Pete Khooshabeh PhD

@TheNarcicyst Are you doing a show in LA?

@USC launches new @TechstarsLA #accelerator. Glad you're considering #SiliconBeach footprint as such a wide swatch @paulmcq_usc, "The budding tech corridor spans Los Angeles County and portions of Orange County, and it hosts several tech and biotech industry leaders..."

But, it's just getting started. You'll need more housing, larger spaces, shared infrastructure, and more investments to keep drawing talent, enabling new companies, and building the ecosystem. Fortunately it's all on a bedrock of a legendary Gundo history of American Industry and generational talent - some of which works at, and consults for, these new startups. This area is no stranger to a booming, thriving manufacturing and defense tech ecosystem, with SpaceX, Anduril, Varda and many more nearby in Hawthorne and Long Beach. What El Segundo is, is the new hardware and manufacturing startup nursery, where new companies can find footing, build their first tech, get their first customers, find a supportive community aligned in physical industries and healthy living, and together build something world-changing. I've never seen such an optimistic future framed in the shadow of an oil refinery, but it reminds us of something basic and true - the origins of prosperity is abundant energy, and the Gundo has that in spades.

Gundo has tell-tale signs of the beginnings of something truly great - that it strikes you as weird, different, but refreshing, simple, and honest. This is the opposite of zirpy LARPS, do-nothing virtue-signaling, or hand-wringing doomerism. This is "shut up and build" energy

I'm walking away impressed, optimistic and relieved there are more hardware startups grounded in solid physics and engineering, and a new younger generation of founders building more than niche CRMs with better LLM calls.

For however powerful storytelling can be in creating a self fulfilling prophecy, the story being told in Gundo is a compelling one: Build for your country, for your family. Focus on things that are real. Work hard, work out, live clean. Call bullshit where you see it.

It's ironic that the contrarian deep tech founders of today, like @isaiah_p_taylor, are pro-nuclear, pro-natal, to build hydrocarbon energy abundance, are really a revival of the American Dynamism of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s that built so much of the country. Tech needs this.

@MasterActual @umbraspace @BenVis79 have a look at this #SAR image and some of the labels people gave describing it

I haven't hit you guys with a new mystery image in a few. Make your best guess at what's in this dank @umbraspace image (+where). Great example of how #SAR can keep precise tabs on new construction progress + operational state of infrastructure day & night around the world.

Love this poem and cartoon characterizing JOMO (joy of missing out) in an otherwise constant state of FOMO leunig.com.au/works/recent-c…

@GregoryMcKeown nice example of #Essentialism in @Nature Why four scientists spent a year saying no nature.com/articles/d4158… cc @BenVis79 based on our recent chats ;-)

The #ev #Chargers in playa vista Off Seabluff and pacific promenade managed by @PowerChargeEV and BTCPower (btcpower.com) are the worst! Only 1/5 is even on… Hope @ChargerHelp takes all your business #siliconbeach #playavista

@LAlight @MikeBoninLA @TraciParkforLA @WestsideDarling the south bound cross walk button at Runway Rd and McConnell Ave, on the east side of the intersection, in #playavista #runway never works. Can someone fix it?

@jbullock85 @vc lots of room for improvement and alternative models for getting non-traditional’s in the defense space, albeit through commercial pathways

16/ If youre passionate about defense innovation, go after the DoD. They need it, hell, America needs it. But beware, it's a long road.

Im frequently asked by founders if they should work with the DoD. As a former Navy SEAL and founder w/ 5 years in DefenseTech, I care about defense innovation more than most, but my answer is almost always No. Why? 1/

@vc excited for you doing this @vc and working on topics like #Metaverse asc.army.mil/web/news-redef…

39/ Want to enlist in our efforts and fight for a better future? Signup for our newsletter or shoot me an email at jake@army.vc. It is time to build. labyrinth.substack.com/about

1/ Some exciting news. I'm taking over as the Managing Director of the Army Venture Capital Corporation (AVCC). AVCC was created by Congress in 2002 to be the venture capital arm of the @DeptofDefense. You can follow our progress here: labyrinth.substack.com/about

@USCViterbi “USA engaged with its adversaries in an asymmetric and continual war of weaponized #influence #narratives, DARPA researchers point out. Adversaries exploit misinformation and true information on online multimedia content.” militaryaerospace.com/trusted-comput… Cc @phonologist FYI

AFWERX is seeking 100 talented, innovative and motivated service members to participate in the Ventures Fellowship fall cohort! For more information and to apply, visit bddy.me/35GEOaL #Innovation #AFVentures #Fellowship @shift @usairforce @USNavy @USArmy @USMC @USCG

@Econoahmad the pleasure was all mine! Look forward to link up with you soon

In Year 1, we've ID'd and invested in 100+ emerging DOD tech leaders like @4estunderwood, @BiometricsNerd, @dhotweets, & @blackburn_lilly (and SO many more I want to build w/for decades!) meet all of them here: shift.org/press

@IanRountree @IanRountree if academic scientists are dragging you down, recommend you call us friendly government scientists @ArmyResearchLab to help with technical due diligence. For deal flow, you may also be interested in tomorrow’s @xTechSearch pitches arl.army.mil/xtechsearch/

The # of times I’ve consulted a domain “expert” who poo poo’d a startup that went on to be wildly successful is STAGGERING. Managing technical/industry input in diligence is more art than science. Constant challenge, esp. in hardware & bio.