It was another wonderful week for the Catalyst Accelerator’s Defensive Cyber Operations for Space (#CADCO) cohort all thanks to ISSAC, LLC, the Session Two Sponsor! Thank you for your support, ISSAC, LLC! The Catalyst Accelerator team feels so delighted to have spent the last two weeks with this group and we look forward to reuniting with them again in May.
Monday morning, April 10th, started off with a bang! The cohort had the opportunity to hear from representatives from The Air Force Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities (AF TENCAP). They briefed the cohort on AF TENCAP’s mission-set and where they’re headed in the future. The cohort also received a briefing from Lockheed Martin and later participated in an excellent Fireside Chat with the Honorable Sue Payton who discussed innovation and it’s place within the current DoD landscape.
The Catalyst Accelerator team was thrilled to host Dr. Ben Zweibelson, Col (ret) Miller Belmont, and Nathan Schwagler who presented a US SpaceCom Strategic Innovation Group Use Case to the cohort. The cohort enjoyed this opportunity to hear from each subject matter expert and pepper them with their questions! Later, Thierry Lepoutre, Owner and President of Boostr Consulting LLC, spoke with the cohort about R&D Tax Credits and how small businesses can take advantage of them.
Fifteen subject matter experts donated their time to speak with the cohort during week six. One of these experts included Karri Palmetier. Karri is a Government Contracts Adviser for Small Businesses at Palmetier Law. She gave a briefing to the cohort about SBIR data rights and touched on some unique aspects of government contracting that are important for small businesses to be aware of. “The companies in this cohort embraced the need to understand government rights to technology. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about their technology and discussing strategies for protecting it. The creativeness, enthusiasm, and energy of those participating in each session is the best part of the Accelerator program,” Karri explained.
Throughout week six, Mo Kanwischer worked with each company on their go-to-market strategies, taught them how to deliver a great pitch, and led everyone in a fun and interactive exercise called “Six Thinking Hats”. This activity is a simple, effective parallel thinking process that helps people be more productive, focused, and mindfully involved. It also displays the importance of leaning into the different, sometimes dissenting, personalities on a team.
The cohort had the privilege of hearing from Tim Fowler and his colleagues in a Government Tech Scouts Panel, which mainly focused on how DoD tech scouts interact with small businesses. Additionally, KiMar Gartman, Program Director of the Catalyst Accelerator, filmed short interview-style videos with each cohort company. KiMar asked the companies questions about their journeys as small businesses and where they hope to be in the future. She shared, “One of my favorite activities of the Accelerator is being able to do videos with each company. It is exciting to ask them about what they are doing and to see and hear their excitement as they talk about their mission/vision and where they see their company going. Donald Miller once said, ‘Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.’ Although Donald was talking about musicians, the passion these entrepreneurs have has always inspired me to try to be more creative myself, to step out on the creative ideas I have, and to risk it all to see something new emerge. It’s what entrepreneurship is all about, and when I am around entrepreneurs, I can’t help but to wonder what new endeavor is awaiting its debut within me!”
The week ended with Mike Schmidt, Director of Business Development at Imprimis, Inc., who delivered an informative session on NIST/CMMC Assessment and Compliance for Government Contracts. It was a great close to the second session of the #CADCO cohort!
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 next on-week with this awesome group!
