2023 LA First Look — Forging the Next Frontier of Space & Beyond

Fika hosted its 8th annual LA First Look Retreat on May 4th after a sad three-year hiatus. It was incredible to be back in-person at the historic Ebell for what turned out to be perhaps the best First Look yet, as many proclaimed this to be one of the top tech events in Los Angeles.

The day began with main stage keynote discussions with esteemed industry leaders touching on a wide range of hot-button topics.

Moderated by Fika’s General Partner, Eva Ho, the space panel spotlighted the career journeys of Tom Mueller, Co-Founder of SpaceX and CEO of Impulse Space, and Shahin Farshchi, General Partner at Lux Capital, as well as their thoughts on AI, space exploration, and advice for entrepreneurs. Tom gave us a glimpse into his early conversations with Elon Musk and SpaceX’s first successful launch. Reflecting on the influence of his father, Tom shared how his humble beginnings and early passion for building and engineering led him to meet Elon through an amateur rocketry club, and together they decided to move forward with the idea of SpaceX, pioneering a new age of spaceflight. Tom credits Elon’s eternal optimism for the company’s achievements, as it allowed them to tackle seemingly impossible challenges.

“I think optimism was the key to our success.” — Tom Mueller (Impulse Space)

Shahin discussed how his passion for cars and computers led him to venture capital and investing in frontier tech. He emphasized the importance for founders to think big and articulate a clear vision in order to attract investors and gain support for their ideas. And, Shahin acknowledged that sometimes the best ideas come from those who challenge the status quo, and that venture capitalists should be open to these challenges and new pieces of information.

“I feel like the best ideas come from people who are challenging the status quo and what you and I might think is not venture or not interesting right now.” — Shahin Farshchi (Lux Capital)

The combination of optimism and thinking big has been instrumental in the success of companies like SpaceX and others in the frontier tech space. Now, with the rapid growth of AI, due to increased public awareness, advances in compute power, and the concentration of talent working on this technology, groundbreaking advancements are on the horizon.