Catalyst Accelerator: To Win Big, You Sometimes Have To Take Big Risks.

To quote Bill Gates,”To win big, you sometimes have to take big risks.”

There was so much to get motivated about during the fifth week of the Hybrid Data Movement (#CAHDM) when Adam Velie, Opportunity Pipeline Manager at Booz Allen Hamilton, kicked off the meeting with an ‘incredible’ briefing. Velie donated his time to speak to the cohort about business development for leaders. “Build a pipeline, work the pipeline. Every day is a business development day!” Doug Cameron, President of FSO Source, also donated his time to speak to the cohort over the lunch hour about facility clearances.

The cohort spent one evening attending a fireside chat with Cecilia Harry from the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC. She spoke to the fellow about the military and space community within Colorado Springs and what Colorado Springs offers to small businesses. Cecilia mentioned, “I had a wonderful experience getting introduced to this cohort. I am impressed by the services and products these companies are developing, and I think it’s incredible that these companies are seeing the value of being in the Colorado Springs region for this experience! Don’t forget that there are so many competitive advantages to building your companies here, including access to business development contacts and a supportive community that would welcome you and actively work with you to help you succeed in this market.”

Subject matter experts donated their time to speak with the cohort during week three. One of these experts included Phil Schmidt from Ball Aerospace. Phil is part of the Catalyst Accelerator family and has been a Commercial Sherpa for several cohorts. Ball Aerospace is a Sherpa for the cohort company, Pixspan. He offered some excellent advice to the affiliate by saying, “Have a solid business plan. Know your market, know your product, and knowledge you will make money at it. Remember, the government/military has deep pockets, but they don’t buy much. This is especially true for the Space Force. Don’t plan on making money with volume.”

Pat Shore of QuSecure, Inc. shared his thoughts about attending the accelerator and said, “Visiting the Catalyst Accelerator for the fifth week of our cohort was a phenomenal learning experience, and we are already putting the knowledge and connections we gained to use. We had group discussions led by experts on government contracting, security clearances, and cyber threats to national security. During our white-boarding session, the cohort members collaborated on solving real-world problems – it was a great way to understand everyone’s technologies and visualize how we can all work together. The Warfighter Feedback Forum was an incredible opportunity to understand the pains and needs of our end-users; it was valuable feedback that we are incorporating into the Customer Experience strategy. The Catalyst Accelerator has been a great experience, and I can’t wait to go back and catch up with everyone.”

For more information about the catalyst accelerator, click here.

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