May 16, 2023 - Market Daily

Enzo Day, CEO of SoClose is Pioneering Digital Entrepreneur on a Quest for Global Success

Market Daily Staff on May 16, 2023

Image commercially licensed from Unsplash

Enzo Day, an international serial entrepreneur, has always been driven by a passion for the digital world. From a young age, he found himself drawn to the endless possibilities that technology offered. Today, as the founder and CEO of SoClose, a leading digital factory company, Enzo is making his mark on the industry with his innovative ideas and unwavering dedication.

Born and raised in France, Enzo’s journey into entrepreneurship began at the age of 14 when he developed his first website called “Fiches Up.” This platform aimed to help French college students prepare for their exams and quickly gained popularity among gamers who appreciated its utility. As he pursued his education, Enzo also excelled in golf, competing at the national level in France.

At 18 years old, Enzo made a bold decision to forego a traditional academic path and fully dedicate himself to self-taught coding. This leap of faith allowed him to meet coding experts and expand his knowledge and skill set. By the time he turned 20, he had started developing websites for clients, honing his craft and gaining valuable experience along the way.

At the age of 22, Enzo embarked on his most ambitious endeavor yet—launching SoClose. The digital factory company set out to revolutionize the industry by developing its own comprehensive content management system (CMS). This CMS included various modules like CRM, project management, and accounting, offering clients a complete package for their digital needs.

However, SoClose’s vision extended beyond just software development. Enzo envisioned the company as a marketplace where individuals could come together to collaborate and create exciting projects. He believed in the power of peer learning and wanted to foster an environment where people could share their expertise and learn from one another.

The success of SoClose can be attributed not only to Enzo’s entrepreneurial spirit but also to the company’s core values. Peer learning, one of their foundational principles, embraces collaboration and an agile approach to learning. Enzo firmly believes that even the most complex skills can be mastered through collective effort.

Another core value that drives SoClose is the notion that life is art. Enzo encourages individuals to take charge of their lives and decide their own path. By nurturing creativity and innovation, So Close empowers people to transform their ideas into reality.

Enzo’s personal philosophy of “SoClose” emphasizes the importance of sharing closely with others. He envisions a future where So Close becomes not only a virtual community but also a physical space where individuals can come together and bring their visions to life.

Of course, Enzo’s journey hasn’t been without its challenges. Reflecting on his early days, he recalls a humorous yet enlightening mistake he made. In a major project, he entrusted a close friend whom he believed would make an ideal partner. However, he quickly learned that building a team requires more than just familiarity; it demands trust based on real experiences, especially during tough times.

Enzo, through SoClose, has proven to be a formidable player in the industry despite facing challenges and obstacles. His ability to create a collaborative environment and his commitment to excellence sets him apart from the competition. Enzo’s determination to succeed and his unwavering work ethic have been instrumental in establishing So Close as a great place to collaborate and develop exciting projects.

Looking ahead, Enzo plans to continue his journey of growth and innovation. So Close is currently developing its own CMS with several modules, aiming to transform it into a Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) platform. This strategic move will enable them to support their business development and expand their reach globally.

Dylan Taylor on America’s Future in Space

Market Daily Staff on May 16, 2023

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The next international space station will feature Hilton-designed interiors, a startup-conceived kitchen in space, and a science park named for George Washington Carver. Starlab, expected to become operational in 2027, represents a turning point in America’s future in space. This research institution, commercial platform, and tourism destination will help drive the NewSpace economy, which could be a $1 trillion enterprise by 2040.

Space entrepreneurs like Dylan Taylor are shaping that future now.

Taylor is the founder and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, one of the many companies constructing the new off-Earth economy. Voyager Space partnered with Nanoracks and Lockheed Martin and Airbus to build Starlab, the first free-flying commercial space station. Taylor expects Starlab to help revolutionize space access just as commercial flight revolutionized access to Earth. He predicts that commercial spaceflight could transform education, science, tourism, and even the essential nature of human resilience.

Further, Taylor forecasts that space will reshape the American and global economy, funneling people, ideas, and investment into its unlimited expanse. In 2021, Taylor said, “Everyone’s in the space industry. They just don’t know it yet.” So far, everyone is proving him right.

Morgan Stanley and Citigroup project space to be a trillion-dollar industry by 2040, attributing the rise to continually lower launch costs, progressive expansion of the satellite market, and rapid development of new technologies and applications. Taylor, who credits Elon Musk’s Space X for delivering reusability to the market, sees those applications touching every corner of life in space and on Earth.

For instance, Starlab partner Nanoracks is working on a Zero-G Oven that can cook in space. Some of Voyager Space’s projects include laser communications devices, an orbiting greenhouse on Starlab, and visualization products that support ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) applications. Meanwhile, the Voyager Space-Hilton partnership marks a design plan for Starlab and the gateway to a future space hotel.

Taylor expects opportunities to expand further, particularly in the startup world that has become the space economy’s lifeblood. “Space has been hot for quite some time,” Taylor said. “For those of us in the industry, it’s been sort of a best-kept secret. … With inexpensive launch, a whole new era of business plans has opened up.”

But Dylan Taylor also wants the NewSpace economy to drive more than investment in the cosmos. He envisions space tech benefitting Earth as new satellites increase consumer broadband access and deliver applications to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation. He believes space will change medical technology and generate new energy for STEM education, as the Apollo missions did in the 1960s and 1970s. He also anticipates that space exploration will revive America’s sense of wonder while bringing it to others globally for the first time.

Taylor calls this the “democratization of space.”

“Space is an investment opportunity but it’s also a fundamental tool for transformation,” he said. “If you look at how many people were inspired for STEM education from the Apollo program, the hope is, going back to the moon with Artemis and landing the first woman on the moon will have a similar impact on STEM education not only in the U.S. but around the world.”

As a citizen astronaut (he flew on Blue Origin’s NS-19 mission in 2021), Taylor said he experienced the profound combination of awe and humility that fewer than 600 people have known. Expanding that life-changing access is essential to the future of American and global space exploration, says Dylan Taylor.

Taylor pointed to Space4Women, AstroAccess, and Space for Humanity (the non-profit he founded) as organizations championing space for all. Spacy for humanity has sent two citizen astronauts, Sara Sabry and Kat Echazarreta, to space aboard Blue Origin missions. Taylor envisions many to follow.

“What inspires me is, I think space is transformational for humanity,” Taylor said. “I think it’s the next big thing. I think it allows us to imagine what humanity 2.0 could be.”