Luke Fischer: Who would want to start a Satellite Image Marketplace? SkyFi - #MBM70
Jul 20, 2024
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Guest Luke Fischer, Co-Founder & CEO of SkyFi, talks about starting a satellite image marketplace, risks in entrepreneurship, building a user-friendly platform, industry evolution, predictive future insights, hiring strategies, and maintaining in-person interactions in a remote team setting.
SkyFi, founded by Luke Fisher, aims to revolutionize the Earth observation marketplace. By convincing major image providers like Maxar and Planet to collaborate, SkyFi seeks to streamline the acquisition of satellite images and analytics. Fisher's military background influences SkyFi's risk-taking approach, where the focus is on trait-based hiring and fast, decisive action to capitalize on the market opportunity.
Innovative Hiring Process at SkyFi
SkyFi's hiring process combines elements from Luke Fisher's experiences at Uber and in special operations units. Emphasizing trait-based selection, SkyFi purposely recruits outside the geospatial industry to bring in diverse expertise. The hiring strategy prioritizes quality over quantity, offering competitive compensation to a tight-knit team that focuses on delivering value efficiently.
Strategic Funding and Growth Plans
SkyFi's decision to raise substantial early funding reflects a speed-driven mindset to seize a significant market opportunity swiftly. The company's emphasis on innovation and execution aligns with building a product quickly, leading to industry recognition and partnerships. By foreseeing market shifts and potential failures among competitors, SkyFi positions itself to lead the sector evolution.
The Future of SkyFi: Adaptation and Expansion
Looking ahead two and a half years, SkyFi anticipates market dynamics to evolve significantly, potentially resulting in the failure of hardware and analytic companies. By consistently focusing on innovation, customer value, and strategic partnerships, SkyFi envisions solidifying its position as a leader in the Earth observation marketplace. The company's trajectory emphasizes adaptability, efficient hiring, and continuous growth to navigate industry challenges and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
Consolidation in Satellite Industry
The podcast discusses the impending consolidation in the satellite industry, predicting that some companies will fail due to poor execution, leading to mergers and acquisitions to form larger entities. Private equity firms are anticipated to play a role in this consolidation, especially with the availability of bargain deals. The speaker mentions opportunities in regions like Asia and the Middle East, highlighting the fragmented nature of the market and the potential for a handful of companies to merge.
Emphasis on Data and Intelligence in Geospatial Technology
The episode delves into the shift towards data and intelligence in the geospatial technology sector, where imagery analytics form a layer of data provided to customers. Government opportunities, including conflicts between agencies like the NGA, NRO, and Space Force, are highlighted. The speaker foresees a shift towards serving government and enterprise users, with potential growth in the consumer market in the future, emphasizing the importance of maintaining health and physical readiness for optimal performance in business endeavors.
Luke Fischer is the Co-Founder & CEO of SkyFi, a company that we'll describe in a few ways in this episode, but boils down to an Earth Observation marketplace. We talk about Luke's 20 year time in the military before getting into startups, why Luke is bullish on their approach and many more
(00:00) - Intro (00:50) - Sponsor: SatCamp (02:41) - Luke describes himself (04:21) - Getting into the satellite image industry (07:13) - Risks starting a company (10:16) - Don't start a marketplace (18:22) - Racing to get customers (23:08) - What is the Product in all of this? (25:00) - What is the product that SkyFi needs to build today? (28:17) - Who is this for? (33:08) - Biggest pain points (37:44) - The market's view of Earth Observation businesses (45:00) - Pivoting from the military (51:28) - Hiring (59:12) - Raising big, early (01:02:08) - Predicting the industry in 2.5 years (01:09:05) - Consumer market? (01:14:24) - Health & family (01:26:05) - Community while all Remote (01:30:25) - Book & Podcast Recommendation (01:33:09) - Support the podcast on Patreon