

Gravity is not the main obstacle for America’s space business. Government is - JabavuAdams
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11965352

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Prrometheus
Politics is a slow, stupid, emotional, and reactionary method of decision-
making.

This is unfortunate as it could hinder the growth of the private space
industry, which is one of the most exciting economic events of the last ten
years.

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fallentimes
Hard work is not the main obstacle for America's small businesses. Government
is.

~~~
davidw
Good as a sound bite, but as an example, what percentage of YC companies have
fallen afoul of government interference problems? What percentage have given
up? And so on for other problems.

I'm guessing that the "government problems" group is relatively small, and
mostly focused on IP issues, which are quite a can of worms but not quite "the
government" vs "businesses". Some businesses use those laws to make their own
money, whether we agree with that or not.

Try Europe sometime if you really want to see government making life
difficult.

In short, I think the main problem most companies face is "making something
people want" and doing so profitably, not "the gubmint".

~~~
fallentimes
It's actually higher than you think, although I do not have exact numbers. I
know for a fact though that some YC companies have died due to passports,
Visas and government paperwork. If as a YC company (or any company really) you
do not file an 83b form within a month of formation you are essentially dead.
This has happened. When I wrote the original post I wasn't even thinking in
terms of IP, but you're probably right there.

Europe's government, in terms of red tape, is an abortion too, but that
doesn't mean America's is good. They're both infuriating and full of
subsidized bureaucrats and arcane processes.

TicketStumbler Inc is actually the third company I've started. In each case,
the amount of redundant paperwork I've had to do is astronomical. Last year,
for my smallest company, I spent more time on paperwork and tax filing than I
did actually running the company. Mark Cuban has a great post on this here
(ignore the tax free stuff): <http://is.gd/16pS>

I'm not suggesting government elimination or anything crazy like that, but
rather complete streamlining and optimization (I should be able to do 99% of
the TPS online). Additionally, while I agree that "make something people" is
problem number uno, the government is doing their part to make sure that this
doesn't happen.

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davidw
It would be pretty hard to argue against streamlining, and reducing the
complexity of the process. If I recall correctly, the ease of opening new
businesses is proportional to the wealth of countries.

It would also be difficult to say that things are anywhere near perfect in the
US. Still, I just don't see it, ultimately, as one of the biggest problems
compared to other things that cause businesses to fail.

Good point about the immigration stuff: it's something I personally _loathe_ ,
having faced the sharp end of the stick myself in Italy. It's probably
something more prevalent in Y combinator than most small businesses, though.

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hugh
Perhaps, but gravity comes a close second.

~~~
serhei
To keep it succinct, gravity keeps you from getting your crap into space,
while government keeps you from building useful crap in the first place.

~~~
stcredzero
Gravity is not such a huge barrier. Even 3rd rate governments can overcome it.

Iraq, I think in the late 80's, was planning to build a "supergun" that was
capable of launching rocket-assisted payloads into orbit for only $600/kg.

The prototype was to cost $25 million, which is a drop in the bucket for a
government like ours.

I $600/kg starts getting you towards the range where building Solar Power
Satellites become economical. (Said to be $400-500/kg.)

It's not the physics that's the problem. It's the will to do it and the
finances!

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orib
Although you can get stuff into space with a supergun, getting stuff into
space without smashing it to bits from the acceleration is a good deal harder.

As for solar power satellites, if you're talking about powering earthbound
stuff with them, the cost of getting the satellites up doesn't seem to me like
it'd be the major issue. I'm not an expert, but from what I do know, the
bigger problem would be getting the power back down to earth efficiently and
cheaply.

~~~
stcredzero
1) Building electronic components that can survive 10,000 G is routine.

2) You could send up bulk materials, like thin film collectors, sheet metal,
rolls of wire.

3) Getting the power back down is a solved problem. Microwaves do it with 50%
efficiency. This cost is already factored into various economic analysis of
SPS.

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ryanwaggoner
Where's the space elevator?

