It was another exciting week in the #CADCO Accelerator! As always, thank you to the SMEs and Navigators who support these companies and offer guidance and resources, and THANK YOU to Two Six Technologies for being the Session 3 Sponsor! We are so grateful for each and every one of you, and we look forward to welcoming the cohort companies back for their final week of programming and Demo Day on June 1st!
Programming began on Monday morning, May 8th, with a briefing from Aaron Ressler, the Advanced Industries Partnership Liaison for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). Aaron provided the companies with an overview of his role in the UCCS ecosystem and shared about cybersecurity programs at the university. Dr. Dolores, an expert in creative contracting, then delivered a session on OTAs to the group, which was incredibly informative! Later in the morning, Hark Herold presented to the cohort on how to implement EOS, an amazing program that helps leadership teams “crystallize their vision, gain traction by instilling discipline and accountability, and function as a healthier and more cohesive team.” Monday’s sessions wrapped up with a lunch and learn with Miles Tran, GPS Sustainment Cyber Support, who briefed the companies on what’s happening in his program.
On Tuesday, the cohort heard from Joseph “Dan” Trujillo, the Space Cyber Resiliency Lead and USSF Cyber-SMAX Lead, who spoke to the group about the programs he runs at AFRL/RV. Later, Mr. Shawn Kingsberry presented on what SAIC is up to in Defensive Cyber Operations. Both presentations provided fascinating insight on the current cyber landscape in the government.
Throughout week 10, a heavy emphasis was placed on how to deliver a great pitch, which is especially pertinent at this point in the program as Demo Day is quickly approaching! Mo Kanwischer of Momentum Business Consulting assisted the cohort participants with developing their value propositions and start preparing their pitches for Demo Day. “During the last couple of weeks, we’ve concentrated on compiling all the customer discovery and cohort members’ value propositions to prepare a script for their Demo Day videos. We’ve worked through timing, getting the message articulated just right and practicing the script aloud. What a difference a few months make! It takes a practiced skill to deliver a cogent message about how their products can support the Air Force and Space Force’s mission,” Mo stated.
During the second half of the week, the group heard from several subject matter experts. JaNay Mills spoke about the different consortiums NSTXL manages and generously gifted each company a free 1-year membership. Then, Heather Richman presented on Trusted Capital and Clyde Kebodeaux shared his perspective on the cyber landscape based on his background as the AFRL/IW liaison. The companies also had the pleasure of hearing from Dr. Erich Devendorf, the AFRL/RIGA Cyber Exercise Lead, who shared about what AFRL/RI is doing in cyber. Programming on Thursday ended with a question-and-answer session with Lt Col Johnson, the problem statement sponsor for the #CADCO cohort. Lt Col Johnson explained some of the pain points that the DCO-S office is experiencing and areas where innovative solutions are needed.
Additionally, Joseph Marney of defyDESIGN joined the Accelerator to assist in the filming and creation of the cohort participants’ pitch videos for Demo Day. He explained, “Over the course of two days, all 8 of the cohort companies joined me in a Colorado Springs green screen studio. I have been working with the Catalyst Accelerator since the very first cohort in Spring of 2018. Every year – even through COVID – we’ve worked to improve upon and enhance the company presentations to be more engaging and drive follow-on conversations with their prospective customers. defy DESIGN is now in the intense process of editing the presentations for release prior to Demo Day, and I genuinely enjoy seeing the footage we captured come to life. Congratulations to all of the cohort companies on a job well done.”
The Demo Day video will be released on May 30th. The Accelerator team invites all readers to the live portion of Demo Day which will be on June 1st, 4-7pm MT, at the Catalyst Campus. Interested parties can register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/defensive-cyber-operations-for-space-demo-day-tickets-628594331567
Thank you to each of the subject matter experts who donated their time to speak with the #CADCO cohort and answer their questions. The Catalyst Accelerator team is looking forward to the final on-week with this awesome group!
