DeepSummary
Scott Nolan, a partner at Founders Fund for over 12 years and one of the earliest employees at SpaceX, discusses the firm's unique investing approach of backing founders unconditionally and focusing on hard engineering challenges in the physical world. He explains that Founders Fund looks for companies solving big problems through technological advancements rather than taking science risks or following trends.
Nolan shares insights from Founders Fund's early investment in SpaceX after its third failed launch attempt. The firm saw the potential in SpaceX's incremental progress and believed in Elon Musk's mission and team's ability to overcome challenges. He also talks about the firm's recent investments in energy companies like Crusoe Energy and Radiant, which are tackling remote energy and nuclear power solutions, respectively.
Nolan highlights the engineering culture in Los Angeles, particularly in the South Bay area, where many SpaceX alumni are starting new ventures. He discusses the collaborative decision-making process at Founders Fund and the firm's lean investing team focused on identifying and backing the most important companies that can have a significant impact.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Founders Fund focuses on backing founders unconditionally and supporting their long-term vision, even if it involves hard engineering challenges.
- The firm looks for companies solving big problems through technological advancements rather than following trends or taking science risks.
- Founders Fund was an early investor in SpaceX, recognizing the potential in the company's incremental progress despite initial failures.
- The firm has recently invested in energy companies tackling remote energy solutions and nuclear power.
- Los Angeles, particularly the South Bay area, has a growing engineering culture with many SpaceX alumni starting new ventures.
- Founders Fund operates with a lean investing team and a collaborative decision-making process, concentrating on a few companies per fund.
- The firm values challenging founders to strengthen their strategies and ideas, believing that great founders welcome constructive feedback.
- Founders Fund aims to make investments that can have a unique and significant impact, rather than just following trends or competing with others.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “We wanted flying cars and we got 140 characters.“ by Scott Nolan
- “We're famous for wanting to back companies that are one of a kind and are not competing with others.“ by Scott Nolan
- “If we can surface potential flaws in the strategy or anything that's positive, that's helpful. I think great founders want that.“ by Scott Nolan
- “Thank God for El Segundo.“ by Scott Nolan
- “We're trying to be very thoughtful about what's the right way to focus. And so classically, our approach has been just really concentrating into a few companies per fund.“ by Scott Nolan
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Episode Information
LA Venture
TenOneTen
2/7/24
Scott Nolan tells us what he thinks about the Elon-haters and how Founders Fund is unique in their investing approach. Scott, a partner at Founders Fund, has been there 12 years and was one of the first hires at SpaceX.