Seattle startup founder lobbies for seat on SpaceX craft that will take civilian crew to orbit February 13, 2021 at 2:06 am Sponsored by Geek Life: Fun stories, memes, rants, humor and other random items at the intersection of tech, science, business and pop culture. Austin Hirsh, founder of Seattle-based The 2050 Company, in his video promoting himself as a viable candidate for a civilian mission to space. (Twitter via @AustinHirsh) The founder of a bootstrapped Seattle startup who launched his company on Kickstarter is looking to hitch a ride to space with a tech billionaire, and he’s using a video on Twitter to plead his case.