Matthias Spott

Developing new economic perspectives by leveraging deep tech to master the challenges facing society.

Matthias Spott is an aerospace engineer by background – and one of Europe's first NewSpace pioneers. Since 2014, in the face of many adversities, he has been developing and executing the business plan of using an European constellation of hundreds of satellites to provide high-speed, low-latency Internet to industry customers around the world. It was quite a bumpy ride.

Now, he uses his knowledge and experience to prepare for the next wave of NewSpace and the use of other deep technologies. In particular, he helps his fellow entrepreneurs set ambitious yet achievable goals and stay on course in uncharted waters – often on rough seas and in challenging conditions.

Since his childhood in northern Germany, Matthias has been a passionate sailor. Trips on the North Sea, Baltic, Atlantic and Mediterranean have left a lasting impression on him, shaping his work as an advisor, leader, and entrepreneur.

"Being an entrepreneur is like being a sailor – you can't just give up when the seas gets rough."

A seasoned advisor

Matthias Spott has worked for the consulting firms McKinsey and Roland Berger, most recently for the latter as a Principal in the High-tech Competence Center for Aerospace, Defense and Security, and Renewable Energy. As a consultant, he has honed his ability to think strategically, approach problems analytically and work methodically. His skills in breaking down complexity and making it manageable serve him well today – as does his ability to see the bigger picture and communicate it to others.

An inspiring leader

Matthias Spott was a reserve officer in the German Air Force during the tumultuous years 1989 to 1991, when the Berlin Wall came down and Germany reunited. His experience as a leader in times of great change taught him the importance of being a role model – and behaving accordingly – if you want to take your crew along with you, motivate them and guide them through stormy waters. Over the years, Matthias has put his skills as a leader to the test, improving and refining them, whether participating in a student entrepreneurship initiative, following a management trainee program at DASA (the German predecessor of European Aerospace, Defense and Space company EADS, now Airbus), being an executive at General Electric Aircraft Engines or working as Co-CEO at European technology and science service provider IABG, in charge of more than 1,000 employees.

A forward-looking entrepreneur

Looking back, it is clear that Matthias Spott used each stage of his career to prepare himself for the ultimate challenge of setting out on his own venture. Becoming an entrepreneur is rather like becoming a skipper: Whether learning about a specific industry, working abroad, or building and expanding your network, you become an entrepreneur by being, by experiencing, by understanding. Then, when the right moment comes along, the key is to spot opportunities and act on them quickly, while not neglecting the detail of the implementation. For Matthias, that moment came in 2015, when he set up his satellite business eightyLEO. He remains a passionate business builder to this day.

Inspire

"Let's use the next wave of NewSpace – to build a better life on earth."

NewSpace is no longer new. At least, not since Elon Musk's SpaceX. That makes it all the more important for Europe to be prepared for the next wave – not to be swept under by it, but to ride it! Matthias Spott provides support in four key areas.

Matthias communicates his vision of a responsible, sustainable use of space: He inspires, explains and advocates – in lectures, in publications, at universities and business schools.

Matthias contributes to the development of a NewSpace ecosystem in Europe: He looks ahead, promotes and pushes for a functioning technology, commercial and regulatory framework – and brings founders, experts and decision-makers together.

Matthias is building a platform for effective investments in NewSpace as an entrepreneur in the medium and long term: He devises business models, creates and refines applications – and in so doing finds new ways into the private space industry.

Matthias helps advance key technologies in the area of NewSpace: He invests, promotes and helps with implementation – for example, through his involvement with POLARIS spacecraft.

Explain

"If you want to set the course, you have to be on deck."

Speaker & expert

Matthias Spott has been through a lot on his journey into NewSpace – sometimes almost being forced to eject, when what started as a small tech startup venture almost became a global war of satellites. He uses this experience to encourage other fellow founders and entrepreneurs to also embark on an exciting journey, be courageous and stay on course. It also informs his regular appearances in public and private forums.

Matthias gives lectures, appears at events and conferences and speaks at universities and business schools. Leading media outlets have reported on him and his adventures. Most recently, in January 2023, ARD – the joint organization of Germany’s regional public-service broadcasters – featured him in a 45-minute TV documentary about the race for power in space.

Media

Advice

“Challenging waters
call for experienced pilots.”

Advisor

Matthias Spott is not always to be found standing at the helm: When called upon, he is happy to draw on his broad experience and specialist knowledge and act as an advisor, too – as a navigator and pilot, pointing out the best channels, warning about shallow waters, avoiding collision hazards and assessing risks.

Matthias can join you on board for a set amount of time or with a specific job in mind, if required. He offers skillful support to companies in a wide range of industries, from investment firms to strategy and management consultancies, as well as corporates.

Clients can benefit from his expertise in different areas and at different levels – from specific knowhow to comprehensive knowledge transfer, from designing and executing studies to performing due diligence. And, of course, he is the ideal person to contact on matters of strategic alignment and operational setup in the area of NewSpace – especially when you need to secure the buy-in of people for whom space and its economic exploitation is terra incognita.

Active

"The more ambitious the crew and their goals, the more important to master the conditions."

entrepreneur

Matthias Spott knows first-hand how crucial environmental conditions are, and how important it is to be properly equipped to face them. That's as true for entrepreneurs as it is for sailors – especially when you start out with a disruptive new venture in a conservative market.

With his own company, eightyLEO, Matthias drove the creation of a European satellite mega-constellation. He started this endeavor in 2014/15 along with the “Big Boys” of Silicon Valley, long before anyone else in Europe was thinking about it. The plan was to meet the growing demand of an increasingly interconnected industrial world for fast Internet, available globally. In the process, he and his team succeeded not only in securing access to radio frequencies – hotly in demand and the scarce resource – but also building a reliable, competitive, cutting-edge technological and commercial basis. Surprisingly, the biggest challenge turned out to be finding trustworthy partners – who were honest, transparent and interested in the ultimate success of the joint journey.

Perseverance, clarity of vision, flexibility, the ability to stay calm – the skills that Matthias has learned while riding out storms, he now passes on to crews of bold young entrepreneurs, whom he helps finance and shape, either in the background or, in certain stages of their development, from the bridge.

With his involvement in Polaris Spaceplanes he is initially focusing on future space transportation – because the rocket technology still in use today, eighty years after its invention by Wernher von Braun, will not be able to meet the requirements of tomorrow's space mobility in low-earth and lunar orbits. As with satellite constellations, space transportation will be disruptive, and it will face huge technical, regulatory and not least geopolitical challenges. Matthias strives to help POLARIS and other such projects develop fast and without making unnecessary deviations.

investor

As a sailor and an entrepreneur, Matthias Spott likes to be on the bridge, listening to and interpreting radio and radar signals. When he spots a promising venture in the field of NewSpace or other deep tech, he sometimes chooses to get involved as an investor – as was the case with Axiom Space, a company that builds the first privately-funded commercial space station in low-earth orbit.

In such cases, unlike in his work as an entrepreneur, he tends to keep a low profile in terms of content and strategy, still gaining insights into critical topics and demonstrating his commitment to the field.

Contact

Planning a journey into space – or simply aiming for the sky? Preparing your business for lift-off or already on your way?

If you like to talk about a challenging mission or a promising project or if you want to simply get in touch: Matthias Spott will be glad.

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