#1: Aaron Mandell - Quaise, Quidnet, Altarock and more

<p>Aaron Mandell has co-founded numerous companies at the nexus of energy and water, including: <a href="http://altarockenergy.com/">Altarock</a>, <a href="https://www.f6s.com/waterfx">WaterFX</a>, <a href="http://oasyswater.com/">Oasys Water</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coskata,_Inc.">Coskata</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GreatPoint_Energy">GreatPoint Energy</a> and <a href="https://www.gpv.com/">Greatpoint Ventures</a>. He is on the board of <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200608005111/en/Quaise-Launches-with-6-Million-to-Unlock-Earth%E2%80%99s-Most-Abundant-Clean-Energy-Source">Quaise</a> (millimeter wave drilling for geothermal) and <a href="https://www.quidnetenergy.com/">Quidnet</a> (energy storage).&nbsp;</p> <p>Aaron has taken numerous companies out of university research labs and formed them into successful operating companies. He's successfully applied for and been awarded large DOE / ARPA-E grants, has raised money from large venture firms like <a href="https://www.khoslaventures.com/">Khosla Ventures</a> and even joined a <a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/1667">Y-Combinator</a> batch.&nbsp;</p> <p>In this episode we talk:</p> <p>0:00 Bio / Intro&nbsp;</p> <p>01:50 Quaise technology overview and extracting it from MIT&nbsp;</p> <p>08:00 Traits of successful inventors&nbsp;</p> <p>10:30 Finding commercialization pathways and de-risking&nbsp;</p> <p>14:00 Value of Non-dilutive funding&nbsp;</p> <p>17:00 Difference between R&amp;D and R&amp;D towards commercialization&nbsp;</p> <p>20:00 Mistakes made and importance of timing&nbsp;</p> <p>22:00 Running out of water&nbsp;</p> <p>29:00 Advice to young entrepreneurs &nbsp;</p> <p>31:00 Advice to go after funding from federal agencies / VCs&nbsp;</p> <p>34:00 Sell and then build&nbsp;</p> <p>35:30 -Product-Market Fit in Hard Sciences / Why Aaron went to Y-Combinator /How to MVP&nbsp;</p> <p>42:00 Working with the professor/inventor of the technology&nbsp;</p> <p>43:00 Working with TTOs and Universi