Submarines and the Future of Defense Manufacturing
David Ulevitch speaks with Chris Power, founder and CEO at Hadrian, and Vice Admiral Robert Gaucher, the Pentagon's first direct reporting portfolio manager for submarines, at the opening of Hadrian's Factory Four in Cherokee, Alabama. They discuss the state of America's submarine industrial base, why the Navy now needs more than five times the manufacturing capacity it had a decade ago, and how software-driven factories and a new workforce can close the gap.
Resources:
Follow Chris Power on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/powerc/
Follow VADM Robert Gaucher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertgaucher/
Follow David Ulevitch on X: https://x.com/davidu
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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The Ben & Marc Show: China Has Scale. Can America Catch Up?
Ben, Marc, and Erik Torenberg are joined by Brian Schimpf, Co-Founder & CEO of Anduril, and Chris Power, Founder & CEO of Hadrian. Together, they dig into America’s defense production gap: why the U.S. can out-innovate but not out-produce—and what it will take to turn that around.
They discuss why U.S. war games show we run out of munitions in a week, the myth of “exquisite-only” systems, how to rebuild industrial capacity with software-led automation, financing factories like data centers, and what it takes to create real deterrence in a Taiwan scenario.
Timecodes:
0:00 Introduction
0:27 Technical Superiority vs. Industrial Scale
3:59 The Decline of US Manufacturing
7:23 Challenges in Onshoring & Skilled Labor
13:27 Supply Chains & Rare Earths
15:34 Automation, Software, and Catching Up
17:15 Complexity of Modern Production
23:34 Strategic Policy & Industrial Planning
26:37 Regulatory Barriers & State vs. Federal Roles
35:27 Talent, Data Centers, and Financial Engineering
38:33 China’s Industrial Policy & US Response
46:07 US Manufacturing, National Security, and the China Challenge
52:00 Demographics, Long-Term Outlook, and Closing Thoughts
Resources:
Find Chris on X: https://x.com/chris_power
Find Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bschimpf/
Marc on X: https://x.com/pmarca
Marc’s Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/
Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz
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The views expressed here are those of the individual personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any a16z funds. PLEASE SEE MORE HERE: https://a16z.com/disclosures/
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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China Has Mass. Can America Catch Up?
Ben, Marc, and Erik Torenberg are joined by Brian Schimpf, Cofounder & CEO of Anduril, and Chris Power, Founder & CEO of Hadrian. Together, they dig into America’s defense production gap: why the U.S. can out-innovate but not out-produce—and what it will take to turn that around.
They discuss why U.S. war games show we run out of munitions in a week, the myth of “exquisite-only” systems, how to rebuild industrial capacity with software-led automation, financing factories like data centers, and what it takes to create real deterrence in a Taiwan scenario.
Timecodes:
0:00 Introduction
0:54 The Myth of Technical Superiority
3:31 Erosion of US Manufacturing
6:50 Challenges in Rebuilding Industrial Capacity
8:31 The Skilled Labor Crisis
15:01 Automation and the Future of Manufacturing
17:57 Supply Chain Vulnerabilities
26:05 Regulatory and Policy Barriers
36:49 Financial Engineering vs. Industrial Policy
46:15 US vs. China: Strategic Competition
46:55 The Taiwan Scenario & War Gaming
52:55 Demographics, Economics, and CCP Strategy
Resources:
Find Chris on X: https://x.com/chris_power
Find Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bschimpf/
Marc on X: https://x.com/pmarca
Marc’s Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/
Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz
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The views expressed here are those of the individual personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any a16z funds. PLEASE SEE MORE HERE: https://a16z.com/disclosures/
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Winning the AI Race Part 1: Michael Kratsios, Kelly Loeffler, Chris Power, Shyam Sankar, Paul Buchheit, Jake Loosararian
(0:00) The besties introduce the day with Jacob Helberg
(9:08) Michael Kratsios, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
(18:24) Chris Power, Hadrian
(35:15) Jake Loosararian, Gecko Robotics
(44:37) Shyam Sankar, Palantir
(1:00:33) Paul Buchheit, Y Combinator
(1:13:35) Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the Small Business Administration
Thanks to our partners for making this happen:
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Visa: https://usa.visa.com
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Intro Music Credit:
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Rebuilding America's Industrial Backbone
America is a country of immense wealth, but our manufacturing infrastructure is struggling to keep pace.
In this episode, we discuss the overlooked crisis of American manufacturing and what it means for our national resilience. a16z’s Oliver Hsu hosts a conversation with founders Jordan Black (Senra Systems), Chris Power (Hadrian), and Bryon Hargis (Castelion) on why we need to revive our industrial base — and fast.
From outdated regulations to the adoption of automation, they break down the “death by a thousand paper cuts” that has left our production capabilities lagging behind. Yet, it’s not all grim: these founders share how their companies are taking bold, vertically integrated approaches to reinvent the sector and reclaim America's industrial edge.
Resources:
Find Chris on X: https://x.com/2112Power
Find Jordan on X: https://x.com/jordan__black
Find Bryon on X: https://x.com/hargsb
Find Oliver on X: https://x.com/oyhsu
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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The Factory of the Future with Chris Power
Today, we have an episode with Chris Power, the founder and CEO of Hadrian. Hadrian is a company trying to build the most efficient factories on the planet.
In this conversation, we’ll introduce the audience to advanced manufacturing, and expose them to the reality that it’s a remnant of the first space race. We also cover the challenge of manufacturing, the importance of visibility in complex systems, the killer app for space, how simplifying the world of atoms can be done through bits – and ultimately, what kind of experimentation that may unlock.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
1:28 - What is advanced manufacturing?
4:18 - When a hatch is jammed at the ISS
6:11 - What’s happened since Space Race 1?
8:56 - A retiring workforce
13:20 - What is at stake?
21:03 - Onshoring manufacturing
24:06 - Is capital enough?
24:43 - Fixing the problem with technology
28:55 - Convincing the old guard
31:20 - Building a new culture
34:45 - Experimenting with hardware
37:24 - The value of observability
41:47 - The cost of timeliness
46:09 - Hadrian’s key risks
49:22 - Why Hadrian pivoted
52:22 - What talent is needed
57:31 - Why focus on space first?
1:03:38 - The killer app of space
1:10:36 - Who inspires Chris?
Resources:
Hadrian’s website: https://www.hadrian.co/
Chris’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/2112Power
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Josh Wolfe & Chris Power - Factories of the Future - [Invest Like the Best, EP.281]
My guests today are Josh Wolfe and Chris Power. Josh will be a familiar voice to many of you and is the co-founder and General Partner of Lux Capital. Chris is the founder and CEO of advanced manufacturing start-up, Hadrian. Most of our discussion centers on the need to modernize the factories that supply our space and defense industries. But given the current market environment, we also talk about capital conditions and the responsibility to build products that really matter. Please enjoy this conversation with Josh Wolfe and Chris Power.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.
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Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus
Show Notes
[00:02:40] - [First question] - An overview of the precision manufacturing industry writ large
[00:08:28] - Why the manufacturing sector has so many great investment opportunities
[00:12:58] - Anduril Breakdown; What Hadrian in its final form will unlock for manufacturing
[00:16:08] - What the demand side looks like for manufacturers in its current state today
[00:18:29] - How the nature of demand will shift for this style of manufacturing in the future
[00:22:51] - Important rare earth materials, supply chain constraints, and the revival of commodities
[00:27:55] - The key set of jobs being done by mom and pop shops that could be innovated on and done within a Hadrian factory
[00:30:35] - What is going on inside of a Hadrian factory and how they will evolve over time
[00:32:10] - Prosecuting diligence on someone's ability to execute on their behalf
[00:37:14] - The PhD arrogance trap and how a Hadrian machine will be better in five years from now
[00:48:08] - Breadth of ability versus focus and selling parts to buyers early on
[00:50:42] - Lessons learned and advice for understanding the focus problem
[00:56:39] - Fat startup vs. lean startups and making the hardest irreversible decision during Hadrian’s early days
[00:58:31] - Enduring more schlep work than less being a good signal
[00:59:06] - Chris’ thoughts on the future of Hadrian and defining the exciting and scary edges of the spectrum of outcomes
[01:03:36] - Josh’s thoughts on the future of Hadrian and defining the exciting and scary edges of the spectrum of outcomes
[01:07:22] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for Chris
