We <3 Gundo

The future smells like jet fuel

In today’s Diary:

• We <3 Gundo

• Becoming a manufacturing powerhouse again

• “Ghost sharks” go on patrol

• Your next family vacation

Hey Rational Optimist,

I’m writing you at 4 am from LA airport. Stephen and I spent the last two days taking a group of 25 investors around the deep tech mecca that is El Segundo.

Now we’re off to SF to meet 15 more startups. I’m most looking forward to talking with the founder of Terra Nova, which builds autonomous robots that can raise sinking cities. Their first project is to raise San Rafael up 4 feet, which will save the city from having to build a $900 million seawall.

You know we love Gundo: this place is the next Silicon Valley, only far more important. The founders here build actual stuff, not just software. We met several future billionaires this week.

Here we are outside Rangeview’s new cyberfoundry with founder Cameron Schiller. Rangeview is using 3D printing and robotics to revolutionize the manufacturing of complex metal parts, including for the defense industry. His mission is to revive American manufacturing and reclaim our ability to make real things that we ceded to China.

Outside Rangeview’s cyberfoundry with founder Cameron Schiller

Did you know America relies on China to make some of the parts needed for its own defense systems? It’s an emergency, and Cameron is hell-bent on fixing it.

Down the road in Costa Mesa, Stephen and I got an insider’s tour of defense tech disruptor Anduril with Dr. Shane Arnott. Anduril is most famous for its autonomous air systems. Here we are with its flagship Roadrunner, which can intercept drones for a fraction of the cost of multi-million-dollar Patriot missiles.

Anduril’s “Roadrunner” drone fighter

Speaking of Patriot missiles, a different founder of a non-defense startup here told us he was approached by the government last week. They asked if he could apply his technology to make certain components of Patriot missiles more quickly and cheaply. We signed NDAs so that’s all I can say on that. But rest assured, many small companies in Gundo are already stealthily contributing to America’s defense efforts.

Anduril’s maritime division is lesser-known but equally important. Shane’s in charge of development of the Ghost Shark, a bus-sized combat sub that can patrol for months without refueling (on the left below) and the Dive-LD, a “scout” that maps the seabed (on the right below). Both operate without humans on board.

Anduril Senior Vice President, Programs and Engineering (Maritime Division), Dr. Shane Arnott

Back in Gundo we met with Viridian Space’s Slava Spektor. He spent 17 years running an electric propulsion lab. Now he’s creating an “air-breathing satellite.” I learned that satellites must constantly adjust themselves to stay in the right place by releasing little bursts of propellant. When it runs out of propellant, the satellite must be decommissioned.

Viridian Space is building a thruster that scoops air from the atmosphere and turns it into propellant. If it works, satellites could stay up much longer, changing the economics and increasing what’s possible in space. The idea has been around since 1961. Slava thinks he’s finally solved it.

Viridian Space cofounder and CEO Slava Spektor

There’s so much more where that came from, but we have to catch our plane.

I’ll leave you with a dose of audacity. We visited Reflect Orbital, which aims to produce sunlight on demand. Its satellites will orbit near the day/night line of Earth, catching sunlight and reflecting it to a chosen dark spot on Earth. The angle can be adjusted to light up areas for rescue missions, provide sunlight to solar panels, light up nighttime events, or many other things we haven’t even thought of yet.

I’ll admit I was skeptical when we first heard about Reflect and met cofounder Ben Nowack one year ago. But after seeing how far they’ve come, I think it just might work. Some top VCs are betting on it. Reflect has already raised over $35 million from top-tier VCs like Sequoia and Lux Capital.

Here’s a picture of Stephen and Ben. Note the American flag proudly reflecting off a panel of the satellite in the background!

Reflect Orbital cofounder and CEO Ben Nowack

For your next family vacation, why not take your kids to Gundo? They may fall in love with the town like we have. Let them feel what it’s like to be among ambitious young people pushing the envelope and building real things. There’s no place like it. One visit might be more insightful than four years of college.

And remember your No. 1 job as a Rational Optimist: click “like” and “restack,” then share this article with your friends.

We’ll be back next week with more notes from the field.

— Dan Steinhart