How Nevada Became a CleanTech Hub | Tristan Pollock, Managing Director @ gener8tor

Oh, today on the show we have Tristan Pollock. Tristan is managing director of generators accelerator program happening out in Reno, Nevada. And if you weren't thinking about Reno, Nevada before this video, same. Uh, but apparently, as we'll learn, there's a lot happening in Nevada as it pertains to uh energy innovation. And I'll let Tristan

elaborate, but there's a lot of interesting things happening that I learned in this episode. Tristan is also a magnificent ecosystem builder. He has stood up a number of accelerators in his time. Uh very knowledgeable about climate tech innovation and uh innovative ecosystems in general. So it was great as an ecosystem builder myself

to uh learn from him. Uh and I know it'll be great for you as well. Shout out as always to our sponsors, Clean Tech Growth Lab. If you're looking to grow in clean tech, they are the people to do it with. And the producers of this podcast, Craze and Friends. And with that, I give you Tristan.

Oh, welcome to another episode of The Grove. Shout out to our sponsors mentioned just before this. Without them, it would not be possible to interview awesome people doing awesome things like Tristan. Welcome. >> Hey, Blake. Good, good to be here. Thank you for having me.

>> I'm so excited. >> We talked about this before. We met actually before this episode. I said, "Please, please, after hearing about your background, you are a fellow ecosystem builder. There's a lot that I learned from you, a lot that I will learn from you in this episode as well." Uh, so before we get into it, if you

could give a brief introduction of yourself and what you're building. >> Yes, of course. Uh, so hi, I'm Tristan. Uh I'm working I'm currently building the generator accelerator program here in Nevada. Uh I'm calling it more of a go to market program because our goal here is to bring the you know the most

interesting energy related ideas into the state and open up all the doors uh in 7 weeks which would normally take months if not seven months uh plus of figuring out the you know the ecosystem understanding what sort of uh state entities, government entities you know private corporation etc that you can get into and access and So that's that's

kind of our our stick. Um I can go on and on and on. Um I'm sure you'll give me some time to talk about all the exciting things that are happening in Nevada. Um but we basically in short, you know, we have a uh industrial park that's bigger than the city of Detroit

and one of the largest in the world here, 30 minutes outside of Reno. And uh that's where the Tesla Gigafactory is. We have the only active lithium mine in the entire country uh in in Nevada. And so that combined with all the battery companies, the Tesla Gigafactory, Redwood Materials, which was uh the ex

CTO of Tesla, we have this thing kind of like the Tesla mafia that's here, similar to the PayPal mafia and Silicon Valley, all these people worked at Tesla, started all these other companies. Uh but Redwood Materials then recycles all the all all the critical minerals and uh you know brings them back to batteries. So, we have this

really interesting ecosystem that's happening right now uh that really fits inside this kind of big re-industrialization movement in America and like we've uh we've yeah we've got all the the different factor varying factors that are would make it really lucrative to do this here in Nevada. Uh you know, including like the low red

tape, uh the the land, the low cost of energy, tons of renewables. were, you know, top one to 10 of uh or sorry, one to five. Uh that might have been a little bit of jet lag coming out as I just got back from scouting companies in Europe, which we can get into. Um but yeah, one to top one to

five and like you know, everything from geothermal, solar, um you know, we battery storage, uh we have it here in Nevada. So I think it's a really exciting time and even Mark and Dreon is telling all their companies to reinccorporate in Nevada. there's a whole exit happening and out of Delaware into Nevada and you know even Elon Musk

is doing it uh with bringing some of his companies and reincor reinccorporating them into Nevada. So it's it's it's it's a it's a hot time for Nevada these days. you know, you you haven't probably haven't heard as much of it uh in the past decades. The Hoover Dam in Vegas, but it is actually happening. And uh the

good thing is, you know, up in Reno, we're like a little Denver. So, you know, one of Outdoor Magazine ranked it as like the top lifestyle uh state uh you know, in like a couple years ago. And so most people don't even know yet like what a cool place it is to live and

like the the outdoors and there's more mountain ranges than any other state and more hot springs the other state. So >> I thought I wasn't going to do this but you Blake I don't know you made I I just kind >> so excited you're putting Nevada on the map. I respect it. It's it's awesome.

So, it's it it's uh equally as surprising to me and I'm sure anybody listening about uh Nevada and all the things that you just spoke about. Uh how before we get into more of the program, what it means to build an ecosystem, um you know, putting more context into what's happening in Nevada, how did you

get here? How did you become this this like Nevada >> Nevada guru? Yeah. not a shaman. I you know I you know it's so I moved here four years ago. Um but I'd say I I really like you know I spent most of my adult life in Silicon Valley. Uh before that I I I was born and raised in

Minnesota. So I've always been a kid in the woods that you know loved to like tinker. But after starting a couple companies and one of those company I started I built a social impact company media company and then built that for three years and we sold that and then we started another company like Airbnb for

retail really trying to like buil help help people like access this one in 10 like empty spaces that sit you know empty on the main streets of the of big cities in the US and we thought hey can we fill these with like artists designers you know um you know emerging brands you know just like you you know,

it's good for the community and it's good for these the these business owners, >> right? >> And we we we started building in Minneapolis and then got into a startup accelerator called Angel Pad that was started by early Google folks and uh in three days notice moved out to San Francisco and uh and lived with four guys in a

one-bedroom apartment with no furniture for three months. What eventually my wife move you know my now wife but we've been dating a long time but she moved into and uh and so we we had like five six people in this like one point you know this is like >> you know uh this is kind of as like

startups were really kicking off you know everyone wanted to do a startup in like 2012 >> we got went through this program that kind of broke me into Silicon Valley that like you know and then you know you know three day you know three days notice moved and never never came back um and So that you know we that we

eventually raised like 10 million for this this company called storefront. Um and then uh after building that for you know three four years selling it to a European competitor then we ended up moving uh or I ended up moving into one of our investors and helping them uh work on accelerator programs and I

already was like a huge fan of accelerators because that's what you know got me got my kind of uh Silicon Valley career started >> and uh go ahead Blake if you had a question. No, I I mean I have a million but >> Okay. Okay. All right. Right.

I could stop there maybe and then we can like we can move into like the venture capital side after. >> Okay. Good. Good. So then so then yeah I as as far as the the transition from building companies into accelerators.

What is it that if there's like two things that mainly you took with you as far as what uh what businesses need or what startups need to succeed and how accelerators provide those? >> Yeah. You know, I I feel like I you know, every other every other week I hear someone be like accelerators are

dead. But I I'll tell you one what the main my first point would be the reason why they're not is I think that like saying accelerators are dead is saying like mentorship is not valuable to humans anymore. I think that's the number one thing that like for me building a comp building a startup

moving into like then you know paying back all that time and all those mentorship hours that I took from other people and then being able to give those back and the other side of the table running an running an accelerator um is is like that's like number one. I think there's just so much that like you you

know whether it's emotional support or strategic support like you need a sounding board and you know like it I think that's just like such an important part and maybe like oftenimes sounds so simple but undervalued part of like running a company and I think you know have especially if you have like there's

a lot of people like I say like mentors are just like friends that you can go to and be open and honest with that know something like you know more specific or better than you or have been there a couple stages ahead of you. So like we had a lot of mentors, you know, at a

seedstage company, we had a lot of members who were series A or series B. Um, and so I think that same thing is true with like accelerators and it like it kind of opens all these doors for you and like gives you someone that like has this dedicated care and intention to support you through your like, you know,

this journey and, you know, they could be like tactically and strategically helpful, but they also can just be like, you know, sometimes it's very lonely to build and it's probably maybe not talked about much, but like in this AI era, you know, AI native companies, I don't, you know, they might be some of these

founders might we might end up finding out, you know, 5 years from now, they're like they're like so like way lonelier than like any other, you know, cohort of founders in the history of, you know, creating tech startups, you know, because like, yeah, you can build with less of a team, but also that's like

less support and less like >> right >> mental capacity, >> you know, you're not Yeah, it's just like, you know what, it's the days of the whiteboard, you know, you know, drawing session, you know, maybe like, you know, disappearing in some ways in some in some some circles. So I think you know I think uh that that that the

mentorship piece is like number one and I think number number two as terms of like you know accelerators and like maybe like the value they provide. I think I think I don't know you know I think the network effect I mean as like you know as a fellow ecosystem builder someone who thinks about like how

network effects play into each other I think there's there's something there too that you know you have the network of the investor network that's tied to this accelerator you and all the people involved in it and then you have like the alumni network of all these founders that like honestly we wouldn't have you

know raised a decent amount of our I think our first checks if it wasn't for those two networks alone like out coming out of Angel pad. Uh you know we had other founders that had raised money that made introductions that like helped us close money that one of those was 500 startups and Christine Sai and like

without meeting her I would have never worked for 500 and like you know I wouldn't have done all this other stuff you know working on the other side of the table for accelerators too like flying around the world you know launching accelerators in Russia and Saudi Arabia.

>> Good good okay that's that's a great transition. So, so we said um so we said uh mentorship and networks and I'm obviously 100,000% here with that cuz these are and I think it's I think it's really awesome that we're doing this and that you're doing what you're doing because uh mentorship and networks are

the less tangible things that um that are that are really core to going to market to growing something to making impact in the world and uh because they're less tangible I think they get uh less press and like you're saying it's easy to say oh accelerators are or a mentorship is dead or something

because it's not you know it's not something you can hold like it's it's it's it's this concept that you're connecting with people but it is really core to the human experience of building something which is you know the whole thing of going to market and creating impact and stuff. So when you transitioned, you're saying to the other

side of these tables and you're and and you and you stood up a bunch of these programs around the world, what what have you learned about uh repeated practices about what makes accelerator successful and uh what doesn't make uh an accelerator successful in a certain place? Like can you just stand one up

anywhere or are there some places that are that are better than others? Yeah, I think I think there's some like realities of of accelerators well or maybe even like building like a startup ecosystem where I think one was like everyone wanted to make their own Silicon Valley and I think that that there's like you know there's some like

I I get it like I like like a good moonshot but I think like part of that is like you have to have reality on like what is what is actually like achievable or where how are founders actually going to thrive in that ecosystem and I think the same goes for like accelerators. So

I I like to see accelerators as this function for that like really does tie into like the local ecosystem. So yeah, I mean they can be very broad in Silicon Valley, but really honestly they haven't been for the most part. They've been very software focused or let's just say very AI native focused and a lot of the

deep tech hard stuff was like almost like kryptonite for a long time. Uh, and now we're starting to see this the shift of that because you know since since we've seen AI kind of like conquer all of these like old businesses or reinvent them in AI native ways now like the big mode is like deep tech hard tech pulling

physical AI pulling data from you know physical manufacturing or operations and you know like you know I don't know you like starting a new a modular nuclear reactor or a fusion operation or And so I think like along all those lines like now there's been like a new interest and renewed interest um in some of the hard

things and I think that's really good. Uh and like that's you know in terms of like our accelerator in Nevada it's like that's you know that there's a fit for that right like it was like we don't need to necessarily have like the best you know try to like replicate like the exact like you know investor ecosystem

that was built around semiconductors you know however many decades ago that Silicon Valley has. It's like actually we're we have like a strategic location advantage here that we're close to uh Silicon Valley, you know, we're like three-hour drive away, but we also have like these industries here that like are ripe for like being customers for those

sorts of new startups and and so like those that's like the opening door side of it. So I like I like you know 500 um as well as like how we f I've focused this accelerator is was always very distribution focused. You know I think it's like companies will die if they don't grow. How do you grow? you either

get more customers or you get funding. So it's usually I think those are kind of the two most important aspects of of a accelerator program. >> Okay. So then so then and and this this this does come back to uh to to Nevada because I want to I want to ground it in

tangible example but you know speaking to like your work in Saudi Arabia Russia like you were saying is it more I it I'm glad because this is going to like clear fog out for me but is it it seems like chicken or the egg to me like do you go to a place and say okay I'm going to do

research into this place and here's the kind of accelerator that exists or do you go and you say I want to make this kind accelerator. Now I'm going to find these partners, you know, which comes first. >> Yeah. Yeah. I I I think like I I would say like I don't know. I'm kind of a

maybe maybe my foundational value here is that anything is possible. And so I would say >> like >> um but like you know I I just yeah I think anything is possible. So I really feel like it starts with a passion and interest just like just like starting a startup is. So, like if you know

someone's like interested in spinning up a VC or an accelerator or like you know like uh I'm going to butcher the name but like Discupulus Ventures uh that was just uh founded like a $30 million fund that was like you know they really they're they're really focused on like the Sagundo Gundo community in LA of

like hard tech that surrounded SpaceX and like um and part of big part of this re-industrial re-industrialization movement that uh you know we've been we've been really working at in Nevada as Um but I think like you know it's like again like I don't think someone would have you know necess someone would have

necessarily come at that you know uh just bec just because it came from a passion and interest and like a community and you know seeing like an opportunity to like build and like continue supporting people in that way.

Um and I'm sure a lot of those LPs are also people that have like you know were built built out of SpaceX um in that same you know in that same area in the same community. So I think like it's like really comes from uh that kind of insight of like hey like I want to

create something. I think this is an amazing community. This is amazing place. I one care about the place, but I also care about, you know, a certain thesis and like how do we kind of combine those things together into like something where I can like play a supporting role uh and uh you know, a

company helper role I guess as a as a great goal uh you know who was a mentor in in in Angel Pad, you know, always says I love his uh you he's on the board of Coinbase and like you know did all these incredible things you know dating back to like Google and Square but like

it's he just puts out his LinkedIn company helper, but you know, it's like I think that's that's kind of it. I think it's like there's like a there's a mission there's a mission driven side of it that I think that really that really pays off and like it's a kind of a combination of community and thesis.

>> Okay. So that so the the Okay, so that's that's interesting because if we're talking about caring about a place, there are some things that are specifically placebased and some things that don't have to be. For example, again, just from my perspective, um learning here and I'm taking notes. I'm just going to just going to do whatever

we say in Philly. But um there's a government body that's specific to a place and there's a physical industry that is uh you know in in a place where you have buildings and you have people that live here and work you have have particular skills that create certain companies that are at a scale that can

become industry partners for example. So, um I'm I'm I'm thinking those those two things are very place-based. You know, the the something that's not talked about as much, but definitely matters is like if you're trying to recruit tens of people to come here for an accelerator program, it matters the kind of lifestyle that they're that's

that's accessible to them in a place, right? Like you're saying, the the lifestyle, the nature, things like this. Uh but something like a like a like an investor network LP or or or otherwise like that can be global you know and so how like how much of building this kind of ecosystem is very specifically in a

place and how much of it can you access you know outside of that. Yeah, I always it's kind of maybe that comes back to like a fundraising like strategy in in a way because you have you have like these unique assets that maybe a lot of founders don't even realize like it's like you know your community, your

background, your location, your your industry and like you can kind of tie all those to various types of investors. And so some of those are placebased and some of those are just you know they're more thesis or industry based or um you know that maybe they're a female focused fund uh you know so like they're that's

that you know like so like I think there's all these types of like you know strategic advantages you have when like fundraising and so maybe that's kind of a way we could think about it in terms of like the ecosystem too. Um, and I think like, yeah, I like how you're breaking down like the what what is in a

physical location versus what is not. And I think maybe that's just kind of how I think of it is like not all of it has to be in a physical location, but that physical location is your strategic advantage for various reasons. like one could be the industry that has been created or or operated there and like

the you know just like I mean basically what's happening I think in in Gundo uh Sagundo is like the SpaceX mafia and like we had the PayPal mafia in Silicon Valley right early days and like early fintech that like then you know made Peter the Elon Musk and like all these things that continue to operate in this

like Silicon Valley ecosystem and just like I was saying in Nevada we have this Tesla mafia where you know Tesla Gigafactory goes there then like these spin out businesses where battery tech and recycling critical minerals and like all these things have now been since created. So I think like those kind of like cycles of like venture capital

creating winners and then you know reinvesting into either companies or others um that is definitely like one proven model for like startup ecosystems that you know can kind of see repeated over and over and definitely will create that. It won't create Silicon Valley but it it's it is like a model that like you

know you need you need winners to like you know get them excited about investing in more companies and you need winners to like create founders who are willing to take more risk and bets on themselves and like so I think that that kind of like cuz if no one ever won at at the startup game like it would have

you know died a long time ago. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Interesting. So uh what have you Okay. So we talked about the things that work. What ha have have you experienced in this same conversation ecosystem building accelerator building what have you experienced that doesn't work?

H I think I mean I I think maybe to that extent I'll just take the other side of the the the yang of the yin is like you know I think trying to do things like trying to be some like trying to be everything and not being authentic and like you know not authentic to the

community or the location or the thesis you know I think you know I think it's it's got to feel like this is actually accomplishable and I think like I think I love like again like I love a good moonshot and a big vision and like a mission But if just you also just like

trying to slap on I think like where people started to push back it's like I'll give a couple examples I guess one is like just everyone calling themselves something valley right like instead of just like trying to come up with a whole new brand good example of this where someone did it right was actually in my

home state of Minnesota where the there was a group of folks that like we like hey we're not even really like the Midwest is such a big place and like we're we feel like we're a very unique culture in Minnesota you know we're the number one like for example this kind of plays into it but like the you know the

most like I don't know 30 40% or something of people in Minnesota are Scandinavian heritage for example um that's more than any other state and like you know it obviously fits like we're we're a cold ass state you know we need that sauna you know um and so they rebranded it like the north and I

was like yeah like you know there is no like north states of like you know there's no no one really ever said that so it was Oh, that really and like it it kind of brings out this cultural pride and like >> excitement and like kind of like there's a mission packed into that and there's

like an identity packed into that. Um, so I always thought that was like a really cool like example and I felt like really tied to that you know as as someone who grew up in Minnesota and like you know bared these you know cold negative January February winters and like you know and like so now and

through that like I think there's been a lot of development and like you know things centering around that sort of culture where like sauna you know their having their own kind of specific sauna culture um you know like you know just like northern the the the access to the outdoors and the boundary waters in the

north is like unparalleled and like you know I think we've seen like a whole resurgence in like northern cities and and like you know especially postcoid you know and like delusion >> that >> but yeah I just I just like love seeing that kind of uh >> that that that kind of like re

rebranding to an extent and it's I think some to some extent I think that's that's also the same kind of thing that we need to see happen in Nevada because like we're not just a desert state that for like >> you know gamblers It's like there's actually so much you can access year round in the outdoors

and that's why I kind of like almost start out is like yeah like we were saying earlier lifestyle like you have to like want to like live in these places if you want to build in these places right and I think you know to to attract the right to attract the community you know it's it is a mix you

know it is a mix I think sometimes we forget like how much human psychology and behavior is like factored into every decision we make you know and yes >> and when we think about building a physical location ecosystem. It is so important like you need both those things. You need opportunities to like

make have a win. Uh and then you also need like every day has to feel good for you too, right? like it's, you know, um I mean there's some maybe context of like, hey, you know, certain t areas of San Francisco, you just stay inside and like just work all day and like, you

know, but uh you know, I also think San Francisco is a beautiful city and like there and there's a lot of uh you know, there's still a ton of potential uh for for San Francisco as a city. >> Wow. Well, I appreciate that. I uh I got family in Minnesota and as you could

tell I have uh Scandinavian heritage and I didn't see some Danish there. I don't know. >> Oh, and like Norwegian Swedish. But I I didn't know about that. I didn't know about that rebranding and it makes me like, you know, makes me excited.

>> Yeah. Yeah. It's so cool like Yeah. Like, you know, just it's just a matter of words and thinking and but it like somehow like into the biological like me, you know, like meat of who you are. >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So now I am interested in hearing about so I'm glad that we

laid out uh somewhat of a foundation about how to think about accelerators how to think about placemaking ecosystem building how can we now understand what's happening in Nevada within that context. So you know what is the the extent of government alignment you know we talked a little bit about the the industry that's available the lifestyle

that's available um you know the the the funding that's around that. How are you piecing all these things together? Like what does it look like from your perspective to be the one stitching this quilt? However you want to take it, you know, I'm I'm I'm interested.

>> You know, obviously like you know the what what is it? It takes an army or you know I think like it's so true, right? Like I you know I'm coming into this in uh you know and I'm taking you know I'm being able to build on top of a platform that has been being created for you know

decades. Um and you know I think you know, in our our sense, right? Like we're our program is backed by the federal government, the state government, you know, we work really closely with the governor's office. Um we work really closely with uh Edon, which is like the economic development of the north. um as well as a lot of the

counties and cities and you know so we have like a you know I think one we have like a really interesting you know it's not like too crazy of an ecosystem because as a if you look at the whole state because we have you know kind of two main two big cities and then and

then we have like the surrounding areas and like um and so it's you know I think there's there's that aspect of it is like we are really tied into all of those things and people need to want it you know I think there's that's that's one of I guess one of the aspects is

like you know a lot I sometimes Most people don't see the value of like startups. They don't or they don't see the value of like small business. Um and so the good part is like we have a state-run VC that will match people's funds. We have a governor's office uh Carson Melissa that like and and Shaq uh

you know these these guys like are like super innovative in how they're thinking and how they're trying to like develop the state. Um and I you know I think and even like in with Edon like we have uh one of my closest you know um you know again not a co-orker but feel like a

co-orker Doug Doug Irwin you know helped you know him and Edon helped bring you know Tesla almost 10 years ago and I think that really like changed the dynamic and then created started to create these capital cycles that led to other companies being started here um and then it made it even possible for

other kind of you know big companies you know the now billion dollar companies to bring their manufacturing ing here like >> Posetron AI, you know, we have a a chipm company that uh creates better faster chips than Nvidia and you know more for inference and like >> they were able to build the entire thing

in Reno uh because of you know the support structure that was here like the the talent the manufacturing talent and the tech talent is here you know big part thanks to to Tesla Gigafactory being built here and the thousands of people that work out there so that was able to be possible or like you know the

amp amper an that was a Singapore based company then went to SF and then came here with their last $80 million raise and built like a you know an $18 million Reno facility to do their manufacturing of these like um trans transformers for data centers uh and so >> and just why like you know from my

perspective it's like why like why is this happening >> like why yeah why Nevada now >> like why would you take you know why would you come fresh off a $80 million raise. And I mean, I guess if you're if if I'm just off the top of my head thinking if that knowing nothing about

that company, if they have talent or if they have an office in SF and Reno's not that far and they want a physical plant, it's like, you know, you're kind of keeping your geographically your your your employees close together. But like, you know, I don't know what like what else about this is attracting these

these massive developments. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think it's a good question. Yeah. And I think one I think it's there is that geographic advantage where you know Reno I mean if you're looking at if you're looking to bring if you're in Silicon Valley and you're looking to like build out like a hard

tech deep tech operation and you need land you need you know space for a facility you need space to build a facility you know that could be anything from like nuclear to and fusion and like an energy energy uh you know uh production or manufacturing like in the amperand example.

>> Um, you know, where where are you going to go? I guess when you think about like the economics of of building in California and I think that I think it's no surprise I guess that California, you know, is a a great state, but it is quite expensive. You know, one of the

most expensive tax-wise, and also there's a lot of red tape, and the red tape also costs a lot of money. And so when the Tesla Gigafactory came out, I think they to Story County, you know, 30 minutes outside of Reno, they were like, "Hey, like we want to so what would it take to like build this?" And I think

they were actually thinking of building in California. Um, and then they were like, "Well, we can like sign a permit this, you know, today." So, so I think like I think that sort of stuff is is like and now it's like maybe it's not a day, but you know, in weeks I think like

you know, which is still, you know, much better than I think than most parts of the country. And that's also why there's a lot of Texas attrition too because like it's like a it's a state that welcomes like business and industry and wants to and is built zero taxes, zero corporate taxes built into it. Um and

and also there's you know there's incentives to bring business here too as well. So like that's where the government part comes in. You know the government can either support andor deny and make it harder to run business. And I think that's also why we see even like you know Sergey Brin from you know a

Google founder moving out to the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe because you know and now there's this billionaire tax with California and so I think a lot of this what that means is like that's an opportunity for other places right and then I think we saw this during like you know kind of covid era right everyone

was like I'm leaving San Francisco I'm done with San Francisco I'm moving to Miami you know and it's like so I think there's there's always every once in a while there's a little like Miami revival Um, I think the talent, you know, you can't, you know, mess with the talent and the capital is still in

Silicon Valley. So, like, how do you be as close to that as possible while being like, you know, economically smart about the business? >> Yeah. Interesting. Um, you we we mentioned being extremely energy focused in in this in this program that you're building, in this community that you're building. Where So, if we take it down

one level, what buckets of energy are you guys specifically focused on? I mean you mentioned the the the full >> um like end to end uh supporting lithium >> things like that. >> Yeah. Yeah. So right now um we are looking at a few sectors um within energy. I mean I think advanced energy

is interesting um you know any sort of new advanced energy that could be anything from battery storage to new applications like fusion or nuclear. Um then we have critical minerals and and the lithium loop. So new tech uh we we backed a company in this last batch was doing like zero water lithium extraction

from black mass uh that uh was an XYC founder and and then basically came here commercializing uh tech out of UNR and we were able to get enter make the right connection so they got a 400k grant and uh access to the ENCAR wet lab at UNR um while they were in the program. Um, so

like th those are a couple like big buckets that fit like, you know, fit the land, fit the fit the industry that's here. >> I also think physical AI for, you know, or industrial AI for any of the big industries here. That could be, you know, everything from, you know, >> we have like we do have the, you know,

the giant casino operation entertainment, you know, scene in in Vegas. And so I think there's like opportunities there and like how operations flow and AI bringing AI to that but also physical AI for manufacturing, mining, uh logistics which is you know very big in in uh the whole state. Um and then and then I

think data centers right like everyone like you know can't get enough data centers or or or maybe they have had um I think that like data center I think we can have a you know you know a large impact on like the data centers and like data center sustainability and technology like bringing new ideas into

the state. We have one the largest uh data center campus in the US. Um you know right right across the street from the Tesla Gigafactory and I think that we can you know one Nevada is a leader in renewables. two, we are a dry state, so we do need to be water conscious and

a lot, you know, I think there is the technology out there and there I'm sure there's of so many new startups, I've been talking to some of them this week that are, you know, bringing new ways to like, you know, be low or zero water utilization within data centers. Um, and then you know even like let's say like

the heat the heat problem you know people are you know in Phoenix they're like you know they have like a I think they have a head of heat or something like this that's like you know look they're like monitoring like you know data center you know heat that they're bringing or the sound they're bringing

and so I think just like understanding all of these things that like can affect communities but then solving for it and I think as being like a you know techno optimist I think that we do have solutions or can have better solutions all the time and so I think that's like a big, you know, hot button issue. But I

think we can, you know, support that by making sure that like the community need, you know, communities are like it's like lowest impact possible. Um, and you know, we have, you know, we can bring startups into the state to be uh a leader on that front.

>> Nice. >> So yeah, all all types of things like that I think that fit within, you know, what's happening in Nevada, who can truly be successful here. Like I don't, you know, I don't think like we need to try to like poach, you know, software startups from Silicon Valley. Like I think the the hard tech, the deep tech

um as a broad you know definition of everything we're doing is uh you know >> even even in like you know even within the energy space like aerospace and defense you know the department of defense war is like doing a lot of grants and contracts right now um some of which is is being executed within

Nevada. So I think there's all of these aspects are uh you know interesting for Nevada and and founders being able to like operate successfully here. >> Interesting. Well, I have two uh two of my favorite questions for you, but before I ask them, is there anything that we haven't covered about the the

Nevada uh ecosystem building? >> I don't know. I mean, at this point, people probably either like love me or hate me for how much um you know, I love the I always love the Elon quote where it's like, we're going to go to Mars and look, it's going to be fun.

>> You know, like I think I'm I'm kind of like saying the same thing. Like it's like I think I think I would say like you know what people know about Nevada or like you know Reno and Vegas is totally being reinvented and like you know there's been it's been reinvented for for many years now. you know, even

back to like I had my first first realization of that going back to Vegas and I went, you know, I met Tony Sheay and uh you know, he did he's he was creating these like idea this idea around collisions and just like how do we bring people together in you know, in a more livable area of downtown Vegas

that is it's locally focused and it's like startup and entrepreneurial and >> people naturally have these places that they run into each other and they come with ideas and they start companies. and and that was you know I don't know now now it must have been over 10 years ago uh and you know who know I never

would have guessed I mean this is the beautiful part of life that I would be living in Reno uh some point in my life uh or andor being you know an advocate for living in Reno but >> I think you know yeah I think if you if you love the outdoors and you love a

little bit of space fresh air clean water all things that are you know probably becoming more and more important as time goes on with humanity on the planet. Uh it's a really it's a really interesting place and a really intimate community that you can have a big impact on.

>> Cool. Well, all right. So, I got these I got these two questions. First one is with what you're building or what is the biggest hurdle and how is it also an opportunity? >> I think the biggest I mean maybe part of that and that's why I'm like maybe so over pitching Nevada is that I think it

there is that brand that branding that needs even even I saw this in Minnesota too, right? And that's why I love like the North branding because >> Yeah. I think you know every I came I moved out to California. I was such a motan. I thought like San I went to the beach and I was like this is going to be

warm. We're going to be like laying out in the sand. And I think so many people do this in San Francisco. It's cold all the time. >> There's you know fog rolling in. You live on one half the city. There's like a lot of there's fog there most of the time.

>> Um and and I think the same and I got all the same questions. They're like, "Man, isn't it cold in Minnesota?" I mean like you know to quote little yachty right like it's like it's you know like it it everyone would just only center around right it's like so I think when you

don't know a place it's very focused on maybe small uh you know categorization in your brain and the brain does this to like you know help it process all this information but I think then if you you you kind of have to come back to that and and like challenge that I guess and

maybe that's like rebranding or like that's like you know that's redefining and like you know with Minnesota I'd say I I came up with a line for this this answering this question I would say yeah it's like you have like Alaska winters but you have Florida summers >> and you know I think like because I it's

like I don't people always talk about cold I'm like it is so humid so hot >> like I was just talking I was just talking to someone today about this I'm like it's like literally like the swamp but like the other side of the Mississippi right >> right Minnesota is like where the

Mississippi starts And uh you know, Nola is like where like the Mississippi ends, but like they're both super hot and a ton of mosquitoes. So yeah, I was, you know, so I think I think that is like a big a big part a big part of the mission is like I think that you know for anyone building an

ecosystem uh or you know who cares really like cares about where they live and like I think part of that is like >> you have to kind of rethink like what people how people redefine it in their brain and like be able to really quickly redefine that for them. And I think I

think that's part of like why I have so many like oneliners about Nevada or like Reno because I like even like I had a person from Denver come to Reno and they were like it's like a little Denver and I'm like that is way better branding than like >> perfect >> like a like a methed out desert gambling

town or whatever whatever I thought the first time I drove through, you know. Um, you know, we actually have a river and we have a a huge lake and a lot of lakes actually and like we have like, you know, this river valley. We have deciduous trees, not just like coniferous trees and it's not all

desert. >> Well, this is I I I think that's so I personally whatever despite anything else, I personally really love that concept of the rebrand and uh understanding how how people think about a place. I swear to God, it's been in my mind so much recently. So, it's crazy to hear you talk about it. Uh my last

question for you cuz uh it seems like comes easily to you, but what inspires you? >> Oh man. Yeah, I I do feel like I do pull inspiration from I I you know, I I'm a very much like in time person. uh you know through a lot of uh a lot of like

research and learning and personal growth I found on my I'm in time and my my wife Danny is is through time and so she like knows like hey 3 months from now I know exactly how I'm going to feel. I'm like very much like I know how I know how I feel right now and I'm like

I also understand really well like how other people are feeling you know and like I can understand like that kind of I don't know empathic sort of like energy I guess that like you know like areas and people and spaces have and so I you know I think for my me for inspiration I'm always like looking at

like what's the mission you know what's what's the reason why we're doing this can we make something better and more exciting and and you know like you at truly truly improve upon like where we're at today with through whatever work that I'm doing and that started you know pre even what I knew even

considering myself an entrepreneur when I was working on the that first company and it was all focused around social entrepreneurship and social impact and that was at a time where people used to just you know think you had to just you know make your money and then invest and then donate to a nonprofit or you know

if you made a lot of money make a foundation and like that's like you know later in your life and And it was just starting to tides were just starting to change where like you could have a triple bottom line. You could have a you know a BC Corp didn't exist yet but it

was like that was coming. And so we really tried to popularize the idea of like social entrepreneurship and that you don't necessarily need to have a nonprofit to make a difference in the world. And like sometime you know it really you know it's just like how how you know quickly or how fast or how big

of an impact can you make and can you make it you know a net positive to the you know the community to the earth. And even if that is a for-profit entity. So like I think everything in my life kind of comes back to someone who wants to do right by the world. And uh and I think I

get a lot out of it. I think I get a lot out of like seeing helping people and giving giving you know where wherever I can. And I think uh that's just like something a personal value that's like then parlayed to like my work.

>> Very cool. Well, if anyone else was inspired uh by your story, what you're doing, what's the best way to either follow along or get in touch? >> Yeah. Uh I would say we can drop some links. I think you know I would love happy to always connect with anyone especially if you're building in the

space you know and we have you know uh the deadline is coming up for applications but you know drop you can drop my LinkedIn my ex um you know I'm happy to happy to happy to connect and and hear what people are working on and you know what anything what what takeaways they thought were valuable and

why they're moving to Nevada now. >> Good Tristan. Thank you so much. I'm excited for the next one to hear about everything you guys are doing in Nevada. But I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Thanks, Blake. It's been a pleasure.