Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

Ep 55: Nathan Mintz on Directed Energy, a Driverless Future, and How He Attracts the Top Engineering Talent


Listen Later

Nathan Mintz is the Founder and CEO of Spartan Radar and, previously, the Co-Founder and CEO of Epirus.  In his twenties, Nathan sought to reform California's broken government and ran for state assembly twice, albeit unsuccessfully. Yet, his loss became our gain as he's become a leading entrepreneur in directed energy and radar systems.  In fact, Nathan has built a reputation for attracting some of the best engineering talent in the country.He began his career at Raytheon and Boeing, designing sensors and electronic warfare systems for the U.S. military.  He used that knowledge to launch Epirus, which now boasts the world's most powerful directed energy system (Leonidas).  He's currently building Spartan Radar and developing software that can dramatically improve automotive radar and accelerate the path to ubiquitous self-driving vehicles.  We discuss his entrepreneurial journey and knack for attracting top talent, as well as the economic and cultural implications of widespread autonomy.  He also explains why he's bullish on a new space age and predicts SpaceX will reach Mars in the next several years! (This episode was recorded before SpaceX’s recent Starship launch.)

Thanks for reading Joe Lonsdale! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and podcasts.



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.joelonsdale.com
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Joe Lonsdale: American OptimistBy Joe Lonsdale

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

150 ratings


More shows like Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

View all
This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

This Week in Startups

1,279 Listeners

a16z Podcast by Andreessen Horowitz

a16z Podcast

1,079 Listeners

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

525 Listeners

Founders by David Senra

Founders

2,044 Listeners

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

9,799 Listeners

Dwarkesh Podcast by Dwarkesh Patel

Dwarkesh Podcast

459 Listeners

Moonshots with Peter Diamandis by PHD Ventures

Moonshots with Peter Diamandis

531 Listeners

"Moment of Zen" by Erik Torenberg, Dan Romero, Antonio Garcia Martinez

"Moment of Zen"

91 Listeners

No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups by Conviction

No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

129 Listeners

The Ben & Marc Show by Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz

The Ben & Marc Show

124 Listeners

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley by BG2Pod

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley

486 Listeners

AI + a16z by a16z

AI + a16z

32 Listeners

Training Data by Sequoia Capital

Training Data

40 Listeners

Uncapped with Jack Altman by Alt Capital

Uncapped with Jack Altman

40 Listeners

Cheeky Pint by Stripe

Cheeky Pint

17 Listeners