00:12:17 · Sebastian Johnson, Alex Higginbottom
[00:12:17] S0: And how have you found the transition? You know, this is, I I guess, like, your first job in many respects, right, like, coming out of studying or coming out of being an academic or researcher. How have you found that transition from, you know, being in a in a lab or in a university environment to now running a company? [00:12:36] S1: Yeah. I mean, it's it's a great question. I think, you know, I think it's... I guess Elon has spoke a lot about how, you know, physics is a a great preparation for problem solving in life, and it doesn't really matter where that is. And I I think I've definitely found that. I think, you know, I'm very proud of the culture we have at the company where we can bring quite a rational, you know, problem solving approach to all parts of business, and that could be... You know, that even, like, GTM commercialization and marketing is is another problem to solve. So, of course, there's been a massive learning curve, massive ramp. You know, every day, I think I'm at my kind of cognitive limit. And that, you know, that that is... Has its challenges. But but overall, you know, I think it's... This feels like my calling.
00:12:36 · Alex Higginbottom, Sebastian Johnson
[00:12:36] S1: Yeah. I mean, it's it's a great question. I think, you know, I think it's... I guess Elon has spoke a lot about how, you know, physics is a a great preparation for problem solving in life, and it doesn't really matter where that is. And I I think I've definitely found that. I think, you know, I'm very proud of the culture we have at the company where we can bring quite a rational, you know, problem solving approach to all parts of business, and that could be... You know, that even, like, GTM commercialization and marketing is is another problem to solve. So, of course, there's been a massive learning curve, massive ramp. You know, every day, I think I'm at my kind of cognitive limit. And that, you know, that that is... Has its challenges. But but overall, you know, I think it's... This feels like my calling. [00:13:25] S0: And where have you had to spend your time? You've mentioned that you've been building this amazing team of some of the best talent in the world. You've obviously been doing this fundraiser. Obviously, you are, you know, you have the research background, academic background yourself to do the work. How are you spending your time? Are you doing some of the the training, the building? Are you... You've been laser focused on talent and a team? Has fundraising been a huge suck on your time? How have you balanced it all?
00:13:25 · Sebastian Johnson, Alex Higginbottom
[00:13:25] S0: And where have you had to spend your time? You've mentioned that you've been building this amazing team of some of the best talent in the world. You've obviously been doing this fundraiser. Obviously, you are, you know, you have the research background, academic background yourself to do the work. How are you spending your time? Are you doing some of the the training, the building? Are you... You've been laser focused on talent and a team? Has fundraising been a huge suck on your time? How have you balanced it all? [00:13:51] S1: Yeah. I I spend a lot of time on people, on, you know, hiring and making sure every hire is someone that... You know, this kind of PayPal mafia idea of I would... I could imagine myself working for them or they are much, much better than me in this kind of specific, you know, in what their role is. That is something that's so important. And Yeah. Yeah, I will continue to be spending a lot of time on that. I'm still doing a little bit of technical work, you know, over the summer since, you know, since we... Especially since I'm not fundraising anymore. I've had a little bit more time. So, actually, I'll be first author on a on a paper shortly, but I think that might be the last for a while. And then, yeah, now we're really entering this phase of focusing on getting our product, which we think is extremely impactful, into the hands of customers. So I'm now spending most of my time with with customers and and traveling to them and and spending time with them and learning the the problems that that they care about.
00:13:51 · Alex Higginbottom, Sebastian Johnson
[00:13:51] S1: Yeah. I I spend a lot of time on people, on, you know, hiring and making sure every hire is someone that... You know, this kind of PayPal mafia idea of I would... I could imagine myself working for them or they are much, much better than me in this kind of specific, you know, in what their role is. That is something that's so important. And Yeah. Yeah, I will continue to be spending a lot of time on that. I'm still doing a little bit of technical work, you know, over the summer since, you know, since we... Especially since I'm not fundraising anymore. I've had a little bit more time. So, actually, I'll be first author on a on a paper shortly, but I think that might be the last for a while. And then, yeah, now we're really entering this phase of focusing on getting our product, which we think is extremely impactful, into the hands of customers. So I'm now spending most of my time with with customers and and traveling to them and and spending time with them and learning the the problems that that they care about. [00:14:49] S0: How how have you found that part of the role? I guess, you know, selling the product to potential customers, but also selling the mission and vision to potential investors. And, you know, you've obviously got this very clear strong view on the world and a very clear strong view on the value that you can provide to the product that you're building. How have you found, you know, getting people on-site and and trying to share that vision and that mission with investors and with customers?
00:14:49 · Sebastian Johnson, Alex Higginbottom
[00:14:49] S0: How how have you found that part of the role? I guess, you know, selling the product to potential customers, but also selling the mission and vision to potential investors. And, you know, you've obviously got this very clear strong view on the world and a very clear strong view on the value that you can provide to the product that you're building. How have you found, you know, getting people on-site and and trying to share that vision and that mission with investors and with customers? [00:15:14] S1: Yeah. So I think, obviously, what we're doing is to some ex... It... It's kind of digging new ground, it... Which is obviously a massive benefit for us, a massive strength, you know, market creation and doing something totally new. But it does mean there is a little bit of, you know, a kinda education that needs to happen with investors, with customers. So definitely, that's been one of the things that has been a a learning curve ramp is is how do you, you know, communicate this in a way that people can understand, but then also kind of ramp that up to, especially with an investor, for example, you know, maybe over time, you want them to have the best understanding possible. And we've been really lucky with our investors that, generally, they are very kind of frontier investors that have a good technical understanding of what we do, which which we really care about.
00:15:14 · Alex Higginbottom, Sebastian Johnson
[00:15:14] S1: Yeah. So I think, obviously, what we're doing is to some ex... It... It's kind of digging new ground, it... Which is obviously a massive benefit for us, a massive strength, you know, market creation and doing something totally new. But it does mean there is a little bit of, you know, a kinda education that needs to happen with investors, with customers. So definitely, that's been one of the things that has been a a learning curve ramp is is how do you, you know, communicate this in a way that people can understand, but then also kind of ramp that up to, especially with an investor, for example, you know, maybe over time, you want them to have the best understanding possible. And we've been really lucky with our investors that, generally, they are very kind of frontier investors that have a good technical understanding of what we do, which which we really care about. [00:16:06] S0: That's amazing. And it's a... It has... You've got some... You you... Yeah. You've got some great great investors. As... So now what's next? You know? What is the immediate thing? Right? Like, you've this model released. You've got some exciting news coming out. You know, what is the next priority for you?