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Founders Fund
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Founders Fund
@foundersfund
technology, science, venture capital // what does the future look like?
San Francisco, CA Katılım Mart 2012
176 Takip Edilen173.7K Takipçiler
Founders Fund retweetledi
We enrich to solve the ultimate bottleneck: energy
Anjney Midha@AnjneyMidha
*New Lecture* Stanford @CS153Systems '26, Session 8 (Full Video) Energy Bottlenecks with @ScottNolan from @generalmatter 00:00 Energy Bottlenecks Intro 00:11 AI Factory Overview 02:55 Why Power Matters 03:56 From ChatGPT to Enterprise Demand 07:25 Meet Scott Nolan 09:03 Energy Is The Real Limit 11:16 Demand Growth Reality Check 13:17 Stranded Power Era 15:54 What Data Centers Need 16:59 Nuclear As Baseload Path 18:21 Fuel Cycle And Enrichment Gap 21:41 Bitcoin Mining As Rehearsal 25:03 Building Primitives Not Pivots 28:17 Nuclear Safety And Narrative 30:22 Calibrating the Moment 30:54 Pick Important Problems 32:14 General Matter Breakthrough 35:04 Building Team and Site 37:18 Government Support Reality 39:19 Jobs and AI Demand 42:37 Scaling Timelines and Space 46:16 Early SpaceX Lessons 50:25 Nuclear Perception and Europe 53:17 Supply Chain and Enrichment 56:56 Why US Lost Enrichment 59:25 Back to the Future Wrap
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Founders Fund retweetledi
.@ScottNolan started his career as employee 30 at SpaceX. He left to join Founders Fund after Peter Thiel recruited him personally in 2011, and spent the next 12 years backing companies like SpaceX, Anduril, Radiant, and Crusoe Energy.
The through line across all of it, and the worldview Thiel built Founders Fund around, was finding important problems that incumbents have no incentive to solve. Scott's version of that thesis was physical-world companies in a decade when venture capital had largely decided not to fund them.
Before starting @generalmatter, Scott met nearly every advanced reactor company in America. They all were constrained by the same problem - no one was enriching uranium domestically at scale. He spent 2023 looking to invest in a company solving it and found none.
The US once led the world in enrichment. But it let its enrichment plants calcify and shut down its last domestically owned facility in 2013. Today Russia supplies about 25% of the enriched uranium that fuels 20% of the country's electricity. Congress has already passed a ban on those imports that takes full effect in 2028.
So Scott started General Matter, the first private American uranium enrichment company, built on DOE land in Kentucky where the country's last enrichment plant once operated. In January, the DOE awarded it a $900 million contract.
Thiel sits on almost no boards, yet he joined General Matter's.
Enjoy this great conversation with Scott Nolan.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:00 Finding Important Problems
6:18 Lessons from Peter Thiel
9:32 Spotting Underappreciated Companies
21:46 The Danger of Falling in Love with Ideas
25:12 The Nuclear Energy Bottleneck
30:44 Why America Needs to Vertically Integrate
37:55 AI, Data Centers, and the Energy Squeeze
45:41 Advanced Nuclear Reactors
49:27 The Bring Your Own Energy (BYOE) Concept
53:45 Navigating America's Nuclear Fuel Cliffs
1:15:32 The Trade-offs Between Investing and Operating
1:18:00 Kindest Thing
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Founders Fund retweetledi
There is a lot of discussion around recursive loops of self-improvement for AI. Using AlphaEvolve at Substrate has given us a clear glimpse into this future, and is now accelerating the ultimate recursive loop: AI improving itself all the way down to the atoms.
Substrate@substrate
Over the past few months, we have integrated @googledeepmind's AlphaEvolve into our computational lithography. Enabled by AlphaEvolve's algorithmic leaps, we are now printing complex patterns in a single exposure that would otherwise require multiple. substrate.com/information-to…
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Founders Fund retweetledi
We need to make sure that the next century of American power is determined by Washington and Silicon Valley, not Shenzhen. The problem right now is that tech and the government still don't know how to work together.
For @TheFP, I detailed a possible future that avoids the tyranny of unelected technologists and the broken bureaucracy of government. 🧵
thefp.com/p/trae-stephen…
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Founders Fund retweetledi
Anduril’s @traestephens: "You can only be a pacifist when you're in a country that will protect you from your enemies, as a pacifist."
"If we don't have any expectation that American companies are going to help America, you're putting us in a position where our adversaries are going to be running way far out in front of us, which is putting us in a fractured and fragile geopolitical environment."
The Hill & Valley Forum 2026
@HillValleyForum @anduriltech
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Founders Fund retweetledi
The Department of War is "way far ahead" of the US' adversaries in determining the impact of AI on "the future of warfare," says Anduril Chairman Trae Stephens. He joins @technology at the Hill & Valley Forum in Washington bloom.bg/40RlVOY
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Founders Fund retweetledi
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Founders Fund retweetledi
Founders Fund retweetledi
Interviewing Scott Nolan, Founder of General Matter, and James Danly, Deputy Secretary of the DOE next week on reshoring our capacity to enrich uranium, and powering the next century.
delian@zebulgar
hello the 2026 @HillValleyForum agenda see you next week
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Founders Fund retweetledi
BREAKING: Nominal Hits $1B Valuation — Founders Fund Preempts $80M B-2 Acceleration Round
Just 10 months after @Nominal_io's $75M Series B led by Sequoia's Alfred Lin
CEO Cameron McCord & Trae Stephens (Founders Fund + Anduril) join Sourcery to discuss:
- $155M raised in 10 months, nearly $200M total funding
- Early validation at Anduril
- 4 of the 5 largest defense primes are now customers
- Reducing major hardware test campaigns by 50–60% (which can cost ~$3M per day)
- Strategy: platform expansion, potential M&A, and aggressive hiring
- Anduril LORE
All systems Nominal.
@CameronLMcCord @traestephens @Alfred_Lin
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Trae Stephens & Cameron McCord
(01:11) Nominal raises $80M from Founders Fund
(03:32) Why Founders Fund made the investment
(05:22) Palantir, FF, Anduril: Trae is a "Slashie"
(07:14) Nominal: the GitHub for hardware testing
(12:33) Why Sequoia believed Nominal’s TAM was much bigger
(15:36) Inside Nominal’s growing defense customer base
(17:32) Why government hardware testing still relies on Excel and MATLAB
(22:22) Cutting hardware testing time by up to 60%
(26:55) How AI changes hardware development
(37:22) Why the government is backing new defense tech companies
(33:35) Nominal's sales strategy
(45:44) Competing with legacy software giants
(46:24) Recruiting top engineers
(50:56) Early Anduril LORE: Stories from the desert
Cameron McCord@CameronLMcCord
Ambition is timeless. Tools are not. Today we are announcing an $80M acceleration round at a $1B valuation led by @foundersfund, with participation from @sequoia @generalcatalyst @Lux_Capital @RedGlass @lightspeedvp Avenir, and @Haystack. In the last year, we grew revenue 7x, added some of the world’s most serious hardware enterprises, and built over twice the new product surface area than in our prior two years combined. The most ambitious and fastest-moving hardware teams choose Nominal, from aerospace to energy, and automotive to defense, because it helps them learn faster and scale more efficiently. Our mission is to bring that advantage to every team building in the physical world. For those not yet using Nominal, we hope to have the opportunity to earn your trust and work hard for you and your company soon. All systems Nominal. 🚀 Thank you @business and @EdLudlow for sharing out story. And @traestephens and @zebulgar for doubling down. Read more about our announcement here: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Founders Fund retweetledi
Excited to announce @foundersfund has led an $80m round @ $1b into Nominal
While tools for software engs building software have advanced greatly over the past decade...
Tools for software engs building hardware... have not
@CameronLMcCord & team are fixing that discrepancy!!
Cameron McCord@CameronLMcCord
Ambition is timeless. Tools are not. Today we are announcing an $80M acceleration round at a $1B valuation led by @foundersfund, with participation from @sequoia @generalcatalyst @Lux_Capital @RedGlass @lightspeedvp Avenir, and @Haystack. In the last year, we grew revenue 7x, added some of the world’s most serious hardware enterprises, and built over twice the new product surface area than in our prior two years combined. The most ambitious and fastest-moving hardware teams choose Nominal, from aerospace to energy, and automotive to defense, because it helps them learn faster and scale more efficiently. Our mission is to bring that advantage to every team building in the physical world. For those not yet using Nominal, we hope to have the opportunity to earn your trust and work hard for you and your company soon. All systems Nominal. 🚀 Thank you @business and @EdLudlow for sharing out story. And @traestephens and @zebulgar for doubling down. Read more about our announcement here: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Founders Fund retweetledi
NEW IN PIRATE WIRES: Inside @anduriltech’s race to build Fury, America’s first autonomous fighter jet.
On October 31, last year, a gunmetal-colored, bullet-shaped object streaked across the skies of the California high desert under the careful watch of the U.S. Air Force. It took off without a pilot. It flew only by the guidance of software, takeoff triggered by the press of a single button.
That flight was the culmination of years — decades, even — of American experiments with unmanned fighter jets. Air Force officials long imagined pairing pilots with autonomous systems to amplify their combat power.
But the technology didn’t exist... until now.
For Pirate Wires, @jackbeyrer delivers the complete story of how Fury, an AI-powered unmanned fighter jet, was built. He also details what’s next: producing an entire fleet of Furies capable of defending America.
The future of American deterrence has arrived. Read the full story 👇
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Founders Fund retweetledi
I am forever grateful for the impact Shyam has had on my life.
He is single-handedly responsible for exfiltrating me from the government and helping me realize how I could better leverage my strengths instead of remaining trapped in a concrete basement fighting bureaucracy.
He taught me how to manage my time, track action items, and organize/prioritize (actually kind of crazy that no one taught me how to do that until he did when I was 25 yo).
During my time @PalantirTech, he would playfully chastise me for being "too much of an ideologue", while simultaneously penning treatises about how Palantir could change the world.
He proved that it was possible to stare down a seemingly impossible problem and dream up a new reality.
What a joy to have shared such an incredible ride the last ~18 years. Love ya, @ssankar. You are an inspiration.
Another absolute banger from @JeremySternLA.
colossus.com/article/the-pa…
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Founders Fund retweetledi
Founders Fund retweetledi
Energy is the root of all economic activity, and fuel is the bottleneck. Thanks for digging in @mariogabriele.
For anyone who wants to help end the bottleneck, @generalmatter is hiring in LA, western KY and central WA. High-agency engineers, builders and operators wanted.
Mario Gabriele 🦊@mariogabriele
America used to be #1 in the world for nuclear energy and controlled 86% of global uranium enrichment. Today? We've fallen to last place. As we approach the January 2028 ban on Russian uranium, the United States is facing a massive fuel crisis. If we don't reshore this capability, the future of our grid may be at risk. In this episode, @ScottNolan (Partner at @foundersfund & Co-founder of @generalmatter) reveals his plan to take back America's lead. We discuss: • How Scott is applying the SpaceX playbook of cost reduction to uranium • The massive market opportunity in HALEU and next-gen fuel • Scott's counterintuitive advice: avoid starting companies unless the mission is this important. Timestamps (00:00) Introduction to Scott Nolan (02:24) General Matter’s mission to rebuild U.S. enrichment (08:31) Scott’s background: From SpaceX and Founders Fund to General Matter (17:50) How Scott’s focus evolved over 13 years at Founders Fund (33:30) How U.S. uranium enrichment quietly came to an end (38:34) The Russian uranium ban and the 2028 supply cliff (50:56) What the U.S. needs to actually scale nuclear energy (59:30) Why General Matter chose Paducah, Kentucky (01:07:06) The $900 million Department of Energy award (01:14:12) Final meditations
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Founders Fund retweetledi
America used to be #1 in the world for nuclear energy and controlled 86% of global uranium enrichment. Today? We've fallen to last place.
As we approach the January 2028 ban on Russian uranium, the United States is facing a massive fuel crisis. If we don't reshore this capability, the future of our grid may be at risk.
In this episode, @ScottNolan (Partner at @foundersfund & Co-founder of @generalmatter) reveals his plan to take back America's lead.
We discuss:
• How Scott is applying the SpaceX playbook of cost reduction to uranium
• The massive market opportunity in HALEU and next-gen fuel
• Scott's counterintuitive advice: avoid starting companies unless the mission is this important.
Timestamps
(00:00) Introduction to Scott Nolan
(02:24) General Matter’s mission to rebuild U.S. enrichment
(08:31) Scott’s background: From SpaceX and Founders Fund to General Matter
(17:50) How Scott’s focus evolved over 13 years at Founders Fund
(33:30) How U.S. uranium enrichment quietly came to an end
(38:34) The Russian uranium ban and the 2028 supply cliff
(50:56) What the U.S. needs to actually scale nuclear energy
(59:30) Why General Matter chose Paducah, Kentucky
(01:07:06) The $900 million Department of Energy award
(01:14:12) Final meditations
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Founders Fund retweetledi
Excited to announce that Hill & Valley Forum is back for 2026 badder and better
March 24th in Washington DC!
We'll be discussing Re-industrilization, Rare Earths, Biotech v China
A sampling of some of the speakers below:
@traestephens @vkhosla @ssankar @eglyman @bradlightcap
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Founders Fund retweetledi
This week I had @traestephens on Uncapped. He's a co-founder of Anduril and partner at Founders Fund, and he's an amazing person. Hope you enjoy.
(0:00) Intro
(0:35) Choosing good quests in the AI era
(7:35) Ethics behind solving certain problems
(11:29) Working with regulators
(16:54) What's next at Anduril
(18:32) Anduril, SpaceX, and Tesla at scale
(22:30) The future of warfare
(24:48) Balancing Anduril and Founders Fund
(29:07) A firm that rewards going deep
(31:21) How Founders Fund works
(37:30) King-making in venture
(40:26) Concentrating in winners
(43:55) Where there’s alpha in the market
(47:22) Revival in faith
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Founders Fund retweetledi
Could not be more excited for the launch of Fortell - the best hardware demo I've seen in all of my years at Founders Fund.
Steven Levy@StevenLevy
Even before launch these AI hearing aids have become the in-ear Birkin bag of the elite (of a certain age). Here’s why. wired.com/story/hearing-…
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Founders Fund retweetledi
Talked prediction markets, @Polymarket, and why this space is finally having its moment with @mariogabriele. Had to come out of podcast retirement for this!
Mario Gabriele 🦊@mariogabriele
Prediction markets are no longer a fringe curiosity. They are becoming one of the most revealing instruments in modern finance. Platforms like @Polymarket, once a niche corner of crypto, now regularly clear billions in monthly volume as traders speculate on everything from political outcomes to sports to cultural events. Few people saw this future as early, or as clearly, as @joeykrug. A decade before prediction markets went mainstream, Joey dropped out of college to co-found Augur, the first decentralized prediction market protocol. He later became one of the most influential investors in the category by backing Polymarket at @foundersfund. In this conversation, Joey shares why the moment for prediction markets has finally arrived, what has changed, and how these markets are reshaping information flows across society. You can listen to it here 👇 • YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=6F7RcH… • Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2KL8TA… • Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joe… And a big thanks to the incredible sponsors that support our work: ✨ Guru – The AI source of truth for work: getguru.com ✨ Auth0– Secure access for everyone. But not just anyone: a0.to/mario
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