My Entrepreneurial Journey

Don’t Follow My Lead

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Hi, I’m Ryan

BS AE ‘04

Founder, Space Beyond (inc Feb 2025)

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Disclaimers

***I haven’t had any proper training on this and my startup is far from successful

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***My message is a “yes, and” story, not an “all or nothing”, “go big or go home”, or “moonshot” tale

Why: Democratize space

How: Radically reduce the cost to access and interact with space in a meaningful and lasting way

What: Launch cremated remains (ashes) to space

Why Did I Start a Company?

• Make an impact, change the world
• Vastly increased agency, no bureaucracy
• Own the results (and benefits)
• Never satisfied with the status quo or good enough. Always looking for the next level

Why Now?

• Time, Energy, Money - need to have all three
• Time: experience, what not to do, family status
• Energy: 40s are peak
• Money: 20+ years of responsible living (spend<earn) + investments + …paid to leave = “infinite” runway

How Did I Decide?

• Soul searching, brainstorming, OEC
• A hundred alternatives (OnlyFans!)
• Try to talk myself out of it
• Run the numbers. What’s my runway?
• Lots of talks with my wife - she knew the answer long before I did

How to Get Started?

• AI is your friend thought partner
• Step 1: incorporate
• Then, just keep peeling back the onion (EIN, Treasury, Tax Collector, Zoning, Checking Account, Website (!!!), Social Media, ….
• My team: family, friends, colleagues, AI = free help

What I’ve Learned so Far

• A rapid-fire review since I don’t have much time
• In no particular order

Space is the easy part.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is hard and slow.

Advertising is expensive.

Images are (not all) free.

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AI images are (not all) useful.

This

D.E.A.L.

will set you free

Stay in stealth mode until you’re ready for criticism. When you’re invisible, no one is watching your mistakes.

Avoid taking other people’s money unless you’re ready to deliver value to them. Prolong independence, agency, goodwill.

But you’re never ready. Take a leap when you get close-ish (70%?)

Great is the enemy of good. You have to make it before you can make it better.

Create, refine, iterate.

Find and engage your target audience (customers). Solve their problems.

Start small.

Test things (A/B).

Iterate fast.

Figure out how others have done it and follow their lead. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Did I mention AI?

The entrepreneurial landscape is predatory. Folks looking to get rich quick are easy targets for scammers. Be weary at every turn.

Much can be done for free or very low cost. Free AI, low cost web hosting, free checking, DIY, free trials (Semrush!).

AI is your friend and thought partner. Train it well. Let it work for you (not just tell you how amazing you are).��***but I broke ChatGPT

trying to make this presentation

…and it sucks at being human

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Go hard. Then turn it off.

Take pictures, they’re fun to look back on.

I Am Here

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Resources

and Q&A

• Slide deck
• Books
• Links to great X posts
• Social Media
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