This Week’s Talent Pools

SpaceX is preparing to launch the largest IPO of all time, with expectations that it could raise more than all U.S. listings in 2024 and 2025 combined. The company reportedly wants to raise around $75B.

  1. Jadon Smith in LA (Stealth)

    1. Role: Senior Engineer @ SpaceX (11 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: CTO @ Mach Industries ($185M from Khosla, Bedrock, Sequoia), Principal Engineer @ Anduril, Co-Founder & VP System Architecture @ Arrivo, Weapons Intelligence Analyst @ CIA, MIT BS, Stanford MS Aerospace

    3. Description: Stealth since 9/24

  2. Thomas J. Ronacher in LA (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: Senior Propulsion Analyst & TPS Engineer @ SpaceX (5.5 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Co-Founder & President @ Freeform ($126M from Founders Fund, NVIDIA, Two Sigma, Boeing, Threshold), VP Hardware Engineering @ Hyperloop One, Thermal System Lead @ Virgin Galactic, UC Berkeley BS, UCLA MS ME

    3. Description: Left Freeform on 6/25

  3. Matt Zipfel in LA (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: Early Team & Director @ SpaceX (14 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Early Team & VP Mechanical Engineering @ Anduril, Engineer @ Boeing, Cornell MEng ME

    3. Description: Left Anduril on 1/25

  4. John Howard in LA (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: Sr. Manager Avionics HW @ SpaceX (8 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Co-Founder & VP Engineering @ Parallel Systems ($100M from Anthos Capital, Collaborative Fund, Congruent Ventures, Riot Ventures), Materials Engineer @ Lockheed Martin, Stanford MS Materials Science

    3. Description: Left Parallel Systems on 11/24

  5. Oleg Pylnev in Montana (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: Sr. Director @ SpaceX (1 yr)

    2. Other Experience: Chief AI Officer & CTO @ BuildOps ($226M from Meritech, BOND, Fika Ventures, Founders Fund, 01 Advisors), CTO @ Emotive ($50M from Mucker Capital, TenOneTen Ventures), CTO @ The Honest Company (NASDAQ: HNST), CTO @ Carenote, Engineering Lead @ Dreamworks Animation, Director of Engineering @ MySpace

    3. Description: Left BuildOps on 2/25

  6. Andrea Gomirato in Arlington (Stealth)

    1. Role: Engineering Manager @ SpaceX (3.5 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Co-CTO @ Shift5 ($185M raised from Hedosophia, Insight, 645 Ventures)

    3. Description: Stealth since 12/25

  7. Kyle Cothern in LA (Founder @ Flotilla Space)

    1. Role: Launch Ops Engineer @ SpaceX (2.5 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: 1st Employee @ Vast ($1B+ from Balerion, IQT, QIA, Mitsui), Lead Project Engineer @ Arrivo, Señor Design Engineer @ Hyperloop One

    3. Description: "Ad astra per tubos"

    4. Contact: Site

  8. Jackson Lindauer in SF (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: Director, Swarm @ SpaceX (3 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: 1st FTE @ Swarm Technologies ($30M from Craft Ventures, Social Capital → acquired by SpaceX)

    3. Description: "Founder exploring what's next"

  9. Evan DeSantola in SF (Stealth)

    1. Role: Propulsion R&D @ SpaceX (<1 yr)

    2. Other Experience: Founder & CEO @ Agot AI ($22M raised —> acquired by HM Electronics), Quant Systems @ D.E. Shaw, Deep Learning RA @ CMU, CMU BS CS

    3. Description: "Turning Sick Care to Prevent Care"

    4. Contact: [email protected]

  10. Christine Odaba in SF (Stealth)

    1. Role: Propulsion & Mech Design Engineer & Launch Chief Engineering @ SpaceX (3 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Head of Surgery R&D & Head of Surgery Engineering @ Neuralink, Princeton BSE Mech & Aero

    3. Description: Stealth since 3/26

Hermeus, a seven-year-old startup based in El Segundo, CA, that develops unmanned hypersonic aircraft for defense applications, raised a $200 million Series C round at a $1 billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by Khosla Ventures, with Cox Enterprises and Destiny Tech100 as well as previous investors Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel, and RTX Ventures also participating. Hermeus also raised $150 million in debt.

  1. Skyler Shuford in San Diego (Founder & CEO @ Reaxiomatic)

    1. Role: Co-Founder & COO @ Hermeus (6 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Director of Avionics and Software @ Generation Orbit, Lead GN&C Engineer @ Generation Orbit, Graduate Engineering Intern @ SpaceX

    3. Description: "Increasing the rate of American capability."

    4. Contact: Twitter

  2. Glenn Case in Atlanta (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: Co-Founder & Chief Technologist @ Hermeus (7 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Director of Propulsion and Structures @ Generation Orbit, Propulsion Design and Development Engineer @ Blue Origin, Thermo-Fluid Analysis Engineer @ NASA Stennis, Co-Founder @ Responsive Launch Systems

    3. Description: Left Hermeus 10/25

Stipple Bio, a five-year-old startup based in Cambridge, MA, that identifies tumor-specific cell surface epitopes for precision oncology therapies, raised a $100 million Series A round co-led by RA Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Nextech Invest, with previous investors Emerson Collective Investments, GV, LoLa Capital Partners, and GordonMD Global Investments also taking part.

  1. Evgenij Fiškin in Boston (Stealth)

    1. Role: Co-Founder & CTO @ Stipple Bio (4.5 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: EMBO Fellow @ Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard (Aviv Regev lab), Boehringer Ingelheim PhD Fellow @ Goethe University Frankfurt Medical School, German Academic Scholarship Foundation Fellow @ DKFZ, Goethe PhD Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin Diploma Biochemistry

    3. Description: “Stealth Biotech”

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