👋 Hello friends,

Thank you for joining this week's edition of The Saturday Morning Newsletter. I'm Drew Jackson, and today we're exploring 14 articles, essays, companies, ideas, podcasts, videos, or thoughts that caught my attention this week for their potential to significantly impact our future.

Before we begin: The Saturday Morning Newsletter by Brainwaves arrives in your inbox every Saturday, a concise and casual digest of current events, optimistic news stories, and other interesting tidbits about venture capital, economics, space, energy, intellectual property, philosophy, and beyond. I write as a curious explorer rather than an expert, and I value your insights and perspectives on each subject.

Time to Read: 5 minutes.

Let’s dive in!

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#1: Okapi:Orbits

Description: Okapi:Orbits is a space traffic management startup.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Okapi:Orbits recently raised $13M in venture capital funding. Their software provides options for risk prediction, risk management, and collision avoidance, all to ensure satellites and other space objects are properly managed. To assist with this, their platform helps with mission design optimization and ensures compliance with debris mitigation requirements.

#2: Omnidian

Description: Omnidian is a solar energy management and monitoring startup.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Omnidian recently raised $87M in venture capital funding. Their platform is designed for commercial and residential developers to assist with preventative maintenance schedules, connection to service professionals, and ongoing monitoring needs. Their goal is to ensure that renewable energy developments adequately return their ROI to investors, further promoting the clean energy transition.

#3: Northwood

Description: Northwood is a satellite ground station developer.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Northwood recently raised $30M in venture capital funding. As space becomes critical infrastructure for the world, refining the Earth-based infrastructure is necessary to propel projects to the next level and ensure their longevity. “Most ground networks today were designed for science missions, not for the scale, urgency, or diversity of today’s space economy.” Building a forward-looking ground network to scale with growing demand is critical to the future of the space economy.

#4: Electra

Description: Electra is a developer of a new way to produce iron.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Electra recently raised $186M in venture capital funding. For centuries, iron has been made using coal and extreme heat—a process that releases tons of CO2 emissions. Electra is reinventing this process, leveraging renewable energy and chemistry to transform iron ore into 99% pure iron.

#5: Exowatt

Description: Exowatt is a developer of solar storage technologies.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Exowatt recently raised $35M in venture capital funding. One of the biggest downsides of solar is that it can’t easily be turned on and off when energy is necessary, which is mainly dictated by the cycle of the sun. As such, storage solutions have been developed to help bridge this gap, storing the electricity to be deployed flexibly when the time is needed. Exowatt’s technology transforms solar energy into heat, which can then be deployed when demand is high but supply is low.

National Association of Manufacturers: Nuclear Energy Gains Popularity

According to a new Gallup poll, 60% of Americans favor nuclear energy, representing a 6 percentage point increase from the 2023 survey. Researchers theorize that recent upward trends in energy demand have increased the interest in nuclear energy.

World Economic Forum: Solar and Storage Will Drive the Clean Energy Transition

It’s no secret that the world’s climate is starting to change in negative ways. To mitigate these effects and limit further damage, the world must transition to clean energy solutions such as solar power and storage combinations. The next wave of solar innovation will see manufacturing costs continue to decline, spurring even further adoption of solar technology.

Solar Energy Industries Association: Why America’s AI Leaders are Pumping Billions into Solar + Storage

Technology companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and more are racing to build the computing power for AI dominance. Solar + storage is an obvious first choice as it’s the most affordable electricity source, easily scalable and distributable to any location. It’s also the quickest to build and has more projects in development already compared to all other power sources combined.

The New York Times: Almost Half of Americans Breathe Unhealthy Air

A new report by the American Lung Association found that around 46% of the population lives with unsafe levels of ozone or pollution or both. The biggest change to mitigate these issues positively was the Clean Air Act. Further legislation is needed to dictate the air quality, as it’s currently negatively affecting everyone’s health.

Pitchbook: Growth-Stage Startups are Choosing Venture Debt

Tariff-induced market volatility is driving more growth-stage startups to venture debt financing. If ongoing uncertainty continues, this will only fuel more debt activity. Equity investments are becoming too expensive for entrepreneurs, so venture debt is a natural fit.

Open Access Government: Philosophy is a Skill, Not Just a Subject

Philosophy, it is argued, is a skill, not just a subject. “Philosophy, at its best, is the practice of pausing.” It’s taking the time to pause in life and think about what actually matters to you. Developing this ability takes time, it takes working at it, like a skill. It’s not necessarily something you learn once and can do for the rest of your life easily.

Big Think: Epiphenomenalism

Epiphenomenalism discusses some of life’s deepest questions, like “what if you don’t matter?” and “what if all your thoughts and everything in your head is irrelevant?” If you’re interested in learning more about their point of view, I would recommend this article.

Substack: Why No One Grows Up Anymore

People used to be considered adults at 18, now there are 27 or 30+ year olds who wouldn’t be considered an “adult” then. This current generation (myself included) has had the chance to become adults taken from them. It’s time to grow up again, rebuilding the conditions that made adulthood possible.

Here’s a guide to protect your energy and peace:

1. Never say more than necessary - speaking less prevents unnecessary conflicts and misunderstandings

2. Lower your expectations from others - expecting too much leads to disappointment and frustration

3. Let your success do the talking - actions hold more weight than words; proof beats promises

4. 10 people, 10 different opinions. Stop pleasing - pleasing everyone is impossible and drains your energy.

5. Don’t allow your emotions to overpower your intelligence - reacting emotionally can cloud judgment and weaken your influence

6. Remember your haters are your fans - criticism often comes from those who secretly admire you

7. Don’t be afraid to say “no” - setting boundaries protects your time, energy, and peace

8. Don’t aspire to be perfect - perfectionism leads to stress and stagnation

See you Wednesday for Brainwaves,

Drew Jackson

Twitter: @brainwavesdotme

Email: brainwaves.me@gmail.com

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this content are my own and do not represent the views of any of the companies I currently work for or have previously worked for. This content does not contain financial advice - it is for informational and educational purposes only. Investing contains risks and readers should conduct their own due diligence and/or consult a financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Any sponsorship or endorsements are noted and do not affect any editorial content produced.