Andre Charoo

@Alfred_Lin @sequoia @mansourtarek_ @Kalshi Similar story for Kareem at Clay as you know :)

.@mansourtarek_ on @Kalshi: “The thing that was unique about us is we never pivoted. It was always Kalshi. We were dragged by the idea. I wasn't the type that wanted to be an entrepreneur. I think if you re-roll the dice multiple times, I'd probably just be a trader or risk manager. I would not be an entrepreneur. But the idea was so glaring in front of us that we just had to do it.” Successful founders will often tell you that the idea pulled them, not the other way around. Kalshi walked through the desert for six years. Most teams reset the idea once the desert gets long enough. They never did, because they were dragged by the idea, not short-term outcomes. When they persevered and became the first regulated prediction market, they compounded to ~95% US market share. The patience to do things right became an advantage, not a constraint. Keep the long game in mind when you feel like you're in the desert.

This is a very good analogy!

Not sure why I was so out of breath (it was probably all the screaming) but here is my speech from after we achieved criticality. To the second atomic age!!

The best conversations at #ICML2026 happen not just in hallways but sometimes outside the conference center. Just had a great chat with @jedgar on everything from embodied intelligence to solving the loneliness epidemic via human alignment. He’s a preseed VC looking for crazy ideas to fund so if you’re building something and don’t want the pressure of IPO definitely hit him up outside Hall A at the conference center!

AALO ATOMICS ACHIEVES CRITICALITY MILESTONE; MEETS EXECUTIVE ORDER GOAL From Founding to Fission in Less than Three Years, Aalo on Track to Become the Preeminent Nuclear Power Source for Modern AI Data Centers. AUSTIN, Texas, July 6, 2026 – Aalo Atomics, the company building fully modular nuclear plants to power modern AI data centers, demonstrated criticality for its Aalo-X Critical Test Reactor in the early morning hours of July 4, 2026 at Idaho National Labs (INL), meeting President Trump’s July 4th goal for companies in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program. Criticality, which marks the first self-sustaining chain reaction within a nuclear fission reactor, was achieved under Department of Energy (DOE) authorization. “Reaching criticality is our most significant milestone to date, as it paves the way for the deployment of the Aalo Pod to power commercial data centers once it receives authorization from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” said Matt Loszak, CEO, Aalo Atomics. “More importantly, the Aalo-X Critical Test Reactor has the same full-scale core components as our commercial reactors. The Aalo-X’s 10 MWe reactor design positions it as the premier power provider for the modern data center.” “Last month I toured the Aalo facility at Idaho National Laboratory and was impressed by the company’s determination to successfully demonstrate their technology by the Fourth of July,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “President Trump asked for three advanced reactors to be authorized and achieve criticality before the 250th anniversary of our great country. I’m pleased to share that through the dedication and hard work of Aalo, INL and DOE, we have surpassed that ask and delivered four!” Underscoring Aalo’s commitment to meeting the power needs of today’s data centers, the company has already begun work on its second nuclear reactor (located next to the Aalo-X test reactor at INL) for Project Ascension, testing acommercial-scale system that will produce electricity and power for an on-site data center in the coming months. In addition, Aalo recently announced a collaboration with Microsoft and Nvidia to lay the groundwork for an automated co-piloting system that could transform how a fleet of nuclear reactors operates safely. “Aalo has demonstrated unprecedented speed, as well as a commitment to quality and safety, in bringing its first nuclear reactor to life, but now is not the time for rest,” said Yasir Arafat, President & CTO, Aalo Atomics. “Criticality is just the beginning. In the coming months we will continue building and testing multiple reactors, including the commercial Aalo Pod design which in the next 18 months will provide a scalable and affordable power option to data centers and enterprises.” Fuel rods for the Critical Test Reactor were fabricated by GE Vernova’s nuclear fuel business, Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF), and delivered to the site in early April. Once Aalo completed its Readiness Assessment and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright signed the final approval to load fuel, Aalo was able to “flip the switch” and achieve criticality. Aalo’s celebration was intentionally reminiscent of Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1), the first self-sustaining, controlled nuclear chain reaction that occurred 84 years ago on December 2, 1942. CP-1 represents the birth of nuclear reactors, and today INL is the leading U.S. site for developing and testing them. Aalo will be holding a commemorative event to celebrate its criticality milestone in Idaho Falls on July 30, 2026.

We’ve gone critical. At 12:20 am on July 4th, Aalo sustained a controlled fission chain reaction for the first time. We have officially surpassed the goal of President Trump’s Executive Order 14301, achieving 4 advanced nuclear reactor criticalities by America’s 250th birthday. This is a zero-power criticality to validate our supply chain, reactor physics and control systems for our 10 MWe full-powered reactor, the Aalo-X, targeting power operations next year. Everything was built at full scale: fuel, moderator, control systems, etc., so we understand system performance at its commercial scope. That also meant tackling four of the most difficult things in nuclear with this criticality milestone:  ✅ Ground-up construction of our reactor facility ✅ Manufacturing the reactor in our factory and shipping them by road ✅ Assembling our own fuel assemblies using commercial UO2 ✅ Standing up training, safety, and operational programs to become our own nuclear operator I am proud to say we have accomplished all four goals, along with achieving criticality. The reactor building was constructed in 36 days and construction to criticality was achieved in under 8 months. That’s the fastest nuclear build in the last 80 years. A massive congratulations to the Aalo Atomics team and our partners. Many thanks to Idaho National Laboratory, the DOE-Idaho Operations Office, and the Office of Nuclear Energy for their immense support in enabling this milestone and dedicated to the American nuclear resurgence.

Very excited to announce that at 12:20am on the 4th of July, Aalo achieved criticality on our first full-scale reactor. We cut it close, but we pulled it off!! Working towards this goal with such an incredible group of humans has been the most fulfilling period of my life. This moment has been three years in the making. Last year, Executive Order 14301 called for at least three new reactors to go critical before July 4th, 2026. As of late last Friday night, that goal has been surpassed! When the EO was announced, we immediately sat down to figure out what the most ambitious scope would be, while still being potentially achievable by July 4th. Some of the team proposed doing simplified designs with smaller fuel loads, or building in existing facilities. One thing was clear: We wouldn't have time to integrate a full-scale sodium heat-removal loop to bring the reactor to its full 30 MWt. So here’s where we landed: ➡️ We purchased the entire commercial-scale fuel load. This is enough fuel to operate at 30 MWt / 10 MWe for 3 years before refueling. To my knowledge, it’s the largest fuel load that’s been taken critical in the DOE pilot program, by far. ➡️ We built a full-scale reactor vessel in our factory, and loaded in our commercial graphite layout. All the dimensions, vessel thickness, and manufacturing techniques are essentially the same as we will use for the imminent commercial version. There will be a few minor tweaks for sodium flow and full-power, but nothing major. ➡️ We built an entirely new reactor facility at the Idaho National Lab. Building a building is easy. Building a new reactor facility comes with a mountain of paperwork, policies, operation and training procedures, security, instrumentation and control, and more. Zero-power criticality might seem like a small step, but I can tell you, going through the exercise of building a reactor and taking it to criticality has been extremely valuable. The learnings on regulatory, ops, manufacturing, supply chain, QA, economics, engineering, and design will accelerate our path through to the final iteration at full-power. America is blessed to have a recent Cambrian explosion of startups in nuclear, all going after different markets, technologies, and strategies. I’m excited that sodium, gas, salt, and new PWRs are all getting pushed forward once again. The best outcome for humanity is to have all these advance in parallel, as quickly as possible, while maintaining safety. Thanks again to our amazing team, DOE, INL, BEA, and everyone else who helped us get to where we are today. This could not have happened anywhere else. Happy birthday, America!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 There has never been a better time for nuclear energy. The Second Atomic Age has begun, and this one will be here to stay.

I moved to America almost exactly 1000 days ago and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The move wasn't easy -- I had crazy immigration challenges, lived out of a duffel bag for months, and had to pay a massive Canadian exit tax on illiquid shares from my last company that easily could have bankrupted me. But it was so incredibly worth it. If it had been possible to start Aalo in Canada, or if there had been any other country where we would have had a higher probability of success, I would have started it there. But there is simply no better place on Earth to start a company like this than the United States of America. Just insane levels of talent, capital, customers, ambition and opportunity. So proud of what we've achieved so far at Aalo and super excited about what the next 1000 days will bring. Grateful to the DOE, INL, BEA, our team, and everyone else who helped us get to where we are today. Happy 250th America 🇺🇸

Tomorrow is a big day for Aalo, and the future of clean energy on Earth.

This is so well articulated. Good stuff @chamath

Congrats on the launch @kenchong and @matt_sawchuk! Excited to see where this goes!

Thanks for the shoutout @evansammccann!

cc @MapleVCFund 💪

@apartovi Congrats to you Ali for being their first backer!

Congratulations to SpaceX and Cursor! 🎉

Best definition of vision I’ve heard. My partner @jedgar explains the difference between a dream and a vision perfectly. A must-read for founders.

@bwertz @VersionOneVC Congrats @bwertz and @angelatytran !

Excited to share that we've closed two new funds at @VersionOneVC: Fund V ($78M) and Opportunities Fund III ($30M). Our focus remains the same — backing exceptional founders early, often before a category is obvious or crowded. We're investing globally at pre-seed/seed across AI, robotics, deep tech, biology, decentralized systems, and emerging ecosystems like India and Africa. The founders we're most drawn to aren't chasing trends — they're mission-driven people with unusual insight solving problems they understand intimately. Many of the most important companies of the next decade will initially look misunderstood or too early. That's where we want to be. Thank you to our LPs and community for their continued support. And above all, to the founders who give us the opportunity to be part of their journeys.

Excited to announce two partners to @MapleVCFund: @jedgar and @janelee16. Both have been trusted advisors to me since 2019. They represent the beginning of this next chapter. Read more here: maplevc.com/memo-faith

Let’s go @AlexanderTw33ts! “Uber for humans” captured my imagination immediately. Incredibly excited about this future. Congrats on the launch! #proudfirstcheckinvestor cc @MapleVCFund