The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
00:27:57 · Harry Stebbings, Chase Lochmiller
[00:27:57] S1: I completely agree with the ripple effect that you see. I think it's one of the most inspiring things when we see the amount of millionaires leaving The UK. People don't consider the ripple effect of them leaving in all of these different ways. We're seeing a lot of data center that are planned not being built out. We've seen very prominent people say, oh, we expect 50% of data centers that are planned not actually to be built and ready to go. What percent of data centers do you think that are planned will not actually go online? 50% seems reasonable. It's one of these things, you know, [00:28:26] S0: it comes back to thinking like You can't [00:28:27] S1: give me a decimal point. Why'd you bother? Let's end it here. Neil told me you gave me precision. 50. [00:28:36] S0: You know, it's one of these things where coming back to this notion of thinking like a mountaineer, when you're going through these planning processes, a lot of things can go wrong. What's the number one [00:28:45] S1: thing that goes wrong that prevents it? [00:28:47] S0: Getting permits, getting entitlements, getting land. You know, you're trying to acquire a certain piece of land and, you know, the person you're trying to buy it from ultimately doesn't wanna sell. Getting a a large load interconnection agreement done with the local utility. Getting an air permit if you're bringing online new generation or
00:28:47 · Chase Lochmiller, Harry Stebbings
[00:28:47] S0: Getting permits, getting entitlements, getting land. You know, you're trying to acquire a certain piece of land and, you know, the person you're trying to buy it from ultimately doesn't wanna sell. Getting a a large load interconnection agreement done with the local utility. Getting an air permit if you're bringing online new generation or [00:29:02] S1: With the greatest respect, I don't come back to this, and I'm not an agent of the CCP, I promise. But in China, I mean, they'll move the 3,000,000 people out the dam for you with a forklift, and they'll just give you a green light on day one. [00:29:14] S0: Yes. It's a benefit to the data center developers if you're viewing it through a purely Machiavellian lens. Yes. [00:29:21] S1: I am a venture capitalist. I give zero shits about the sentimentality in your home. You will be rehoused somewhere better. Again, charity is not our endeavor. Okay. When we look at these data centers, now they're being used as like a political instrument in a way that we didn't expect. Does that worry Yeah.
00:29:21 · Harry Stebbings, Chase Lochmiller
[00:29:21] S1: I am a venture capitalist. I give zero shits about the sentimentality in your home. You will be rehoused somewhere better. Again, charity is not our endeavor. Okay. When we look at these data centers, now they're being used as like a political instrument in a way that we didn't expect. Does that worry Yeah. [00:29:44] S0: I think I've never wanted to be the main character of a political policy debate. And data centers have come front and center to the upcoming midterms in The United States, and they become this very polarizing topic. Why that is? I I think they are kind of this... I I think there is concern around, you know, this this era of AI, and I think people are legitimately concerned around, like, am I gonna have a job in the future? Am I gonna have... Be able to provide useful work to the world that, you know, I'm gonna be able to get compensated for? So I do think that that is a concern on people's minds, and data centers are sort of this physical manifestation of AI. And putting all of that to to side, like, the biggest aspect is people are very emotional about data centers. I think when you look at the facts of what data centers are doing from job creation, from driving down energy costs, from being water neutral, from, you know, generating long term tax revenue that is transformative for the communities that we're investing in, I think the facts are all on our side.
00:29:44 · Chase Lochmiller, Harry Stebbings
[00:29:44] S0: I think I've never wanted to be the main character of a political policy debate. And data centers have come front and center to the upcoming midterms in The United States, and they become this very polarizing topic. Why that is? I I think they are kind of this... I I think there is concern around, you know, this this era of AI, and I think people are legitimately concerned around, like, am I gonna have a job in the future? Am I gonna have... Be able to provide useful work to the world that, you know, I'm gonna be able to get compensated for? So I do think that that is a concern on people's minds, and data centers are sort of this physical manifestation of AI. And putting all of that to to side, like, the biggest aspect is people are very emotional about data centers. I think when you look at the facts of what data centers are doing from job creation, from driving down energy costs, from being water neutral, from, you know, generating long term tax revenue that is transformative for the communities that we're investing in, I think the facts are all on our side. [00:30:41] S1: Should I slightly blame... With respect to Dario and a lot of other leaders who've said for the last few years, we're gonna replace all jobs, we're gonna replace all jobs, and then surprisingly, they hate you. Yeah. Gosh, cake or death. Cake, please. I wasn't expecting that. Oh, crikey. You won't have a job. Won't have a job. Oh, you don't want the data set up.
00:30:41 · Harry Stebbings, Chase Lochmiller
[00:30:41] S1: Should I slightly blame... With respect to Dario and a lot of other leaders who've said for the last few years, we're gonna replace all jobs, we're gonna replace all jobs, and then surprisingly, they hate you. Yeah. Gosh, cake or death. Cake, please. I wasn't expecting that. Oh, crikey. You won't have a job. Won't have a job. Oh, you don't want the data set up. [00:31:04] S0: Yeah. I I... The interesting aspect to all this is that data centers are this massive employer. They're leading to this massive economic boom for the entire blue collar labor economy in The United States. This massive resurgence and reindustrialization of The United States. We're hiring people, you know, in factories, in the field, and these are tons of folks that, you know, are skilled trade workers. Right? People working with their hands to bring the infrastructure of intelligence to life. I think the interesting aspect that people are concerned that AI is gonna take jobs, but yet it has so far only created tremendous amounts of jobs and tremendous amounts of economic development. So, again, I think it's one of these moments where people are having an emotional reaction to something. But if you look at the facts of what's actually happening, the data is on the side of... Data centers are actually a very positive investment for the communities. If anyone's doing data center security, by the
00:31:04 · Chase Lochmiller, Harry Stebbings
[00:31:04] S0: Yeah. I I... The interesting aspect to all this is that data centers are this massive employer. They're leading to this massive economic boom for the entire blue collar labor economy in The United States. This massive resurgence and reindustrialization of The United States. We're hiring people, you know, in factories, in the field, and these are tons of folks that, you know, are skilled trade workers. Right? People working with their hands to bring the infrastructure of intelligence to life. I think the interesting aspect that people are concerned that AI is gonna take jobs, but yet it has so far only created tremendous amounts of jobs and tremendous amounts of economic development. So, again, I think it's one of these moments where people are having an emotional reaction to something. But if you look at the facts of what's actually happening, the data is on the side of... Data centers are actually a very positive investment for the communities. If anyone's doing data center security, by the [00:32:01] S1: way, would love to invest in that business. It's a really good buy. It might be a more PE play, to be honest, not a venture play. It's a phenomenal business. Another part of your business is obviously providing GPUs and compute. Can you help me understand the economics of that layer? Like when you look at it, I'm a venture investor, how long does it take to pay back on the hardware?