Web 2.5 - Tejpaul Bhatia, Axiom Space: Creating Off-Earth Economies in Space

Tejpaul Bhatia, Axiom Space: Creating Off-Earth Economies in Space

11/08/22 • 30 min

What if we could make space travel free (well, free-ish)? What if something like NFTs could create a store of value that subsidizes future missions to space? What if NFT-enabled communities, not the government, could decide what goes up, who goes up, and why we go up to space?

On this episode of Web 2.5, host Dana Hork sits down Tejpaul Bhatia, the Chief Revenue Officer of Axiom Space, a privately owned space infrastructure company that is building and operating the world's first privately owned commercial space station. Tej and his team are tasked with figuring out how to commercialize space, creating new business models that pioneer what it means to have an off-earth economy. Including how we can leverage web3 to get there.

And they are well on their way. Axiom's first mission to space in April of this year, Ax-1, marked the first all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. And during the mission, Axiom minted the very first NFT from the International Space Station.

Tej will talk with us today about how the business of space meets the blockchain and the future he sees leveraging web3 to help commercialize space.
Show Notes:

0:00 Show Intro

1:04 Tejpaul Bhatia’s Intro & Career Background

3:00 What is Axiom Space

3:48 What does generating revenue from space mean?

5:33 Examples of business models in space

5:58 Justifying the costs of space & how NFTs can help

8:40 About Axiom Space’s first NFT collection with the Ax-1 Mission & minting the first NFT from the International Space Station

11:44 Learnings & what Axiom proved from the first collection

15:05 Why does community need to be built in web3?

19:42 How Tejpaul resourced the project with expertise and advisory support

22:48 Details about the next mint

24:44 Advice for other project founders

28:30 Resources to learn more

Axiom Space, Website: www.axiomspace.com

Tejpaul Bhatia, Twitter: @tejpaul

Show Website:
https://www.web2point5.io
Subscribe to Show Newsletter:
https://newsletter.web2point5.io/subscribe
Show Credits:
Dana Hork (Founder, Host, Producer)
Ron Passaro (Co-Producer/Editor)
Seton Rossini (Brand Design/Cover Art)
DISCLAIMER: This show is strictly educational. None of this is financial, tax, or investment advice — and not a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please always do your own research. For important disclosures, see web2point5.io/disclosures.

Tej will talk with us today about how the business of space meets the blockchain and the future he sees leveraging web3 to help commercialize space.
Show Notes:

0:00 Show Intro

1:04 Tejpaul Bhatia’s Intro & Career Background

3:00 What is Axiom Space

3:48 What does generating revenue from space mean?

5:33 Examples of business models in space

5:58 Justifying the costs of space & how NFTs can help

8:40 About Axiom Space’s first NFT collection with the Ax-1 Mission & minting the first NFT from the International Space Station

11:44 Learnings & what Axiom proved from the first collection

15:05 Why does community need to be built in web3?

19:42 How Tejpaul resourced the project with expertise and advisory support

22:48 Details about the next mint

24:44 Advice for other project founders

28:30 Resources to learn more

Axiom Space, Website: www.axiomspace.com

Tejpaul Bhatia, Twitter: @tejpaul

Previous Episode

Matt Smolin, Hang: Powering Brand Loyalty Programs On-Chain

What if there was a much simpler, cheaper, and more effective way for brands to reward and engage loyal customers?
In a world where the cost of acquiring a customer is rising, many brands are focused on retaining and enhancing relationships with their existing customer base.
But building a loyalty program is challenging. It's expensive to build from scratch, and inherited legacy systems can be clunky. Yes, you can send more marketing emails and SMS messages, but competing for attention is hard. In-person events and personalized customer outreach are great, but they are also expensive and challenging to scale.
But what if in the background, the liquidity and interoperability offered by NFTs meant that brands could create loyalty programs that are both better for consumers and better for brands.
On this episode, host Dana Hork sits down with Matt Smolin, CEO of Hang, to discuss how Hang is addressing these challenges by leveraging NFTs to help brands drive customer retention and lifetime value with simple-to-use, no-code tools.
Matt talks about his own career, how he pivoted his ticket-gated business into a token-gated one, why he's focused on selling into brands, how Hang works, his thoughts on how NFTs will transform loyalty programs, and more.
DISCLOSURE: This podcast episode was NOT sponsored by Hang, and no payment or consideration was provided. However, for full disclosure, I did want to share that between the recording and release of this episode, Hang did sponsor one edition of our weekly Web 2.5 newsletter. For more information, web2point5.io/disclosures.

Next Episode

Zeneca, ZenLabs: Building the “McKinsey of Web3”

How DO people learn web3? And what would it take to help educate the next billion users (and more)?
This week’s episode is the first show in a two-episode series with Zeneca, one of the leading builders, influencers, and educators in web3.
This week is an in-depth, behind-the-scenes interview exploring Zeneca’s personal journey into web3, his success as a content creator and project founder, and how he’s now transforming his organically built community into a full-blown company called ZenLabs. He’s aiming to build, as he calls it, the “McKinsey of Web3,” helping to educate and onboard billions of new users into web3 through a broad portfolio of ventures.
Next week will be a special educational episode where “Zeneca explains it all.” Host Dana Hork will ask Zeneca to help define and explain a series of terms -- everything from what are NFTs, to what is the blockchain, to what is web3, and more. It’s perfect for anyone new to the space trying to learn -- and it’s great for experts seeking simple-to-use language to describe this all to others.
Show Notes:
0:00 Two-episode series overview
1:30 Show intro
3:00 Zeneca’s intro, his 1st career as a professional poker player, buying his first crypto
6:23 Zeneca's early interest in NFTs & owning digital assets
7:40 Zeneca’s first NFTs
8:38 Feeling lost and confused buying his first NFTs (just like the rest of us!)
9:49 Leaving poker behind for NFTs
10:57 Beginning to write
11:57 Creating content & the origins of his NFT-enabled community ZenAcademy
15:37 How to foster community with a broad range of expertise in the community & the tier structure of ZenAcademy going forward
17:58 What makes a successful community
19:23 What is ZenMedia and who is Zeneca trying to reach and with what message
21:04 What content is resonating on each social media platform
22:50 Advisory services and who reaches out and when does he say yes
24:00 Consulting and a vision for building the "McKinsey of web3"
25:59 What NFTs does Zeneca collect and why
27:40 What is generative art
30:29 Why will ZenLabs be successful (among others) in onboarding the next billion users into web3
32:43 Is Zeneca surprised by his success and growth plus the benefits of delegating to his team
34:31 Leadership lessons in scaling his company
36:06 Zeneca's values
37:57 A conversation on bringing goodness into the industry
39:49 A question not often asked -- what are the downsides to all of this
41:34 The Web 2.5 world view plus planning for the worst & hoping for the best
43:31 A slogan to live by -- “Good people + Good technology + Good intentions => Good outcomes”
44:15 Shilling ZenAcademy, 30 Days of NFTs
45:25 Closing