Building Bridges in Space with Sarah Pousho

[00:00:00] My dad works in B2B marketing, but I never really knew what that meant. Then one day my dad came by my school for career day and told everyone in my class he was a big ROAS man. Then he just kept saying things like, The bigger the ROAS, the better. Over and over. My friends still laugh at me to this day. I think it means calculating a return on ad spend. One thing's for sure. I'll be known as the ROAS man's kid for the rest of my days.

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[00:00:57] LinkedIn, the place to be. To be. You may know you're listening to this show along the Marketing Podcast Network, but did you know there are other great shows on MPN to help your business? Robbie Samuels hosts the On The Schmooze podcast. Robbie, tell listeners what to expect from the show. Since 2015, I've interviewed entrepreneurs who overcame challenges to achieve success in their field or industry. Tune into On The Schmooze to listen as I ask deep questions to elicit untold stories about leadership and networking.

[00:01:26] And where can people subscribe? Find the show at OnTheSchmooze.com or on marketingpodcast.net or just search for it wherever you get your podcasts. You heard them. Go subscribe. Welcome to the Space Marketing Podcast, where we look at marketing principles, strategies, and tactics through the lens of space. Hi, I am your host, Izzy House. Today, we are exploring the power of connecting in the space industry.

[00:01:53] Our guest, Sarah Pusho, co-founder and chief executive officer of the Space Bridge Partners, will share insights on building meaningful relationships and bridging gaps across companies, countries, and industries. So, lift off in 3, 2, 1.

[00:02:23] Welcome to the Space Marketing Podcast. Information relating to our discussion today and links to the video version can be found in the episode show notes on spacemarketingpodcast.com. Please like and subscribe to the podcast. It will help more people reach beyond the atmosphere. Information in this episode is for entertainment and information only.

[00:02:49] Please consult a professional for your specific situation. Our guest, Sarah Pusho, co-founder and chief executive officer of Space Bridge Partners, will share insights on building meaningful relationships and bridging the gaps across countries, companies, and industries.

[00:03:09] We'll uncover how strong connections drive the innovation, the collaboration, and the success in the dynamic world of space. So, welcome to the podcast, Sarah. How are you doing today? I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, thank you for coming. So, Sarah and I have met online.

[00:03:33] And today we're going to talk about connections, which, you know, a lot of people can be a little nervous about reaching out to people they don't know. But that's how you get things done. This podcast is a very good example of that. You reached out to me. We met. Here we are. It's so important. And it's, I mean, it's how you, it's how you build a business. It's how you build your network. You just have to, don't be shy to reach out and say hello to somebody and meet somebody new.

[00:04:01] And speaking of meeting, one of the things I like to do is have the audience meet you personally. So why don't you tell us a little bit about how you got interested in space? Yeah, I definitely took the very longest route I could to get into the space sector. But I have been interested since I was a little girl. I wanted to be an astronaut. I did all my grade school papers about space or about habitats, outer space habitats.

[00:04:32] And I've just been so interested. I don't know if it's because I was born the year before we landed on the moon for the first time. But it's just always been a part of my life. So my goal was to go to university and study to be an astronomy major and then go fly for the armed forces and then go be an astronaut. Well, I kind of got derailed. It happens. I went to UC Berkeley and I went in as an astronomy major and I graduated as a rhetoric major.

[00:05:00] And I just thought the gap between that and an astronaut is so big. I'm going to have to figure something else out, at least for now. And got a temp job that was supposed to be for two weeks tops at a calendar publisher. And I was there for five years, which led me to another job, which led me to another job. And pretty soon I had spent 30 years in consumer products, mostly kids licensed products, doing sales and licensing. However, one of my best friends that I met at UC Berkeley, his name's Guillermo Sunline.

[00:05:30] He's one of my co-founders. He and I bonded because we both wanted to be astronauts. So we met in college and have stayed friends ever since. And one day I just texted him out of the blue saying, I'm living vicariously through your LinkedIn posts. I wish I had gone into the space sector. And he said, what are you doing on Saturday? Let's talk. And we chatted for three hours about what this could look like. And he took me under his wing and recommended conferences I could go to.

[00:05:59] And pretty soon I was using up every single vacation day I had to go to some space conference and start meeting people. And eventually I was introducing him to people that he did not know in the space sector. And he is sort of a serial entrepreneur. And he had the idea for Space Bridge Partners, but he's running a whole bunch of other companies. And I said, you know what? I've been negotiating with people all over the world for my whole career, whether it's a licensing contract with Disney or product placement at Walmart.

[00:06:28] I can run this company. It's all about relationship building. And he said, great, I can't. But let's co-found it. We have a third co-founder named Khalid Ali, who used to work at Mass Aims. So he's definitely got the space engineering chops. So the three of us co-founded the company. And here we are. Well, tell us a little bit about the company. So we are called Space Bridge Partners, as you said. We came out of stealth mode a little more than a year ago.

[00:06:58] And what we try to do is connect private capital to space missions focused on science exploration and education. So we're not a venture capital firm. We raise money for missions, not for companies. And these missions usually are organized by nonprofits, universities, or small civil space agencies that can get government funding, but usually not enough to cover the whole cost of the mission. So we try to fill that gap.

[00:07:25] Mostly because these are usually missions that don't have a commercial ROI, but they're studying important science that can help us on Earth, that can help us learn about our solar system and more. So we raise funds three different ways for these missions. One is through reaching out to high net worth individuals, family offices, foundations, and ask for philanthropic donations that can go towards a space mission.

[00:07:50] The second is we try to matchmake the mission organizers with brand sponsors. So, for example, we have a mission that's trying to figure out if humans can reproduce in space. And along the way, the chief investigator figured out technology that can improve the success rates of in vitro fertilization on Earth. So what a great sponsor than like a Pampers or a Huggies or a Gerber baby food, something to do with women's health.

[00:08:17] So we look for brand sponsors and their marketing activation dollars can go help towards the cost of a mission. And then the third channel we look for funding from are from media partners. So if somebody like a National Geographic or a Discovery Channel wanted to do a documentary, we can put together a licensing agreement and the royalties that they would pay would go towards the cost of that mission. So those are the three ways that we do that. And then we also, of course, have events and host happy hours.

[00:08:45] And we're having a big summit in April to get the word out there. And but yeah, that's basically what we do in a nutshell. Well, and I'd like to talk a little bit about the branding thing because, you know, this is space marketing and that's what we're doing. Now, some people, the purists that have been in the industry a long time will go, oh, don't cheapen it, don't cheapen it.

[00:09:10] Well, at one point, the car races did not have any sponsors and they have created an entire industry because they looked to sponsors to help fund a lot of that. And with the reduction in a lot of the budgets and with some of the budgets being constricted in other countries, we have to look at alternative sources of income.

[00:09:38] And having brand sponsors creates a win-win situation. Actually, a win-win-win situation. I'm glad you said that. I was going to say that. The mission gets funded. The brand gets recognition. And more importantly, the space industry gets awareness.

[00:10:00] So, you know, you want to talk a little bit about how that passion to do that part. Yeah, I mean, like you said, the getting more people aware of the space sector and that it's not just for millionaires and billionaires is so key. And so how do we bring that space enthusiast into the brand arena of a certain brand? How do we bring those customers in?

[00:10:27] And then on the other side, how do we bring those brand loyalists to into the space sector by getting them involved? And there's so many different examples that are recent out there. You know, one is intuitive machines working with Columbia Sportswear and literally having fabric that Columbia uses in their jackets on the lunar lander that they had. I mean, I'm sure if it works on the moon, it's going to work on my climb up Mount Everest, right? Absolutely.

[00:10:54] Yeah, and Space Perspective, a company that's taking, you know, quote unquote everyday people, I guess, if you define that as someone that can afford $125,000 ticket. But they take them on a ride to space via a balloon, a capsule suspended by a balloon. They've done partnerships with Mercedes to design their interior. They've done partnerships with Mondeley and they did a contest with Oreo cookies.

[00:11:19] So all these different ways to bring awareness to consumers, that's the really important key for brands. And if we can bring those brands new consumers too, just from like the space sector, that's what's so important about it. So that's one of the things that we're mindful of too at Space Bridge Partners is we're not just saying, okay, everybody, we have $3 billion of the missions. Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? We actually are mindful after vetting the mission and getting to know the mission organizers and what their,

[00:11:49] what the purpose of their mission is and the science behind it. We're mindful of who we reach out to and the matchmaking that we curate with the right brands. And so we're not going to reach out to, you know, Pampers for a mission that is trying to figure out what minerals are on a certain asteroid. That doesn't really make sense, right? So being very mindful of that and trying to be creative too about who we put together. You know, there's one of our missions has to do with speed.

[00:12:16] It would be one of the fastest human-made objects in space. Tons of ideas around that. Time peacemakers, internet service providers, Formula One cards, like you mentioned before. There's so many things that have to do with speed and efficiency. There's a lot of ideas there. So it's just fun being really creative and trying to figure out fun ways to put these two together and have everyone come out winning. And these brands are already in space, by the way.

[00:12:43] For example, in the International Space Station, Target is doing some studies on cotton development to make it to where cotton is not as thirsty down here, because apparently that's a big issue with growing it. And Estee Lauder is looking at doing different types of plastic up there. So the brands are already interested. They're interested in this story. They're interested in the research. And they're interested in being a part of it.

[00:13:11] And when I wrote my book, the gentleman that wrote the forward of my book, his book is Marketing the Moon. And he talks about during the Apollo program, how they were able to get the Apollo program off the ground, literally, is that they worked with 20,000 different brands. And it was the brands that marketed the initiative.

[00:13:40] There was only like a dozen people that were on the public affairs team for NASA. But it was those brands that made the awareness happen. So it's very powerful. Being associated with a game-changing mission like that. I mean, that's one of the exciting things about the missions in our pipeline, too, is some of them could change the way we think about things, right? And so, and here you have, you know, Omega was the watch that they used on the Apollo missions.

[00:14:07] And all these different brands that, whether they intended to do it or not, are part of history. It's just so exciting. Absolutely. And, okay, so can you talk about any of your missions or is it an NDA type of situation? I can talk about them in general terms. If you want more specifics, that's definitely NDA.

[00:14:28] But I mentioned one of the missions, it's actually a series of missions that we're trying to get funded about studying whether or not humans can reproduce in less than 1G. Because if we're going to be living on Mars or the moon, hopefully it's not one generation that dies out. So there's that. We have one mission that's by a small Eastern European country that would be the first photographs of the atmosphere of Venus. Oh, interesting.

[00:14:56] Which could teach us a lot about what lives there. Yeah. Which is absolutely beautiful right now. And it's with Saturn. So it's huge. Yes. This week has been such a great week to see so many planets lined up. It's so exciting. I love it. Yes. Yes. So go ahead. I'm sorry. Yeah. The first photos. And it would also be the first mission from that country to Venus. So that's also exciting.

[00:15:22] We have another set of missions to Venus that will culminate in a sample return of the atmosphere. Because scientists suspect there may be biologic life in the atmosphere. So this would be going up there to find that out. There's another mission that would be, I can't really say where, but it would be to another planet. And it would be a mission involving twins. So one set of twins would stay here and the other would go to another planet.

[00:15:52] And we'd try to figure out what the differences are. We have another mission that's looking at what minerals make up an asteroid, a certain asteroid that's going to be coming fairly close to Earth soon. So lots of different missions with lots of different. I mentioned also the fastest human-made object. They're trying to bring back data from deep space. And so how quickly can we do that and get that up and maybe surpass Voyager while we're still alive? That would be pretty incredible, too.

[00:16:20] So all different kinds of missions. Yeah. Here's the thing about space is that when we were, well, when my mom was a Star Trek fan, the original one. And if you watch the Star Trek, you'll see that there are a lot of technologies that we kind of take for granted nowadays that didn't exist when they created those things.

[00:16:44] But the doors that close, Sulu talked about how he was always running into doors after he left the set because they didn't automatically open. And now, do you know how many? You go to the grocery store and it does that. Yeah. Uh-huh. So the things that we're going to see feel like science fiction, but they're really science future.

[00:17:12] And warp drive, we know that we can do it. And we've put some very intelligent people towards that goal. And so it may not be in the relatively near future, but I think we'll make it happen. I think it will happen. I totally agree with that.

[00:17:37] There's got to be a way that we can jump through a wormhole or something to get farther away than we've ever gotten before. I firmly believe that. I don't know if it'll happen in our lifetimes, but I think it will happen. It will happen eventually. It's like spaceports, which is one of where we kind of met. You know, I have a passion for spaceports. You know that. Mm-hmm. And Global Spaceport Alliance is, I work with a lot of people there.

[00:18:03] And when you look at science fiction movies, you see the aircraft landing. And it's almost like a helicopter, you know, the way that it lands. It doesn't shoot off on a rocket. And I believe that because we know that's what we need to have happen, that it may be 40 years, 100 years down the road, rockets will seem like jalopies. Right. Yeah. And we will be there.

[00:18:32] I'm very excited about the future. And is there something that, you know, a tip or technology that you use to help bring those connections to reality? You know, the social media, the LinkedIn, you know, what is it that you do to connect with people?

[00:18:53] I tell you what I've been really surprised about is I thought since my background is in consumer products, that it was going to take me forever to kind of get to know the space network and meet the right people there. Reaching out and asking. You know, I've used LinkedIn to get the word out, but when I first started out saying I'm making a huge career change, I'm going into the space sector, something I've been passionate about my whole life. And I would just love an informational interview.

[00:19:22] And every single person wrote back. Not all of them said yes, but they all said either yes or I can't do it, but you should talk to so-and-so. And they made the introduction for me. And so just asking for help is so valuable. And you would be so surprised at how many people are so excited to help you. So there's that.

[00:19:42] Of course, I went to many conferences and you have to get over the fear factor of like, oh, I'm mingling in this, you know, after networking event, after the conference and not sure what. Just like walk up and say hi, but into a conversation. You know, maybe I wasn't always as graceful as I could have been, but it's so crazy what kind of people you meet, especially when you have a unique story to tell, like what we're doing. And people get to know you.

[00:20:10] And even if they can't help, they know somebody that might be able to, and they'll pass you along. So asking for help or asking for a referral is the fastest way to grow your network. And I got to tell you that people are very open in the space industry versus a lot of other industries. I'm kind of late to the game too. I've only been in space for, I guess, six years now. Twice as long as me.

[00:20:36] And the people in it are not in it to make money. It's not like other industries where they're just trying to crank it out. Right. These are people that really see a vision and it's beyond themselves. Yes. I love that about it. It's beyond themselves. Everyone's an optimist. Everyone's excited about the future and raising humanity all over the planet, not just only for the U.S. or only for a certain country.

[00:21:06] But it's so exciting. And so it's probably the most collaborative industry I've ever seen. Exactly. I mean, like I was telling you, the target doing cotton, you know, that's generating a new cotton seed that can be planted in lots of different countries and aid those countries. Yes. So not many companies are sitting there looking at ways that they can better the earth through space. Mm-hmm. Now, is it 100%?

[00:21:37] No. You're always going to have one or two characters in the pudding, per se. But for the most part, they're very enjoyable and nice people. They really are. They really are. They really are.

[00:21:53] And, you know, what's amazed me, too, is how many companies are using space that not necessarily like Target is, but also in their everyday lives that are making things easier, like tracking your inventory. You know, lots of earth observation, especially like McDonald's and their cattle. I mean, their meat sources. That's an easy way to look at it. So all these ways that space affect, you know, you getting your quarter pounder at the drive-thru.

[00:22:22] I mean, there's space involved in that, right? And so that's what the other exciting thing is trying to help educate the general public about this and making that connection with people, again, that think it's just for Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. It's not. There's so many different careers involved and so many ways it affects your life every day. Hold on to your boosters.

[00:22:44] We will be right back with Sarah Pusho, co-founder and chief executive officer of Space Bridge Partners, after the briefest message from our sponsors. Please like and subscribe to the Space Marketing Podcast so you don't miss a thing. And join me at the University of Alabama Huntsville's The Business of Space Conference on February 23rd to the 25th.

[00:23:10] When we first started talking about space, you held up your phone. And that's one of the disconnects that I see is that people don't realize just how embedded space is in their daily lives.

[00:23:39] You take the cell phone, for example. The camera on it is from space. Everything that you do on it goes through a satellite. Right. From the YouTube to the directions that you get to find your way through traffic, that's all GPS, which is satellite driven. The weather. How many of us are looking at the weather almost a daily thing? Uh-huh.

[00:24:07] We couldn't see the weather coming until the satellites went up in the 60s. It's all driven by space. Emergency services, too, which are so important right now. All satellite driven. Mm-hmm. Being able to see the devastation like in L.A. Yeah. You can see that from space. There's a lot of companies that are looking at being able to fire spot. Mm-hmm. Ways that you can react quickly on a satellite.

[00:24:37] So human trafficking, illegal fishing. I mean, it's endless how much stuff is from space that's in our life. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. What is the most exciting thing that you see in the future in, say, like the next 10 to 20 years? Because you're banking your whole career change on the next 10 to 20 years in this exciting industry. So what gets you going the most?

[00:25:07] Wow. It's hard to narrow that down to one specific thing. I think in the next, especially 20 years, we're going to discover things that we can't even conceptualize today. So I think that's one exciting thing is where is this all going to lead to? I think another is we're going to learn, we're going to be up close with, you know, Venus, with Mars, with the moon, with places that, you know, even 50 years, 60 or 70 years ago, we didn't think would be possible. Right?

[00:25:35] I guess 50 years ago we did because we were going to the moon. But yeah, I mean, just up close and personal, like I mentioned, taking pictures of the Venusian atmosphere. How cool is that? And, you know, we just had a probe go to closest to the sun that we've ever been, Parker Solar Probe, right? What other things like that are going to be happening in 20 years from now? And I think that right now there's going to be technology that is going to be mind-blowing to us today.

[00:26:02] I mean, like you mentioned, our cell phones, that's pretty new. They're what, 30, 40 years old, really, for mass market, 30, 40 years old at the most? Well, smartphones only been around since 2008. Right. So imagine, imagine how fast we're going to speed up innovation and technology, especially, that's one thing that excites me when you said, what excites you every morning?

[00:26:24] It is knowing how collaborative, just like we talked about, knowing how collaborative the space sector is and how, because of that, how sped up the innovation process is in that sector. And the exciting things that come out of that on accident that help people on Earth. That's what really gets me going every day. We can't even imagine the kinds of innovations that are coming our way. And that's what's exciting. I can't wait to see what happens.

[00:26:50] And I really think that with this next administration, we're going to see space really kind of get a punch in the arm as far as how far we're going to take it and how quickly. Definitely. Yeah. I think there's another moonshot coming soon, I think. Well, we already had so many very cool things on the docket to happen before 2030. You know, we have all these moon landers and all these Artemis program.

[00:27:19] And so all this stuff already slated, you know, space stations and all that. So, but now, you know, you give it a little bit of adrenaline and I just. It's so exciting. I think it's going to be a fast forward. Yep. Those next four years are going to be a fast forward for the space sector for sure. Yeah. Even if you don't take the administration and count the things that were already planned by 2030 is just, you know, world changing.

[00:27:49] Yep. Yes. Very exciting. My co-founder makes fun of me because I say exciting so much, but I've never been this excited. It is exciting. You know, it's a, that's, it makes you excited to get up in the morning for sure. It does. The last question we have for you today is what thoughts do you want to leave our audience with today? What do you want them to mull around and, and say, hmm, I never thought of it that way.

[00:28:18] I think the biggest thing I'm alluding to a little, a little bit of what we said earlier, but. You can be involved in the space sector. I think more than, you know, I mean, we need interior designers. We need architects. We need chefs. We need biochemists. There's so many careers, even law careers, law enforcement careers. So many things that we either need immediately or when we establish, you know, a base somewhere

[00:28:48] off planet. How do we govern that base? What does education look like? What does religion look like? You know, what kind of institutions are set up there? Whether you're a preacher or a chef or a school teacher, all of these professions are going to be needed if they're not needed already. And I think perfect examples of those are, there's a funny anecdote I heard recently about a space capsule that was sent up a couple of decades ago that was obviously built by an

[00:29:16] engineer that knew that we needed to do this, this, and this, and these buttons needed to be there and all that. How does a person fit in there? Oh, I guess they're going to have to scrunch up a little bit. And like, it was super uncomfortable for the astronaut. And so now with being forward thinking companies like Vast and other companies that are creating these human habitats, what does that look like to get all the necessary engineering in there and the experimentation and all that, but still have it be comfortable enough that

[00:29:42] humans can live off planet on the international space station or on another, you know, the moon or Mars comfortably. So interior designers and architects and things like that with the forward thinking and engineering a few steps ahead. So it's future-proofing the new inventions. I think that's, that's the thing. So just knowing that if you're interested in space and you, you don't think you can get involved, you probably can and just start asking around and lean into your, to your passion if you're passionate about it.

[00:30:10] I mean, if I could do it, certainly anybody else can. So it's, that's, that's what I'm excited about. And that's advice I would have for people. Yeah, I love that. And it was that moment that I was sitting there at the Atlantis exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center, where I realized that I could take both my passions, my passion for space and my passion for marketing and combine them. Right. It was a moment for me and I've never looked back.

[00:30:39] I would like to tell everybody out there, yes, space does need you. And maybe your job doesn't exist at the moment, but it may soon. Mine didn't exist when I was in college. My job never existed either. And I think I'm the only one that currently has it because I think we're the only company doing this. So it's definitely, there's jobs we don't even know. Just like we were talking about the innovations we don't know are coming up, coming our way. We don't, there's a bunch of jobs that are going to be happening that we don't even know

[00:31:08] about, but yes, you can do it. If there's a, there's an angle for you, no matter what you're doing now, there's an angle for you. And you can make it happen. Yes. You know, if, if you have a passion for something and you want to combine it with space, maybe it doesn't exist now, but you can make it happen. Don't be afraid to ask for help. That's another big piece of advice that I've learned too. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

[00:31:32] A special thanks to Sarah Pusho, co-founder and chief executive officer of Space Bridge Partners for sharing her journey to space. Please like, and subscribe to the Space Marketing Podcast to help us get the word out about this incredible industry of space. And don't forget to join me at the University of Alabama Huntsville's, the Business of Space Conference on February 23rd through the 25th.

[00:31:59] I hope that you have found this podcast useful for your journey as you reach for the stars.

[00:32:32] You may know you're listening to this show along the Marketing Podcast Network, but did you know there are other great shows on MPN to help your business? Hennika Watkes-Porter hosts the Entrepreneurial You, empowering entrepreneurs with insights on leadership, business, and success. Hennika, tell listeners what to expect from your show. So we provide innovative business strategies and practical solutions to common entrepreneurial challenges. And where can people subscribe?

[00:32:56] Find us at HennikaWatkesPorter.com, as well as the Marketing Podcast Network at marketingpodcasts.net or search for it wherever you get your podcasts. You heard her, go subscribe. This podcast is heard along the Marketing Podcast Network. For more great marketing podcasts, visit marketingpodcasts.net.