Intro
I had a conversation with Justin Lopas on building Base Power a few months back, last week they announced $1B in new funding at a $13B valuation. Justin cofounded Base Power with Zach Dell in 2023. I first met him at one of the deeptech dinners I was hosting in Austin back when they were still in stealth (adding to the list of incredible markups for anyone investing in founders from these dinners).
The latest round was led by Addition with participation from friends of the show at A16Z, Trust Ventures, 137 Ventures and others.
Watch on YouTube:
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction and Background at SpaceX
03:31 - SpaceX Culture and Giving Agency to Early-Career Talent
05:32 - What to Filter for When Hiring Non-Experienced Talent
09:03 - Implementing and Automating AI in Non-Technical Roles
10:50 - Defining Base Power: The Vision to Fix the Grid
15:05 - Regulated vs. Deregulated Energy Markets in Texas
17:32 - How Home Batteries Act as an Energy Hedge
21:50 - Battery Storage Capacity and Bypassing the Interconnection Queue
22:56 - Smooth Variability in Energy Supply and Demand
24:48 - Aligning Incentives and Structural Practical Limits for Home Batteries
26:13 - Navigating the Patchwork of US Energy Regulation and Expansion
32:07 - The Hardest Challenges and Landed-Cost Optimization
34:04 - Treating Every Aspect of a Business as a Factory
38:37 - Recruiting Pitch for Base Power
40:25 - Embracing Internal Failures to Foster Innovation
41:39 - Learning Methods: YouTube, LLMs, and Peer Insights
43:44 - Building and Maintaining a Strong Company Culture
48:24 - Key Takeaways from Leading Manufacturing at Anduril
50:19 - Managing Diverse Subcultures Within a Consistent Mission
51:42 - Future Outlook: New Products, AI Support, and Scaling Production
