hearing so much about the space industry recently

17:23 Delian's thoughts on SPACs and whether Varda will also look at a potential SPAC

23:54 Delian's comprehensive overview of the space industry

35:00 About Varda's plans for space factories and manufacturing in-orbit 

39:43 Why isn't anybody doing this and looking at this market?

42:05 How will we get the manufactured products down from space? (Note: we wait for further updates)

43:55 Will there be more startups working on space factories founded as a result of Varda?

45:25 Is in-space manufacturing the next big thing in space tech?

48:46 Should we get more people excited about space?

51:05 What could go wrong in the next decade or so?

53:53 What does the space industry not do well?

55:42 Delian's favourite hat to wear - space advocate/space-tech VC/ space entrepreneur