#251: Steve Massey, Co-Founder & CEO of Prewitt Ridge, on Partnering with NASA JPL, His Experience at Techstars, Lessons from His Time at SpaceX and Slingshot Aerospace, and Building Collaboration Software for Deep Tech Teams

Steve Massey is co-founder and CEO of Prewitt Ridge, which was founded in 2019 to tackle the largest meta-problem in deep tech: systems engineering. They reduce friction in collaborative design efforts by connecting critical data elements between engineering teams and offering git-like tracking of project-wide changes.

Prior to co-founding Prewitt Ridge, Steve was at Slingshot Aerospace for 2 years where he led the development of their real-time edge analytics pipeline working with USAF and defense contractor customers, and 5 years at SpaceX where he acted in a mission management and integration engineer role for multiple early Falcon 9 launches as well as led the avionics build for their Hyperloop pusher project.

Some of the Topics Covered by Steve Massey in this Episode

• What Prewitt Ridge does and how it got started
• How Steve and his co-founder, Zeke Brechtel, decided to work together on Prewitt Ridge
• The timing behind Steve starting Prewitt Ridge
• How Steve decided on his ideal customer
• Raising funding for Prewitt Ridge and Steve's experience in Techstars
• Partnering with NASA JPL
• How Steve is thinking about customer acquisition for Prewitt Ridge
• The competitive landscape that Prewitt Ridge is operating in
• Building the team behind Prewitt Ridge
• What Steve learned while working at bigger companies like SpaceX and Slingshot Aerospace
• What the communication is like between Steve and his investors
• How Steve recharges
• Where Steve's interest in space came from

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