I’ve been paying attention to the Tesla ecosystem for years. I got my first ride in a Model S in 2013, and immediately fell in love with the neck-snapping acceleration. I thought seriously about buying one… but the entrance into the front seat required more gymnastics than I liked (I’m 6’4” and the doorway was just too low), so I never pulled the trigger. But I kept watching. We’ve been partially electric for over a decade, though. We leased a Chevy Volt in 2012, and bought another one when the lease expired in 2015. I love the torque, the silence, and — especially recently — the ability to av ..read more

This fall, Tucson is going to be hosting two awesome symposia back-to-back (they’re even at the same hotel): NASA NIAC Symposium NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is “NASA’s DARPA”… the place where the space agency funds ideas that are too difficult, too far out, or too nearly-crazy to make it through the more buttoned-down world of regular NASA contracting. Every year, they bring together 150 NIAC Fellows to discuss their latest work… and this year is in Tucson! And it’s free, and open to the public. More details will be on NASA’s webpage soon, but block off September 21-23 for m ..read more

David Wichner at the Arizona Daily Star has written a great article… but the headline writer missed a great opportunity to label it simply “Old Pueblo, New Space.” It mentions the Arizona Space Business Roundtable, as well as several of our former (and future) speakers. It’s nice to have something to point to when non-specialists ask you “So what’s going on in the space business in Tucson?” You can read David’s article online here: https://tucson.com/business/tucson-tech-old-pueblo-gets-new-rocket-firm-as-new-space-industry-develops/article_c575f250-665b-5210-842a-2bdcb8cb5d18.html Since ..read more

This conversation with Andrew Lynn of Chapman University turned out well. As Andrew said: This week’s Innovation out of Failure class discussion centered on a conversation I had with Stephen Fleming. With Stephen touching on everything from startup successes and failures to risk taking at a university vs. in business to the role of market forces in the innovation/failure nexus, the students were given a lot to think about. After class, a few even expressed to me that they were even more passionate about entrepreneurship as a result of hearing his stories. Now that is a good success for a Mond ..read more

Back in the Before Times, when I used to leave the house every day, I took Uber and Lyft a lot. (We are a one-car family, and a bicycle won’t get me everywhere.) And, channeling Thomas Friedman, I always liked to strike up conversations with my drivers.  One thing I noticed from this random sampling of Tucsonans was how many of them were “boomerangs” — they were raised in or around Tucson, but couldn’t wait to get away after high school or college. Many went to California (it’s right next door); others went to Texas, or Chicago, or even overseas. But, after a period of years, they ca ..read more

After decades of failed promises and false starts, we finally have a thriving space launch industry emerging from new and traditional players in the United States and abroad. Multiple satellite operators—including Google, SpaceX, Amazon, Iridium, and more—have the financial wherewithal to develop constellations of hundreds or thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit. Traditional launch vehicle suppliers like United Launch Alliance (a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin) and OrbitalATK (recemtly acquired by Northrop Grumman) are increasing their operational tempo while bringing ..read more

This is Part IV of “Tucson after the Coronavirus“… but it’s not really triggered by COVID-19. The idea of bringing substantial Space Force operations to Tucson has been a hobbyhorse of mine for a couple of years now. This series of posts is engaging in a little soul-searching about how Tucson will recover from the pandemic, and we’ve already looked at academia and manufacturing. What about the other pillar of our community, the military? I wrote an earlier version of this for the Arizona Commerce Authority in late 2018, and it’s probably worth sharing with a wider audience. First, a little bac ..read more

Part III of “Tucson after the Coronavirus“ First, let me add a link that I found after posting Part II earlier this week: Tucson Ranks #1 in U.S. in Google Search for “Homes for Sale” Since COVID-19 I suspect some of those Google searches are from professionals beginning to explore the Pandemic Diaspora. There will be more of them. Onwards with Part III. There are all sorts of claims, counterclaims, and accusations about the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease. I’m not qualified to have an opinion, and, at this point, the truth is mired in both domestic and inter ..read more

Part II of “Tucson After the Coronavirus“ When I left my office on March 11, I had no idea that I wouldn’t be returning for months. It’s now been 74 days since I had a normal schedule… 74 days since I’ve shaken anyone’s hand… 74 days since I’ve swapped business cards with anyone. It’s disorienting, and I can’t believe this will remain the New Normal. All over the country, we’re seeing people getting out more, resuming some normal activities, although with a consideration of social distancing, and frequently wearing a mask. At some point — whether in weeks or months — all the stay-at-home orde ..read more

Back when I was blogging regularly, one of my rules of thumb was: if I have the same conversation with three different people in a week, it’s worth blogging about. Maybe I can try that again. One conversation I’ve had a lot over the last seventy days of quarantine is “What does Tucson look like after this?” I have a few different directions from which to tackle this question. First, let’s talk about the elephant in the room… and the reason I moved to Tucson. The University of Arizona Without the university, Tucson would be Pensacola… a pleasant small city in a delightful climate adjacent to a ..read more