Invest Like The Best
Episode 281 Factories of the Future
Invest Like The Best

Episode 281: Factories of the Future

Invest Like The Best

Episode 281

Factories of the Future

Josh is the co-founder of Lux Capital and Chris is the founder of advanced manufacturing start-up, Hadrian. We cover the fragmented structure of precision manufacturing today, how Hadrian's factories can modernize the industry's supply chain, and the effect of a higher cost of capital on deep tech companies.

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[00:02:40] - [First question] - An overview of the precision manufacturing industry writ large

[00:08:28] - Why the manufacturing sector has so many great investment opportunities

[00:12:58] - What Hadrian in its final form will unlock for manufacturing

[00:16:08] - What the demand side looks like for manufacturers in its current state today 

[00:18:29] - How the nature of demand will shift for this style of manufacturing in the future

[00:22:51] - Important rare earth materials, supply chain constraints, and the revival of commodities 

[00:27:55] - The key set of jobs being done by mom and pop shops that could be innovated on and done within a Hadrian factory 

[00:30:35] - What is going on inside of a Hadrian factory and how they will evolve over time 

[00:32:10] - Prosecuting diligence on someone's ability to execute on their behalf

[00:37:14] - The PhD arrogance trap and how a Hadrian machine will be better in five years from now

[00:39:44] - Units of innovation and optimization driven by software 

[00:41:43] - Walkthrough of the bubble and anti-bubble concept and funding companies in today’s markets  

[00:48:08] - Breadth of ability versus focus and selling parts to buyers early on

[00:50:42] - Lessons learned and advice for understanding the focus problem 

[00:52:32] - Whether or not the climbing costs of experimentation is a bad thing

[00:56:39] - Fat startup vs. lean startups and making the hardest irreversible decision during Hadrian’s early days

[00:58:31] - Enduring more schlep work than less being a good signal

[00:59:06] - Chris’ thoughts on the future of Hadrian and defining the exciting and scary edges of the spectrum of outcomes

[01:03:36] - Josh’s thoughts on the future of Hadrian and defining the exciting and scary edges of the spectrum of outcomes

[01:07:22] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for Chris

Factories of the Future

Introduction

Patrick
My guests today are Josh Wolfe and Chris Power. Josh will be a familiar voice to many of you, and is the co-founder and general partner of Lux Capital. Chris is the founder and CEO of advanced manufacturing startup, Hadrian. Most of our discussion centers on the need to modernize the factories that supply our space and defense industries. But given the current market environment, we also talk about capital conditions and the responsibility to build products that really matter. Please enjoy this conversation with Josh Wolfe and Chris Power.

How The Advanced Manufacturing Industry Got Here

Patrick
Chris and Josh, this is going to be a totally different conversation about an area that I don't think I've ever explored before, very keyed in on a certain kind of manufacturing. I'm sure we'll hit bigger themes of onshoring of manufacturing in just the next generation of this part of the economy. We'll spend a lot of time around precision parts, what Hadrian's doing, why Lux is interested in this area, what Chris, you and your team, are building. To set the stage, Chris, it would be great if you could, as you did for me on the phone recently, give an overview of the recent past and what has happened in this world. It's become a topic that everyone's talking about a little bit, but probably doesn't really fully understand the recent intermediate past of manufacturing, where it happens, why it's happened that way. So a little bit of a history lesson would be a great place to start to frame our conversation.

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