SO LONG, COLORADO

Well Colorado Front Range, that’s a wrap.  In 20 years of living here I raised a family and built a career.  I’d like to think I left the community just a bit better off than how I found it.  For example…

Solid Power, Inc., a company I grew from a science project at the University of Colorado Boulder into the industry leader in next-generation ASSB rechargeable batteries is poised for huge success.  They have the necessary capital, team, partners and momentum to deliver.  The fact that the entire industry has now converged on Solid Power’s form of ASSB – e.g., sulfide-based ASSBs – simply validates the company’s unwavering strategy.  I have the utmost confidence in Solid Power’s Executive team of Dave Jansen, Josh Buettner-Garrett (both of whom have been at Solid Power since Day 1), Kevin Paprzycki, Jon Jacobs and Derek Johnson, Ph.D. The future is bright!

Roccor, a company I co-founded with my friend and mt bike partner, William Francis, demonstrated what a company can achieve when your business plan is simply to corral the ‘best in class’ within an industry and see what happens.  Over time we convinced the likes of Mark Lake, Chris Pearson (Leeds! Leeds! Leeds!), Heather Kuhar, CSCP and Kristin Schaa to join us and with their help gradually established Roccor as the industry leader in high performance and low cost satellite components.  We ultimately sold the company in 2020 to Redwire Space and I’m sure I’m not the only ex-Roccor-ian who feels like maybe we sold too soon…but hindsight is always 20:20.

At the end of the day, however, what I’m most proud of are the people; the employees who chose to invest their time and careers in our endeavors…and I’d like to think that investment was returned.  I’ve derived immense pleasure in watching young engineers, scientists and support staff realize their true potential and I fully expect to see the next-generation of startups emerge from this collection of talent.

So what’s next for Doug Campbell?  First, I’m returning to my hometown of Albuquerque, NM, although I will continue to maintain a base on CO albeit now in Gunnison where mt biking and skiing are simply off the charts!

Second, I look forward to getting more involved in philanthropic endeavors such as my new role as a member of the Board of Trustees at the The University of New Mexico Foundation, Inc. New Mexico and Albuquerque are special places but they do have their unique challenges and I look forward to contributing.

The next generation of Campbell’s is now embarking on their early career journeys and I will soon have a kiddo in College at both the The University of New Mexico and Western Colorado University.  How I ended up with one kid in each of my new homebases is purely a coincidence… ; )

For now, I see a lot of mt biking and skiing in my future while I mentally recalibrate.  However, I’m ‘only’ 49 and a startup entrepreneur at heart so no doubt I’ll reemerge somewhere!