05 Gap Analysis

Icarus Orbital Systems — Gap Analysis

What’s missing today vs. ISDC-ready and Phase-1-funding-ready. Ranked by blocking severity.

CRITICAL — blocks ISDC arrival

# Gap Owner Unlock
1 Investor packet contact block (email · phone · Calendly · address) Sandi 5 min once values confirmed
2 Designer hand-off for packet HTML → print PDF Sandi · designer 1 brief + ~7 day turnaround
3 Packet hosting URL decision (icarusorbital.com · shawnedecker.com · Drive) Sandi + Shawn 30 min decision
4 Real QR for flyer (encoding the hosted packet URL) Sandi · post-hosting decision 5 min once URL stable
5 NASA Langley advisor naming policy (open · on-request · remove) Sandi + Troy + advisor Coordinate with advisor

HIGH — improves ISDC outcomes

# Gap Effort
6 ESA 2024 number verified to exact figure (currently sourced “130M+ >1mm”) 30 min source pull
7 Conference table location confirmed 1 email to organizer
8 iPad demo loop prepared (PPTX deck · Dragonfly portfolio HTML · 5-min auto-loop) 1 sitting
9 Conference travel + lodging booked 1 sitting
10 Backup printed copies in case primary stash damaged bulk print order

MEDIUM — Phase 1 funding readiness

# Gap Why
11 Specific raise size + instrument (SAFE? priced round? convertible?) Conversation-by-conversation now; lock before lead investor identified
12 Cap table model (founders · advisors · option pool · target raise dilution) Required by serious investors
13 Use-of-funds breakdown for the raise Standard diligence ask
14 Diligence room (data room with all source files · contracts · IP filings) Before serious diligence begins
15 References Sandi/Troy will provide 3-5 names ready before any lead investor asks

LOW — defer

# Item Why defer
16 Custom domain icarusorbital.com if unregistered Can use shawnedecker.com or temporary path until raise closes
17 Full IP filings (patents · trademarks) Phase 2+ work · pre-seed too early
18 Press kit beyond bare media-kit Wait until milestone worth announcing
19 Secondary investor segments (corporate VC · sovereign · family office) Focus on aerospace-experienced VC for Phase 1

Closing the critical path

flowchart TD
    A[Day 1: contact block confirmed] --> B[Day 1: designer brief sent]
    B --> C[Day 7: designer typeset PDF returned]
    C --> D[Day 8: print test copy]
    D --> E{Print quality OK?}
    E -->|no| F[Day 9-10: re-typeset]
    E -->|yes| G[Day 10: hosting URL decided]
    F --> G
    G --> H[Day 11: real QR generated]
    H --> I[Day 12: flyer print test]
    I --> J{Flyer OK?}
    J -->|no| K[Re-print]
    J -->|yes| L[Day 14-21: production print run]
    K --> L
    L --> M[Day 21+: shipping or hand-carry to ISDC]

    style A fill:#1F4D4A,stroke:#163A38,color:#fff
    style M fill:#3D7A4E,stroke:#1F4D4A,color:#fff

Cross-references