There are 100 bad days to one good day: AgniKul CEO on frequent ‘failures’ faced by space-tech startups and what it takes to succeed

What if space travel became so affordable that we could host birthdays and special events in zero gravity? What if booking a space launch was as easy as hailing an Uber?

That’s the guiding philosophy and objective of Srinath Ravichandran , co-founder and CEO of homegrown space-tech startup AgniKul Cosmos .

Founded in 2017 by Ravichandran, Moin SPM and Prof. SR Chakravarthy (IIT Madras), Agnikul has been building a private small launch vehicle. Called ‘Agnibaan’, the on-demand rocket is capable of carrying up to 100 kg of payload to low Earth orbits and can be fully customised as per the customer's needs.

2021 was a remarkable year with the IIT Madras-incubated startup test-firing its semi-cryogenic second-stage rocket engine. The company claims that ‘Agnilet’ is the world's first single-piece 3D printed engine, fully designed and manufactured in India. Agnikul is betting big on 3D printing to reduce fabrication costs and turnaround time.

I caught up with Ravichandran and he spoke about a bunch of topics, from career opportunities in the sector to everyday “failures” faced by space-tech startups to entrepreneurship.

Edited excerpts:

How is working at a space-tech startup different? What are some of the key challenges and what are some of the interesting things that one gets to do?

I think the level of rigour on documentation processes is much more. Everything is so tightly optimised that we can't have a lot of buffer.

And if everything is going to be so tightly optimised, then you basically you have to get everything right. That demands a certain level of discipline, which could be at odds with the freestyle thinking that startups are known for. There’s this fine balance one has to strike between continuously innovating and thinking freely on the one hand, and being super rigorous and disciplined about documentation on the other. In fact, I've gone on to say that documentation is a product by itself. That's how important it is.

A lot of people have to come together and multiple streams of engineering have to collaborate to get things done. You might be from electrical or software engineering, but you'll be working mostly with people who are in structures or mechanical.

When people hear the word ‘space-tech startup’, the initial impression is that it's too complicated. It's too niche. How true is that perception? Does one really need super-specialised skills to work at a space-tech startup?

I actually believe what is really required is the attitude to crack problems. And a very strong understanding of the basics because we can learn other things on the job.

But if you don't have the right problem-solving mentality and a passion for space, I think that's going to be tough. So, I would say skills are secondary compared to attitude and sound knowledge of the basics.

So as long as you have the fundamentals in place, as long as you have the right attitude, rocket science isn't really rocket science. Tell me more about tapping into the knowledge pool.

I think that’s one of the biggest things that will play into the strength of tech startups based out of India.

The good thing about doing it from India is the kind of knowledge available with retired people who have already built much larger rockets than what any private player in India is attempting today. So it is up to us to start off from there as opposed to reinventing the wheel.

Startups are always constrained for resources. It could be money, it could be people, it could be time, but you're always in a constraint-solving mode. In that context, having access to some of these people (retired ISRO scientists, IIT professors, etc.) is very helpful.

What kind of mindset should people looking to make a career in space-tech inculcate?

First, just the grit to stay with the problem. Things don't always work. You could put multiple streams of engineering on a problem and things may still not work the way you want them to. At our space-tech startup, we have a joke: there are hundred bad days to one good day.

If you're looking for quick or instant gratification from your product, it’s not going to happen.

Second, a good understanding of the basics. We can always learn the more complex parts on the job – there are people to guide you – but no one is going to come to teach you basic stuff.?

Third, love for the field or an emotional connection with the problem you're trying to solve.

Failure is integral to working at a space-tech startup, whether it's developing a prototype or launching a satellite? How do you take that into stride?

A very important aspect of working at a space-tech startup is to not to get demoralised by failures.

I think that's part of product building itself. It's important to accept the failures first because without that, if you're looking for only success, you're going to be disappointed.

So telling yourself that the journey is more important than the destination might help. Also, setting low expectations at the start is also helpful.

But the winning characteristic that would actually take you far is love for what you're trying to do. Because that’s what is going to tell you to keep going at the problem irrationally, even when it seems the odds are against you.

You have had a very unconventional career. You attended film school, worked in financial services and studied aerospace at the University of Illinois. How did those experiences help you?

I actually feel there has been a lot of cross-pollination of ideas from different sectors. People from different areas use their own tips and tricks and frameworks to solve problems.

I have had the opportunity to observe people in all these different areas. Sometimes, I feel like I can draw from completely unrelated sectors and use that to either tell the team a particular trick or a shortcut.

In financial services, for example, people use a lot of rules of thumb because there is very little time to be making detailed calculations. When the markets are open, you don't have time to run detailed models. These rules of thumb give you the first cut of approximation of where you're going. That is something that I use in our company too.

What’s your eventual goal? Do you want to be the SpaceX or Blue Origin of India?

Yeah, you could say that. Or hopefully the other way around. Maybe someone from the US would come and say they would like to be us.

The more important thing is our mission: can we send normal people and satellites to space for, say, someone’s birthday? It should be that simple.

From a transportation standpoint, it should be as simple as booking an Uber ride. That level of comfort and convenience should be there.

There has been a lot of thrust from the government when it comes to private participation in space technologies. In which sectors do you see a lot of application and subsequent job opportunities?

As far as policy is concerned, I feel no stone has been left unturned. The latest space transportation policy, for example, talks about setting up private launchpads. It speaks about reusability, launches from air and the sea, and whatnot. Literally, everything that you can think of for the next 20 years is already in there. It's all-encompassing. There is a lot of involvement across sectors.

You’d need engineers of all backgrounds, from electrical and computer science to mechanical and structural. The same is true of non-engineers too since there is so much work to be figured out. No one has actually figured out the perfect business model in this space. More than just engineers and product people, we also need the right kind of finance people, the right kind of human resources people.

The sector needs people who can speak to vendors and set up a great vendor ecosystem. That’s why the current set of 10-20 startups will become the cradle for a whole lot of activity in the space.

It’s the best time to be doing or working at a space-tech startup in India. And that could be in engineering or non-engineering – it doesn’t really make a difference.

There are a lot of young professionals who are on the fence when it comes to launching a startup. Some of them have probably gotten used to a well-paying job. What is the secret, according to you, to make that switch?

Bring enough guts and love for what you do to take that leap of faith. If you're waiting for the right moment, I don't think there is one. It’s always a good time. People hold back because of some of the reasons you mentioned. But I think India has come to a point where if you're reasonably qualified academically, you will be able to do something or the other.

Experimenting with four or five years of your career is not going to harm you. In eventually the next 20 years, you'll be able to get to where you wanted to get to.

I think it's mostly about guts and that comes from either being a risk-taker or just loving what you do – so much that you don't care about failure. People should just stop caring about failure, particularly when they're young.