Minds Behind Maps

Awais Ahmed is the co-founder & CEO of Pixxel, a company building a constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites. Unlike “traditional” cameras, these satellites can see across hundreds of bands, opening up a lot more applications. We talk about the engineering -and funding- required to pull this off and how Awais manages a company between India (where Awais is from) and the US. But that’s just the 1st part of the interview. Then we talk about his vision for the company, which goes way, way beyond sending imaging satellites.

Sponsor: OpenCage

Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API
Geomob

• Twitter
• LinkedIn

• Awais’s personnal website
• Pixxel’s 3 phase vision
• Maxar HD machine learning upscaling
• Book & Podcast Recommendation
  • The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch (Affiliate Link)
  • Profiles of the Future by Arthur C. Clarke (only found it in ebook here, Affiliate Link)
  • Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Affiliate Link)

(00:00) - Introduction

(01:09) - Sponsor: OpenCage

(02:34) - Awais describes himself

(03:46) - Pixxel

(05:07) - What is hyperspectral?

(10:36) - Spacial, Temporal & Spectral Resolution tradeoffs

(18:01) - Hardest part of building satellites

(22:58) - The resolution spotlight

(28:38) - Image Quality Rabbit Hole

(30:42) - The tricky part of raising money

(38:52) - Awais has a big, big vision

(50:42) - Likeliness of Awais's vision within 10 years

(54:14) - Working between India & USA

(59:04) - Personnal investing

(01:01:20) - Importance of Reading

(01:05:36) - Sci-Fi & History

(01:08:33) - Book recommendation

(01:10:43) - Awais in space?

(01:11:54) - Pushing the boundaries of humanity

(01:13:14) - Optimism in a cynical world

(01:19:11) - Support the podcast on Patreon

• Support the podcast on Patreon
• My video on an introduction to satellite images
• Website
• My Twitter
• Podcast Twitter
• Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter
• Edited by Peter Xiong
• Find more of his work

Sina Kashuk is the co-founder & CEO of Fused, who wants to make iterating & deploying in Python faster with serverless computing. We break down what that actually means, why it matters and what data science workflows could look like over the next few years.

This also isn’t Sina’s first company, a few years ago he started Unfolded.ai, focused on making visualisations for data scientists faster. The company was acquired by Foursquare in 2021.

Get access to high quality, fresh map data at https://beemaps.com/minds
Use promo code MINDS to get 50% off your API credits through Dec. 31 2024

• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.

• My blogpost joining the team
• Uber’s H3 tiling grid
• Foursquare acquires Unfolded
• AWS Lambda
• My conversation with Ib Green
• Fused.io
• Book & Podcast recommendation
  • Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins Affiliate Link
  • I’m pretty sure you can find Minds Behind Maps by yourself if you’re here

(00:00) - Intro 
(02:38) - Sponsor: Beemaps
(03:55) - Hacking 
(06:07) - Fused.io
(07:23) - Why run your algorithm in the cloud? 
(10:06) - Serverless computing 
(12:40) - Optimizing for iteration speed 
(18:52) - Breaking Fused into smaller parts 
(23:27) - "User Defined Functions: UDF" 
(31:08) - How do you make money? 
(31:56) - Why start companies? 
(42:41) - Convincing people to use your tools 
(49:44) - Speed isn't all: Train / Plane analogy 
(54:36) - Going beyond geospatial 
(57:33) - Building a team 
(59:54) - Podcast/book recommendation 
(01:01:11) - Building a Long Term Vision 
(01:06:59) - Support the podcast on Patreon

• Support the podcast on Patreon
• My Twitter
• Podcast Twitter
• Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter
• Edited by Peter Xiong
• Find more of his work

Andrew Peterson is the Co-Founder & CEO of Array Labs, with a simple mission: Mapping the whole world in 3D, at 20cm in near real time.

We peel the layers as to what it takes to get there: the engineering that’s required, how to build a constellation to do that, how you fund such a project.

Sponsor: OpenCage

Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API
Geomob

• LinkedIn
• Array Labs

Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.

• My 20min video explaining radar satellite images
• Find USGS 1m LiDAR data across the US
• Y Combinator
• My episode with Ashlee Vance
• My episode with Brian McClendon
• Albedo
• Book & Podcast recommendation
  • Spin Selling by Neil Rackham (Affiliate Link)
  • Acquired

(00:00) - Intro

(01:08) - Sponsor: OpenCage

(02:34) - "Being a Recovering Engineer"

(03:15) - Mapping the world in 3D

(09:59) - "Near Real Time"

(15:46) - Applications will only use what's available, by definition

(18:15) - Why use radar for 3D images?

(22:23) - The coolest Space Shuttle mission, period

(27:19) - Tradeoff between resolution & coverage

(36:26) - Building cheap radar satellites

(39:46) - Array Labs's image resolution

(45:10) - A GPU Analogy

(50:34) - A story of image processing & computers

(56:07) - Array Labs today

(57:57) - Let's talk $$$

(01:06:38) - Low barrier to entry: Comparing XRay & MRI

(01:12:09) - Why stop at 10 satellites?

(01:15:50) - Focus

(01:19:53) - Max & Andrew's 1st chat during covid

(01:23:22) - Subscription model for satellite images?

(01:32:50) - Convincing the rest of the world your idea is worth something

(01:43:58) - Engineer to Founder

(01:47:30) - Book & Podcast recommendation

(01:51:06) - Array Labs's next 4 years?

(01:53:45) - Support the podcast on Patreon

• Support the podcast on Patreon
• My video on an introduction to satellite images
• Website
• My Twitter
• Podcast Twitter
• Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter
• Edited by Peter Xiong
• Find more of his work

Jamie McMichael-Phillips is the Director of the Seabed 2030 Project, which aims to map all of the world's oceans, by 2030. For context, in 2024, we’re at 26.1%. This is conversation is about why, how we get to 100% and why it’s important in the first place.

Sponsor: SatCamp
SatCamp is a different kind of conference, from October 1st to October 3rd 2024, in Boulder Colorado

• Bio on Seabed 2030 website
• LinkedIn

Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.

• Seabed 2030 Project (You can check out their interactive map here)
• GEBCO Grid
• 2024 Seabed 2030 Progress
• Point Nemo
• Book & Podcast Recommendations:
  • The Deepest Map by Laura Trethewey (Amazon Affiliate)
  • Seabed 2030 Podcast

(00:00) - Intro
(01:04) - Sponsor: SatCamp
(02:55) - Jamie Describes Himself
(03:53) - State of Ocean mapping in 2024
(06:19) - Difficulties with mapping the ocean
(08:22) - Why map the seabed?
(10:24) - What does mapping the seabed actually mean?
(15:01) - Comparing Land & Sea mapping
(18:55) - Seabed 2030 is a policy project
(20:42) - Incentives to map the oceans
(24:05) - If we've only mapped ~25%, what does the 75% other look like?
(27:49) - What are the coarse measurements for the ocean right now?
(29:31) - How we actually map the seabed
(33:14) - Patches of unmapped areas of the ocean
(35:38) - Getting there by 2030
(38:21) - How much has already been mapped?
(43:00) - Maps as Human Knowledge
(45:27) - Jamie's most anticipated, yet unmapped, area
(48:03) - Public Engagement
(53:01) - Book/podcast Recommendations
(55:04) - Support the podcast on Patreon

• Support the podcast on Patreon
• My video on an introduction to satellite images
• Website
• My Twitter
• Podcast Twitter
• Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter
• Edited by Peter Xiong
• Find more of his work

Check out Jed’s Techs on Text podcast

Jed has also been on Minds Behind Maps before. We talked open data, AI, and the role of books for people building things

Jean-Martin Bauer has been working at the World Food Program for over 20years, and the author of the “The New Breadline”. Most recently he was the Country Director for Haiti, in charge of helping make sure the country doesn’t run out of food.

Sponsor: SatCamp
SatCamp is a different kind of conference, from October 1st to October 3rd 2024, in Boulder Colorado

• LinkedIn
• Jean-Martin’s book: The New Breadline (Affiliate Link)

Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.

• WFP working with Mbala Pinda producers
• Masters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain (Affiliate Link)
• Jordan Habinger episode about Haiti’s ongoing situation
• Book & Podcast recommendation
  • The one-straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka (Affiliate Link)
  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Affiliate Link)
  • FiveThirtyEight podcasts

(00:00) - Intro

(01:15) - Sponsor: SatCamp

(03:42) - Haiti's past 2 years

(05:57) - Day to day in a humanitarian crisis

(08:17) - Jean-Martin's ties to Haiti

(18:27) - Stats versus Stories: The picture of a starving girl sparking uprise

(21:30) - The Origins of Hunger

(27:31) - Impact of Covid on Food Security in the US

(35:05) - Europe's current food supplies after WWII

(40:11) - Why write a book?

(42:56) - Who is your book for?

(45:22) - Finding local Solutions

(53:39) - Creating a resilient food supply

(55:33) - Technology is not the silver bullet

(01:01:23) - Advice for Young Engineers & Data Scientists

(01:05:28) - What's next for Jean-Martin

(01:12:04) - Social Media Outreach

(01:19:08) - Optimism

(01:23:49) - Defining Acute Hunger

(01:25:37) - Book & podcast Recommendation

(01:31:07) - Support the podcast on Patreon

• Support the podcast on Patreon
• My Twitter
• Podcast Twitter
• Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter
• Edited by Peter Xiong
• Find more of his work

Ashlee Vance is a Tech Journalist, the author of Elon Musk's 1st biography in 2015, the host of "Hello World" on Youtube and the author of "When the Heavens Went on Sale" as well as the accompanying documentary "Wild Wild Space" following 4 New Space companies. We nerd out on rocket companies, 1 rogue NASA administrator, and the time I got to meet Vladimir Putin years ago.

Sponsor: OpenCage

Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API
Geomob

About Ashlee:

• Twitter
• Bloomberg Profile

(Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.)

• Ashlee's books:
  • When the Heavens Went on Sale (Affiliate Link)
  • Elon Musk biography (Affiliate Link)
• Wild Wild Space documentary
• Hello World with Ashlee Vance on Youtube
• NPIC book by Jack O'Conor
  Book & Podcast Recommendation:
• Sonic Wind (Affiliate Link)
• Cocaine & Rhinestones

(00:00) - Intro
(01:33) - Sponsor: OpenCage
(02:59) - Ashlee Describes Himself
(06:12) - Chasing weirdos around the world for a living
(11:22) - The man shaking NASA in the 90s
(16:18) - Following Chris Kemp & the beginnings of Astra
(24:30) - Planet co-founders: Will & Robbie
(28:58) - Needing to convince investors
(31:34) - Will satellite imagery ever get mainstream?
(34:50) - A tangent on the US Spy satellite program
(36:47) - Starlink
(38:28) - Privatization
(48:43) - Space Industry outside of the US
(55:23) - Russia's aerospace pride: The time I met Putin
(59:18) - What's on Ashlee's radar
(01:01:42) - People or Companies?
(01:04:01) - Documentary Reception
(01:05:08) - The business of documentaries
(01:08:27) - YouTube
(01:12:45) - Book/podcast recommendation
(01:16:08) - No iPhone?
(01:19:38) - Support the podcast on Patreon

• Support the podcast on Patreon
• My video on an introduction to satellite images
• Website
• My Twitter
• Podcast Twitter
• Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter
• Edited by Peter Xiong
• Find more of his work

Luke Fischer is the Co-Founder & CEO of SkyFi, a company that we'll describe in a few ways in this episode, but boils down to an Earth Observation marketplace. We talk about Luke's 20 year time in the military before getting into startups, why Luke is bullish on their approach and many more

Sponsor: SatCamp
SatCamp is a different kind of conference, from October 1st to October 3rd 2024, in Boulder Colorado

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• SkyFi

Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy

• Gabe -unit economics- Dominocielo
• Bill Perkins
• Die with Zero
• Silicon Valley No Revenue
• Book & Podcast recommendations
  • Freedom’s Forge (Affiliate Link)
  • BigDeal by Codie Sanchez

(00:00) - Intro
(00:50) - Sponsor: SatCamp
(02:41) - Luke describes himself
(04:21) - Getting into the satellite image industry
(07:13) - Risks starting a company
(10:16) - Don't start a marketplace
(18:22) - Racing to get customers
(23:08) - What is the Product in all of this?
(25:00) - What is the product that SkyFi needs to build today?
(28:17) - Who is this for?
(33:08) - Biggest pain points
(37:44) - The market's view of Earth Observation businesses
(45:00) - Pivoting from the military
(51:28) - Hiring
(59:12) - Raising big, early
(01:02:08) - Predicting the industry in 2.5 years
(01:09:05) - Consumer market?
(01:14:24) - Health & family
(01:26:05) - Community while all Remote
(01:30:25) - Book & Podcast Recommendation
(01:33:09) - Support the podcast on Patreon

• Support the podcast on Patreon
• My video on an introduction to satellite images
• Website
• My Twitter
• Podcast Twitter
• Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter
• Edited by Peter Xiong
• Find more of his work

Ben Strong is the Science & Machine Learning Lead at Earth Genome, an NGO working on the intersection of data, science & digital design. Most recently they've been working on Earth Index, an application built on top of Earth embeddings from foundation models. This conversation is the "so what" of Earth foundational model

Sponsor: OpenCage

Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API
Geomob

• LinkedIn

Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.

• Ben’s blogpost on NDA sequencing for the Earth
• Earth Genome
• Earth Index
• Book & Podcast recommendation
  • Demo Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Affiliate Link)
  • Risky Business

(00:00) - Intro
(00:46) - Sponsor: OpenCage
(02:12) - Ben introduces himself
(03:28) - "DNA sequencing" for Earth
(13:37) - Not building another Foundation Model
(18:06) - Earth embeddings: So what?
(21:49) - What does locally finetuned mean?
(25:48) - Invite only for now: Why?
(29:31) - Journalistic applications
(31:59) - Yet another tool for finding images?
(35:09) - Deciding what to work on
(38:35) - Designing for simplicity
(44:14) - So, why hasn't Google made this?
(51:18) - Funding
(59:54) - Book & podcast Recommendations

• Support the podcast on Patreon
• My video on an introduction to satellite images
• Website
• My Twitter
• Podcast Twitter
• Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter
• Edited by Peter Xiong
• Find more of his work

Ib Green led the development of 3D visualisation tools like for example Uber’s deck.gl and is now working at Foursquare, after having started Unfolded, which Foursquare acquired. During this conversation we touch on how browser based visualisations are changing

Access Behind the Scenes and support the podcast by joining too!

• LinkedIn

Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.

• Kepler.gl
• Deck.gl
• Foursquare
• Kyle Barron
• Peak Math

(00:00) - Intro 

(00:41) - Support the podcast on Patreon 

(01:43) - Ib describes himself 

(02:33) - How lb got to where he is today 

(07:47) - Uber's need for visualization tools 

(15:11) - Why do companies build open source tools? 

(17:46) - Open source to open governance 

(23:41) - Starting a company 

(26:31) - How Unfolded generates revenue 

(28:28) - Nerding out on browser based visualization tech 

(35:11) - Client side rendering challenges 

(39:27) - Competing against the smartphone 

(41:38) - Looking ahead 

(47:43) - Book & Podcast recommendations 

(50:24) - Support the podcast on Patreon

• Support the podcast on Patreon
• My video on an introduction to satellite images
• Website
• My Twitter
• Podcast Twitter
• Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter
• Edited by Peter Xiong
• Find more of his work