A former Sun colleague sent me this article (thanks Scott) and I thought it was interesting on a number of fronts.

Risking $15B to build a moon factory to manufacture rocket fuel named after a failed South Pole explorer is simply too much to pass up! Let’s hope these folks have more success than the namesake of the mission, Ernest Shackleton. The quote that pulls it all together for me is “If we have fuel up there at a reasonable price, they will come.” I can’t tell you how many business plans I’ve seen with “build it and they will come” as the plan, and with very few exceptions, each of those companies are now in the “deadpool.”

A VC acquaintance of mine would call investing in this venture “sucker money” – and $15B is alot of it! Dreamers are an important part of progress and you have to aim high if you’re going to break through. But I do have to wonder about this particular idea…..

Good luck Shackleton Energy Company, you’re going to need it.


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