Max Mednik
Los Angeles, California, United States
14K followers
500+ connections
14K followers
500+ connections
Activity
14K followers
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Max Mednik reposted thisMax Mednik reposted thisGive people a goal that feels unattainable and they won't push harder. They'll just quietly accept it won't happen. I consciously try setting targets at 90% of what I think is possible. Not 100. Not stretch-to-the-point-of-absurdity. Just far enough that people feel the pull, close enough that they actually believe it. The goals that drove the best work I've been part of were never comfortable, but they were never unbelievable either. The philosophy at SpaceX was built around exactly that, and those were the targets where the work was consistently at its best. When a goal feels within reach but not within comfort, people work toward it differently. Miss the goal by ten days on a target that felt impossible? That's still progress you wouldn't have made otherwise. Hit a comfortable target exactly on time? You probably left something on the table. But a key piece that holds it all together is the milestones in between. A big goal without intermediate markers is just pressure without direction. When people can see that hitting this week's milestone puts them on track for the bigger one, the whole thing becomes real. We think about this constantly at Epsilon3. Getting the goal right is core to our culture, and it makes a real difference in how the team moves together. How does your team think about goal setting?
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Max Mednik reposted thisMax Mednik reposted thisI'm thrilled to announce that I'm joining Epsilon3 as Director of Engineering. 🛰️ After 9 years building pure-software products, I'm moving into the HALO space (Heavy Asset, Low Obsolescence). An industry where software doesn't just push pixels, it moves real atoms. Rockets. Satellites. Spacecraft. The physical infrastructure that underpins humanity's future. Epsilon3 is the AI-powered operating system for aerospace and complex operations. Co-founded by Laura Crabtree (10-year SpaceX veteran, lead operator for Dragon Demo-2 that returned American astronauts to space), Max Mednik (co-founder of Epirus, the drone defense company), and Aaron Sullivan (former Google engineer, Stanford CS). They built the platform they always wished existed, replacing legacy tools with a real-time, collaborative procedure execution system purpose-built for engineering, manufacturing, testing, and launch operations. Their customer list speaks for itself: NASA, Blue Origin, BAE Systems, Axiom Space, Redwire, Firefly Aerospace, Rocket Lab, AstroForge, and the U.S. Space Force. FedRAMP High Authorized, ITAR compliant, EAR compliant, SOC 2 Type II, and NIST 800-171 compliant. Backed by Y Combinator and Lux Capital. What excites me most: this is about bringing advanced manufacturing and operations excellence back to the United States. The aerospace industry is scaling at an unprecedented pace, and the companies building the next generation of launch vehicles, satellites, and defense systems need modern software to match their ambition. Epsilon3 is that software. From proving "VR fitness is real fitness" to helping put spacecraft in orbit. I couldn't be more excited about this next chapter.
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Max Mednik reposted thisMax Mednik reposted thisWhen we started Epsilon3, I was set on serving aerospace. I'd spent nearly 20 years in the industry. It was what I knew, what I loved, and honestly the only world I'd really operated in. The first hint that things might go differently came from paying attention to where people I'd worked with had ended up. Former colleagues from Northrop and SpaceX had moved into energy, nuclear, aviation. And when I started talking to people in those industries, I kept finding the same thing. The problems felt extremely familiar: the stakes were high, and the operational complexity rhymed with everything we were already building for. So we started having conversations outside of aerospace, and what resonated in those rooms wasn't what I expected - the space background was never really what the conversation centered on. It was the experience of being at a company before it had figured itself out. Where processes didn't exist yet, where you had to do 25 different jobs in a week, and were building the aircraft on the way down after being thrown out of the helicopter with all the parts. That kind of improvisation, the experience of having to figure things out before the answers existed travels in a way that domain expertise alone doesn't. If I had spent 20 years at a large defense contractor and walked into those rooms, I think I would have been written off. That environment builds deep expertise in a process that already exists. I also think about this a lot when we talk about hiring at Epsilon3. The environment someone came from tends to tell you more about how they'll show up than the industry they worked in.
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Max Mednik shared thisThe defense modernization debate is often framed as an either-or: “old” legacy primes versus newer, venture-backed startups. But in my eyes, that framing is missing the real challenge. Legacy systems bring discipline and supply chain depth; startups deliver on agility and speed. However, they both face a core issue — and it isn’t strictly an innovation or engineering problem. Their shared challenge lies in execution. Even as technology advances, our executional frameworks lag behind the level of threats our nation faces. We’re seeing this play out before our very eyes, as mission capability rates across DoW weapon systems hit an all time low average in 2024. We need both the urgency brought by newer players and the structural might of established primes. But, we can’t out-innovate fragmented systems. To work in tandem at the pace modern warfare demands, our first priority must be developing a foundation for repeatable, traceable, scalable execution. Read my full thoughts here in my piece for RealClearDefense: https://lnkd.in/gRNwt9chBeyond “Old vs. New”: The Future of the Defense Industrial Base Is Scalable ExecutionBeyond “Old vs. New”: The Future of the Defense Industrial Base Is Scalable Execution
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Max Mednik reposted thisMax Mednik reposted thisThere's a difference between joining a program and signing up for a mission, and in my experience it changes everything about how people work. At larger organizations, you generally get placed. A program needs people, you're available, and that's where you go. You may or may not care deeply about it, and either way you work it until you're moved to the next one. The job can just be a job. At a startup it tends to work differently. More often than not, people aren't placed, they choose. They choose the vehicle, the problem, the customers, the thing they want to spend their time building. That choice is what makes it feel like a passion project rather than a program. And people who feel that way about their work tend to operate differently when things get hard. Having been fortunate enough to experience both, I think the freedom to choose is more powerful than people give it credit for. When a team genuinely cares about the mission, they make sacrifices for it. They find solutions where others stop looking. They take ownership of solving problems that aren't technically theirs. That said, I've seen this erode even at startups in recent years. Choosing a company doesn't automatically mean choosing the mission, and when people aren't genuinely bought into what they're building and why, it shows. The teams where I've seen the best work are the ones where everyone consciously chose to be there, and you could feel it in how they operated.
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Max Mednik reposted thisMax Mednik reposted thisBeyond “Old vs. New”: The Future of the Defense Industrial Base Is Scalable Execution Excited to share our Co-Founder and COO Max Mednik's thoughts about the current state of defense modernization in his piece for RealClearDefense. Max asserts that leading defense collaboration won’t succeed or fail on the basis of innovation. Execution, giving startups and legacy primes alike the shared “ability to execute complex procedures with precision, at scale, over time”, will instead be what leads to decisive advantage for the warfighter. Read Max’s full piece here: https://lnkd.in/eCQVKk6PBeyond “Old vs. New”: The Future of the Defense Industrial Base Is Scalable ExecutionBeyond “Old vs. New”: The Future of the Defense Industrial Base Is Scalable Execution
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Max Mednik reposted thisMax Mednik reposted thisEpsilon3 Changelog #96 is live, and it's a big one. Now available in the Epsilon3 platform: ✔️ Role Based Permissions ✔️ Require Skills for Roles ✔️ Human Resources ✔️ Issues Insights ✔️ Dynamic Item Detail Update More control, better visibility, and smarter inventory tracking. See what's new: https://lnkd.in/eyZ6ASUH
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Max Mednik shared thisLast week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) greenlit eight proposals for the Advanced Air Mobility and Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) Integration Pilot Program (eIPP). This program was announced as part of President Trump’s Unleashing Drone Dominance Executive Order, aimed at strengthening US innovation in aviation. The eight pilots will take place in 26 states. This initiative marks another step forward in the push for innovative aircraft—a strategic priority for both U.S. technical dominance and national security in aviation and aerospace. But like all tech innovations, these ambitious plans are only as strong as their foundations. As these missions continue to push boundaries, teams are left to handle mounting complexity in workflows—managing multiple stakeholders, ensuring continuity, and maintaining compliance with critical regulations. In order for these missions to keep leveling up, they need software that can keep up. We built Epsilon3 to answer this challenge. Interested in learning more? Let’s chat! https://lnkd.in/gJxvDhyQ
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Max Mednik shared thisBe more strategic with your marketing -- Notes on No Forms, No Spam, No Cold Calls by Latane Conant -->Notes on No Forms, No Spam, No Cold Calls by Latane ConantNotes on No Forms, No Spam, No Cold Calls by Latane Conant
Max Mednik replied to a comment
3w
100%
Max Mednik replied to a comment
3w
Lee-Anne Kingma for sure. It’s obvious that happens when you ask a team for execution reports and as runs and all they have are screenshots of slack threads and spreadsheets/docs with no evidence of how it was executed.
Max Mednik replied to a comment
1mo
Scary!
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Max Mednik liked thisMax Mednik liked thisGive people a goal that feels unattainable and they won't push harder. They'll just quietly accept it won't happen. I consciously try setting targets at 90% of what I think is possible. Not 100. Not stretch-to-the-point-of-absurdity. Just far enough that people feel the pull, close enough that they actually believe it. The goals that drove the best work I've been part of were never comfortable, but they were never unbelievable either. The philosophy at SpaceX was built around exactly that, and those were the targets where the work was consistently at its best. When a goal feels within reach but not within comfort, people work toward it differently. Miss the goal by ten days on a target that felt impossible? That's still progress you wouldn't have made otherwise. Hit a comfortable target exactly on time? You probably left something on the table. But a key piece that holds it all together is the milestones in between. A big goal without intermediate markers is just pressure without direction. When people can see that hitting this week's milestone puts them on track for the bigger one, the whole thing becomes real. We think about this constantly at Epsilon3. Getting the goal right is core to our culture, and it makes a real difference in how the team moves together. How does your team think about goal setting?
-
Max Mednik liked thisMax Mednik liked thisI'm thrilled to announce that I'm joining Epsilon3 as Director of Engineering. 🛰️ After 9 years building pure-software products, I'm moving into the HALO space (Heavy Asset, Low Obsolescence). An industry where software doesn't just push pixels, it moves real atoms. Rockets. Satellites. Spacecraft. The physical infrastructure that underpins humanity's future. Epsilon3 is the AI-powered operating system for aerospace and complex operations. Co-founded by Laura Crabtree (10-year SpaceX veteran, lead operator for Dragon Demo-2 that returned American astronauts to space), Max Mednik (co-founder of Epirus, the drone defense company), and Aaron Sullivan (former Google engineer, Stanford CS). They built the platform they always wished existed, replacing legacy tools with a real-time, collaborative procedure execution system purpose-built for engineering, manufacturing, testing, and launch operations. Their customer list speaks for itself: NASA, Blue Origin, BAE Systems, Axiom Space, Redwire, Firefly Aerospace, Rocket Lab, AstroForge, and the U.S. Space Force. FedRAMP High Authorized, ITAR compliant, EAR compliant, SOC 2 Type II, and NIST 800-171 compliant. Backed by Y Combinator and Lux Capital. What excites me most: this is about bringing advanced manufacturing and operations excellence back to the United States. The aerospace industry is scaling at an unprecedented pace, and the companies building the next generation of launch vehicles, satellites, and defense systems need modern software to match their ambition. Epsilon3 is that software. From proving "VR fitness is real fitness" to helping put spacecraft in orbit. I couldn't be more excited about this next chapter.
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Max Mednik liked thisMax Mednik liked thisWhen we started Epsilon3, I was set on serving aerospace. I'd spent nearly 20 years in the industry. It was what I knew, what I loved, and honestly the only world I'd really operated in. The first hint that things might go differently came from paying attention to where people I'd worked with had ended up. Former colleagues from Northrop and SpaceX had moved into energy, nuclear, aviation. And when I started talking to people in those industries, I kept finding the same thing. The problems felt extremely familiar: the stakes were high, and the operational complexity rhymed with everything we were already building for. So we started having conversations outside of aerospace, and what resonated in those rooms wasn't what I expected - the space background was never really what the conversation centered on. It was the experience of being at a company before it had figured itself out. Where processes didn't exist yet, where you had to do 25 different jobs in a week, and were building the aircraft on the way down after being thrown out of the helicopter with all the parts. That kind of improvisation, the experience of having to figure things out before the answers existed travels in a way that domain expertise alone doesn't. If I had spent 20 years at a large defense contractor and walked into those rooms, I think I would have been written off. That environment builds deep expertise in a process that already exists. I also think about this a lot when we talk about hiring at Epsilon3. The environment someone came from tends to tell you more about how they'll show up than the industry they worked in.
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Max Mednik liked thisMax Mednik liked thisThe Beast Code team is next level. If you need any defense related code/app dev or deployment, they’re it. Thanks Tyler Todd for hosting us this week…Tyler and the Beast Code team are changing the face of code/app dev and deployment to support the military. Plus, this is proof positive Navy and Air Force can be friends.
Experience & Education
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Epsilon3
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Licenses & Certifications
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Series 3
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Series 65
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Publications
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Introductory Physics of Harmonic Distortion in Fluorescent Lamps
American Journal of Physics
See publicationAlthough the use of fluorescent lamps has been increasing due to their energy-saving advantages, discussions about them are rarely found in introductory physics texts. Although most of the disadvantages of fluorescent lamps have begun to be remedied, there still exist some problems that need to be solved. Two of the problems involve buzz and high-frequency flicker generated by some ballasts. In analogy with acoustic instruments, we summarize some of the causes of such higher harmonics and…
Although the use of fluorescent lamps has been increasing due to their energy-saving advantages, discussions about them are rarely found in introductory physics texts. Although most of the disadvantages of fluorescent lamps have begun to be remedied, there still exist some problems that need to be solved. Two of the problems involve buzz and high-frequency flicker generated by some ballasts. In analogy with acoustic instruments, we summarize some of the causes of such higher harmonics and suggest that further study of the phenomena is warranted to minimize the problems and to successfully implement wide-scale commercial and residential use.
Patents
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Apparatus and method for synchronizing power circuits with coherent RF signals to form a steered composite RF signal
Filed US US20210057813A1
See patentAn apparatus has a Radio Frequency (RF) signal generator to produce RF signals phase shifted relative to one another in accordance with RF frequency waveform parameters. Amplifier chains process the RF signals to produce channels of amplified RF signals. Each amplifier chain has amplifiers and at least one amplifier has a tunable gate voltage synchronized with the RF signals.
Languages
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English
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French
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Spanish
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Russian
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Italian
Limited working proficiency
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