Just hooked another sponsor. I'll have the announcement around Wednesday.
One of the other teams remarked that there are really two projects involved in the LLC. The first is building the rocket. The second is programming the software to make it fly. I think he missed a step: getting the thing funded.
Yes, you can pay out of your own pocket. I have been. Trust me! If I were single, at my salary, I could pay for this all. However, I am not and other than the very generous paypal drivers we had last fall, all cash has been through and by me. To make up for that, I have been chasing down sponsors. This ahs been an enormous amount of work. Far, far greater than I had anticipated, really. We've had some pretty good successes. In a couple cases, outstanding successes. However, it really is an obscene amount of work to get them. I was asked once by a member of another team how I was able to get my sponsors. He'd tried around, iirc, 8 places to try to get a sponsor. My response is you have gotta keep trying. I get maybe a 10% hit rate, That means, approximately, since I have 5 and shortly 6 sponsors, the number of presentations and pitches I've made is around 60. Sixty! In the past year and a half.
Oh. and I still have a family with youngins.
Oh, and a demanding day job.
And a rocket to build.
So, something like the LLC is really three projects in my not so humble opinion: bend, code, and beg.
All three are full time jobs.
Is it any surprise I get four hours of sleep per night? heh.
So, when you do get a sponsor to sign up, it's quite a rush. Last night, I freaked out my family big time. I was at the laptop checking Team Phoenicia email when I read the one from the new sponsor. My spontaneous and, frankly, overly loud "YES!" made both my wife and daughter jump through the ceiling. I apologized and they watched me warily the rest of the evening as I wandered around with a BFG. (grin, Jeromy, grin)
Moments like these make for great morale boosters.
Now, break over, back to machining. There's so much more to do.
One of the other teams remarked that there are really two projects involved in the LLC. The first is building the rocket. The second is programming the software to make it fly. I think he missed a step: getting the thing funded.
Yes, you can pay out of your own pocket. I have been. Trust me! If I were single, at my salary, I could pay for this all. However, I am not and other than the very generous paypal drivers we had last fall, all cash has been through and by me. To make up for that, I have been chasing down sponsors. This ahs been an enormous amount of work. Far, far greater than I had anticipated, really. We've had some pretty good successes. In a couple cases, outstanding successes. However, it really is an obscene amount of work to get them. I was asked once by a member of another team how I was able to get my sponsors. He'd tried around, iirc, 8 places to try to get a sponsor. My response is you have gotta keep trying. I get maybe a 10% hit rate, That means, approximately, since I have 5 and shortly 6 sponsors, the number of presentations and pitches I've made is around 60. Sixty! In the past year and a half.
Oh. and I still have a family with youngins.
Oh, and a demanding day job.
And a rocket to build.
So, something like the LLC is really three projects in my not so humble opinion: bend, code, and beg.
All three are full time jobs.
Is it any surprise I get four hours of sleep per night? heh.
So, when you do get a sponsor to sign up, it's quite a rush. Last night, I freaked out my family big time. I was at the laptop checking Team Phoenicia email when I read the one from the new sponsor. My spontaneous and, frankly, overly loud "YES!" made both my wife and daughter jump through the ceiling. I apologized and they watched me warily the rest of the evening as I wandered around with a BFG. (grin, Jeromy, grin)
Moments like these make for great morale boosters.
Now, break over, back to machining. There's so much more to do.
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