Sadly, the truth of the matter is that most entrepreneurs do not succeed. It is only the few, the lucky, the persistent ones that do have a chance. The search for profit and wealth in the growth industry of space debris offers an excellent example of how things can go wrong during the pursuit of success.

Take your typical entrepreneur. He or she is watching a telecast or reading one of the space media outlets. There is a short piece about the new imperative: "Orbiting debris must be removed in order to continue our free access to space."

An idea is born. The entrepreneur sees an opportunity to create a company that services Earth's orbits by capturing space junk and repairing satellites at the same time. Obviously, this is a brilliant idea and one that is compelling in the quest for capital. A business plan is formulated almost instantly on the back of a napkin.

Friends and family are contacted immediately and told of this "ground floor" opportunity to invest in what appears to be a sure winner. Everyone is excited, especially the entrepreneur. A detailed business plan is drafted. A draft private placement memorandum (PPM) is hastily assembled. Fundraising meetings are arranged. The sales pitch sounds great. Everything is positive. There must be an IPO in the near future. How can anything go wrong?

Reality does not set in until the search for clients begins. In the case of space debris, who is the client? It is obvious that someone must pay to clean up space. It is simply a matter of finding the responsible organization and convincing the management that you have the best and most cost effective way to make space safe again. In fact, let's assume that our entrepreneur does have a great idea about how to clean up space and service satellites.

Who is going to voluntarily offer to pay for cleaning up Earth's orbits? Is there any one organization or agency that would be willing to spend their budgets on cleaning up someone else's old spacecraft as opposed to building their own new satellites? Before long, our entrepreneur realizes that there is no customer for cleaning up space. Everyone agrees that debris reduction is an imperative, but no one will step up to take financial responsibility.

There is only one way to get the job done. Simultaneously convince all of the spacefaring nations that all must contribute to the cost of cleaning up space. The energetic entrepreneur feels that anything is possible in the quest for success. Meetings with space agencies, commercial satellite operators and non-profit groups interested in preserving space freedom are arranged. Months of travelling, briefings and negotiations go on.

The entrepreneur gets very positive responses and promises of moral and philosophical support. Letters from many of these entities are collected by the entrepreneur. Months have gone by and the initial capital from family and friends is running out. It is time to approach the next level of capital-raising. There must be an angel investor out there somewhere who will fall in love with this opportunity.

The entrepreneur searches investment resource sights and find a number of eager capital-raising agents, all happy to find capital for a healthy fee. Finder agreements are signed and meetings arranged with angels. Optimistic briefings are given and the letters of support are used to demonstrate the potential customer base.

Due diligence is performed by potential investors, but alas, the entrepreneur finds out that angels use experts to review potential investments. A proper due diligence involves an assessment of technologies, relevant policies, legal aspects and market potential - many of the areas that the entrepreneur didn't bother to check out. Finally, the angels turn down the entrepreneur.

Does the entrepreneur now realize that this quest was too quickly started, that the technology was not yet ready, that international politicians would take years to assemble the needed financial support or that the cost of space clean-up would be astronomical? No!

The typical entrepreneur would react by assuming the experts and angels did not know what they were talking about. The pursuit continues until one day the entrepreneur runs out of family and friends to tap. At that point getting a job becomes the imperative and space debris will have to take care of itself!

For all those who are concerned and interested in the pending space debris catastrophe, your first step is to get smart on the space debris issues and possible solutions. This is where Launchspace can help. If you are involved in space flight, you will want to sign up for the "must take" seminar on the subject, August 4 in Washington, DC.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
Launchspace
Space Technology News - Applications and Research

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News