From Cosmic Dreams to Earthly Solutions: The Evolution of Special Teams

In the heart of Seattle’s SoDo district, a new chapter is unfolding for Clara Sekowski and her team of seasoned engineers. Standing in their recently acquired 7,400-square-foot workshop, Sekowski reflects on the journey that led her here as founder and CEO of Special Teams. It’s a story of resilience and reinvention, beginning with ambitious dreams of mining asteroids at Planetary Resources nine years ago, continuing through the clean energy innovations of First Mode, and now crystallizing in this promising consulting venture. “Third time’s the charm, right?” she says with the knowing smile of someone who has weathered both the exhilaration of moonshot projects and the harsh realities of startup setbacks. Unlike its predecessors that began with grandiose visions and high-profile backing, Special Teams has taken a more measured approach—and it’s paying off. The bootstrapped company has already exceeded its first-year revenue target, approaching $2 million with a lean team of just over 10 engineers. This success reflects not just technical expertise but the wisdom gained from previous ventures that ultimately couldn’t sustain their ambitious trajectories.

The Special Teams roster brings together diverse technical backgrounds—aerospace specialists, software developers, and even veterans from the gaming industry—united by a systems engineering approach that bridges conceptual innovation and real-world implementation. “We design and build prototypes and custom simulations to prove that concepts can work in real-world conditions,” Sekowski explains. This practical methodology has attracted an impressive client portfolio: they’re helping mining giant BHP develop deep-mining automation systems, working on a confidential nuclear project, and advising high-performance car company Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus on creating a hydrogen-powered pickup truck. The latter partnership has proven particularly fruitful, with Scuderia’s CEO Jesse Glickenhaus offering extraordinary praise: “SpecTeams is by far the most incredible team I have worked with when doing something new and technologically challenging needs to be paired with significant safety and environmental concerns.”

The path to founding Special Teams winds through the rise and fall of two innovative companies that ultimately couldn’t sustain their visions. Planetary Resources began with the audacious goal of building spacecraft to mine asteroids before expanding into Earth observation, but funding eventually evaporated by late 2018. From those ashes, First Mode emerged, initially supporting various space projects including NASA’s Artemis moon program before narrowing its focus to clean-tech power systems for industrial applications. First Mode established a proving ground at a former coal mine in Centralia, Washington, and eventually secured majority investment from mining conglomerate Anglo American to develop hydrogen-fueled and hybrid powertrains for heavy trucks. The company seemed to be gaining momentum, even opening a 40,000-square-foot factory in SoDo last year, but market realities forced workforce reductions, and when Anglo American withdrew funding, First Mode faced bankruptcy before being acquired by Cummins, an Indiana-based power solutions company.

Despite these setbacks, First Mode continues operating under Cummins, with general manager Molly Puga noting they’re “bringing hybrid solutions for mining to reality” through partnerships with companies like Komatsu and maintaining about 70 employees globally. Meanwhile, Special Teams has settled into its new SoDo facility with enthusiasm. “It’s a great mix of space where we can build hardware and have a forklift and move around and make noise, and office space where we can get the rest of our work done,” Sekowski says. “We are going to be here until our hardware doesn’t fit in the building anymore.” The location provides the perfect blend of industrial capability and professional workspace, allowing the team to tackle diverse engineering challenges without constraint.

Special Teams isn’t the only venture to emerge from First Mode’s talent pool. Former CEO Chris Voorhees and COO Rhae Adams established Sol Zero Group, a think tank supporting new engineering ventures including Special Teams. Another Sol Zero company, Civic Forge, was founded by First Mode alumni Conor Duggan and Adam Day to advise businesses on government affairs and policy strategies. Now led by Day, Civic Forge often collaborates with Special Teams on projects with both technical and policy dimensions. “Together, we pair engineering with policy, which helps clients de-risk designs, win public support and hit milestones faster,” Day explains. This ecosystem of interconnected ventures represents a new generation of companies built on the lessons learned from previous ambitious but ultimately unsustainable startups.

For Sekowski, watching former colleagues succeed in new ventures brings “so much joy” and represents an important legacy of their shared experiences. The lessons from First Mode remain valuable: “Doing work in a broad domain, not just in space, but across energy and other industries, helps us do better work. And so that’s something that we’ll continue.” Perhaps most importantly, she values even the difficult chapters of her professional journey. “I learned so much through the process of being a part of Planetary Resources, and then what was a strong correction to some of the funding issues there with First Mode, and now getting to put some of those lessons together to build this team,” she reflects. “You don’t get a lot of chances to grow in that way. We’ve got the battle scars. We know where we want to go, what we don’t want to do, and how to get there.” In these words lies the essence of entrepreneurial wisdom—not avoiding failure but transforming it into the foundation for future success. As Special Teams continues to grow in their SoDo workshop, they carry forward not just technical expertise but the invaluable perspective that comes from having dreamed big, fallen short, and risen again with clearer vision.