Perhaps more the any other avenue, the best opportunity to seize upon open market opportunity rests in the significant changes that will occur to corporate governance and finance. In the emerging “New Space” market, this likely will be manifest as increased levels of M&A as well as the formation of new partnerships. What kind of market analysis should predicate the decision to move toward a merger, partnership or joint venture? What factors, such as customer base, geographic expansion, diversification of products and services, or the acquisition of novel technology, make for ideal marriages between companies? Although lacking the allure of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances are other alternatives.
Randy Segal
With 18 years of in-house general counsel experience, Randy Segal brings an individual perspective to every matter she handles, both as your outside counsel and as someone who has walked in your shoes. With a focus on satellite, wireless, drone, and technology transactions, Randy provides commercially practical solutions in industries where technological change is ever-present. Randy’s practice often involves multi-level chess games, where every move needs to be considered from a multitude of angles to be successful.
As a result, Randy’s practice is reflected in three segments. First, as co-leader of the Space and Satellite practice, Randy has handled many types of transactions, from day-to-day matters to the most complex international transactions for industry operators, investors, and technology providers. She has been involved in taking companies public, advising on acquisitions, divestitures, and complex cross-border joint ventures, as well as large satellite system development, deployments and funding.
Second, as an advisor to technology investors and their portfolio companies, Randy has advised on transactions focused on big data analytics, IT, wireless systems, spectrum licenses, environmental analytics, wireless proximity analysis, drone technology, terrestrial positioning, and other innovative technologies.
Third, Randy provides “strand of pearls” advice to global clients, working seamlessly with our international offices to develop familiar, comfortable and “right-sized” solutions. Randy’s extensive cross-border experience has resulted in an extensive tool-kit of resolutions for the most complex of legal regimes. Randy’s transactional and advisory experience is both deep and broad, working throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and on the most complex of international programs and legal issues.
Tess Hatch
Tess is an investor at Bessemer Venture Partners primarily focused on frontier tech, specifically commercial space, drones, and autonomous vehicles. She currently serves as board director for Phantom Auto and board observer for Impossible Aerospace, Iris Automation, Rocket Lab, Spire, Velo3D, and others. Previously, she was a mission manager at SpaceX where she worked with the government on integrating its payloads with the Falcon9 rocket. Tess earned a Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics engineering from Stanford. She is passionate about space exploration and imagines a future where we all travel to space. She hopes to make the trip herself soon.
Beckett A. Jackson
Beckett Jackson is an investing director specializing in early-stage investments in space and connectivity companies for an organization that is shaping the future for Boeing and the aerospace industry. Boeing HorizonX explores opportunities emerging aerospace applications, leveraging nontraditional partnerships and a venture fund that invests in startups focused on aerospace and industrial innovations.
Jackson manages the portfolio of investments and leads transactions for a team focused on identifying early-stage companies that are developing revolutionary concepts around the world. He brings to the role a wealth of experience in market strategy, corporate innovation, new product development, and sales. Throughout his career at Boeing, he has led enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, and engaged international customers to develop advanced prototype solutions in the areas of autonomous systems and mission systems. His prior experience includes aerospace and defense consulting and foreign military sales for the U.S. Government.
Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in national security from Georgetown University.
Bing Kung
Bing has over 15 years of experience in communications technologies and a passion for building innovative products solving hard problems. Bing is a product manager at Facebook Connectivity, focused on connectivity solutions to connect the un(der)connected. Prior to joining Facebook, he led successful product development projects at Inmarsat, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Thales Communications. Bing holds an MS in Systems Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University and BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Jeff Matthews
Jeff is a specialist leader at Deloitte Consulting LLP with more than 18 years of private and public sector experience focused on finance, enterprise architecture transformation, technology commercialization, and market strategy. Currently, he is a leader in Deloitte’s Government & Public Sector Space Industry practice where he provides subject matter expertise on commercial space technology trends, industry strategies, and launch systems economics.
Before joining Deloitte, Jeff served as the director of venture strategy and research for the Space Frontier Foundation where he was also a board member. His previous experience as an advisor in $600M+ of venture capital raises for early stage technology companies, commercializing government technologies, and deep insight into the commercial space market allows him to bring a unique perspective to government and commercial clients. Jeff has contributed expertise and analysis on the space industry to Reuters, Forbes, NBC News, Discovery News, The Wharton School, the Open Group, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Matthew O’Connell
Mr. O’Connell is a venture capitalist and consultant. He is a Managing Partner with Seraphim Global Space Fund. Seraphim, based in London, was the first venture capital firm to focus exclusively on space (which they define to include satellites, drones, UAVs and supporting technology).
Mr. O’Connell founded GeoEye, a leading global provider of satellite and aerial imagery and digital mapping information, in 2006 by merging 2 satellite imaging companies, Orbimage and Space Imaging. Under his leadership from the spring of 2003, GeoEye grew from 60 employees producing $9 million of revenue per year, with an equity value of zero and total enterprise value of $33 million, to 760 employees producing $360 million (2012), with a total enterprise value around $1.3 billion and an equity value of approximately $850 million. In January 2013, he concluded its sale to DigitalGlobe. GeoEye was publicly traded (GEOY).
Mr. O’Connell has been recognized as a thought leader in the satellite, digital mapping, and intelligence industries. He was elected to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s Board of Directors in 2007 and served as Chair of the Audit and Finance committee for several years. He has served on many Government and industry advisory panels.
From October 2015 to July 2016, Mr. O’Connell was CEO of OneWeb, a start-up focused on using low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites to provide broadband and telecom services around the world. During that time, he set up basic the company’s basic structure (financial, legal and governance systems, organization structure, and reporting systems, program management structure, etc.), created a Go To Market Plan and Business Model and set up the company’s Headquarters office. He restructured the company’s near-term financial obligations.
Mr. O’Connell has extensive experience in communications management and finance. He has participated in transactions representing billions of dollars of value, including IPOs, LBOs, restructurings, acquisitions, and financings. Prior to joining GeoEye, Mr. O’Connell held executive positions Crest Advisors, a New York-based venture capital firm focused on telecom infrastructure, Sony Worldwide Networks, and Cablevision Systems Corporation. He began his career as a mergers and acquisitions attorney on Wall Street.
During 2018, Mr. O’Connell was a member of the board of two satellite companies, Spaceflight Industries (Seattle, WA) and Globecomm Systems (Hauppauge, NY).
Prior to his professional career, Mr. O’Connell worked for two years as a musician. Mr. O’Connell holds an LLB from Univ. Of Virginia School of Law and a B.A. (Classics) from Trinity College, Hartford, CT, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.