Van Espahbodi has spent 25 years working in and around advanced technology for the aerospace and defense industry. He began his career as a congressional staffer before joining defense contractor Raytheon, where he worked in the CEO's office on foreign military sales. He later helped commercialize technology from a national laboratory in the U.K. A decade ago, Espahbodi co-founded aerospace and defense startup accelerator Starburst Aerospace and moved back to the U.S. to expand it. On the advice of friends at Founders Fund, he opened an office in El Segundo, California, near SpaceX, just as more alumni of that company were leaving to launch hard-tech startups of their own and next-generation defense startups including Anduril Industries were emerging. Espahbodi eventually sold his stake in Starburst and launched Generational Partners, which invests in companies spanning industrial infrastructure, manufacturing, energy and water desalination. The firm has backed 14 companies since...
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