Orbital Sentry

This is Second Opinion, a newsletter created by Hustle Fund, where we weigh in (with our second opinion) and give tactical advice on founder situations.

Today’s Edition

In this episode, Haley, Hustle Fund partner, sits down with Mark and Elizabeth, co-founders of Orbital Sentry. They're building the first commercial imaging satellites in geosynchronous orbit, the sweet spot where a satellite "hovers" over one spot and can basically livestream the Earth. They share what they learned raising their pre-seed.

✨ Today's episode: what it takes to raise for a moonshot (well, an orbit-shot).

Listen when investors flinch: Letters of support from fire departments and insurers weren't enough. VCs kept saying "we believe it'll work, we just don't think wildfire pays." So they leaned into what they'd always planned, defense, and pitched themselves as a true dual-use company with two legs to stand on.

Get customers hooked before launch: No satellite yet? No problem. They're running a synthetic data program so customers can play with "fake" data now, give feedback, and become warm leads. Because big enterprise deals can take 30 to 50 touchpoints (yes, really), so you start the clock early.

Here's the episode:

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