Our guest today is Brad Hunstable, the co-founder and CEO of Linear Labs. Linear Labs develops fully modular electric motors and generators for use cases that include micro-mobility, HVAC systems, and automobiles.

Brad is a successful entrepreneur and sold Ustream to IBM for $150M before starting Linear Labs. We first learned of Brad and Linear Labs when Jonathan helped organize the inaugural Venture Dallas event.  Since then, Brad has gone on to raise from prominent venture capital firms like Lowercarbon Capital, Science Ventures, and Ryan Graves' Saltwater Capital. Brad and the Linear Labs team also pioneered a public-private partnership with the city of Fort Worth, Texas which you'll hear more about in this episode.

Recently, Brad's family was struck by an unspeakable tragedy which he discusses with us and details how it re-defined his mission at Linear Labs.

We hope you enjoy this insightful and emotional episode with Brad.

LinearLabs: https://linearlabsinc.com/
Hayden's Corner: https://www.haydenscorner.org/

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Show Notes

(01:45) - Brad describes his background and the origin story of Linear Labs

(09:15) - Building a go-to-market strategy for a company that has a new technology in a traditional industry

(10:30) - Pain and velocity in product-market fit

(15:05) - Learning from experience in entrepreneurship, business building as a process

(17:45) - How Brad learned about making the transition from software entrepreneur to hardware founder in an industrial sector

(23:30) - The importance of a "why not?" and a culture focused on curiosity

(27:30) - Sustaining excellence in a company at scale

(30:50) - Brad and the city of Fort Worth, TX create a new form of public-private partnership

(38:25) - Brad's experience with personal tragedy and how it shaped his mission moving forward