Going Direct Conversations

Jordan Wolfe has a conversation with Oliver Beavers, founder of Phosphor, to explore the complex world of project finance and next-gen infrastructure development.

Oliver shares insights on the challenges of project financing for next-gen infrastructure and why the true bottleneck isn't capital—it’s the ability to organize large amounts of information and communicate projects properly to investors. He breaks down what he is working on at Phosphor to help solve the information problem in infrastructure and vision for standardizing the project finance industry.

Follow Oliver on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliverbeavers/

Follow Oliver on X - https://x.com/oliverbeavers

Follow Jordan on X - https://x.com/jrwolfe

Resources:

For more information on Phosphor: https://phosphor.co/

Last book Oliver Read: Alchemy of Air

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:20 Understanding Infrastructure As An Asset Class

05:02 Breaking Down the Key Players In Project Finance

08:45 Financing Structures In Infrastructure

11:10 Project Finance vs. Real Estate: Key Differences

12:49 Disconnect Between Capital And Projects

14:41 The $10 Trillion Infrastructure Opportunity

15:55 Why Capital Isn’t The Problem

20:23 Navigating First-of-a-Kind Project Financing

22:23 How to Pitch Infrastructure Projects to Investors

28:09 What Oliver Is Building At Phosphor

31:36 Lessons from Financial History: Reduce Information Costs And Markets Explode

36:31 Why The Financial Model Is The Source Of Truth In Infrastructure

38:52 Phosphor's Vision: Standardize Project Financing For Next-Gen Infrastructure

41:49 Future of Project Financing & Standardization

49:34 Where to Find Oliver & Phosphor

📢 Subscribe to learn more about how people are using technology to enable a decentralized real economy!

📰 Join our newsletter: https://goingdirect.beehiiv.com

Jordan has a conversation with Packy McCormick, founder of the Not Boring newsletter and Not Boring Capital, an early stage venture capital fund. Packy discusses his journey from writing to investing, the techno-industrial revolution, and why integrators, not aggregators, will define the future. They also dive into the power of optimism, decentralization, and why owning the means of production is key to disrupting incumbents.

Follow Packy on X - @packyM

Follow Jordan on X - @jrwolfe

Links to Packy’s Work:

• Not Boring Newsletter - https://www.notboring.co/
• Packy’s 4-part series on Vertical Integrators - https://www.notboring.co/t/vertical-integrators
• Packy’s Human Strategy Memo - https://www.notboring.co/p/most-human-wins

People and Resources that influence Packy:

• Ben Thompson on business strategy - https://stratechery.com/
• Carlota Perez - https://carlotaperez.org/

Recent podcast Packy listened to:

• Podcast: Chris Williamson w/ Eric Weinstein

Recent books Packy has read:

• Working by Robert Caro
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• Everything and More by David Foster Wallace

00:00 - Introduction

01:09 - Making The World More Optimistic

02:44 - Techno-Industrial Revolution

04:50 - Explaining Vertical Integrators And Why They Will Define The Future

09:31 - Vertical Integrators Are Multiple Companies In One

10:34 - Carlota’s Perez Techno-Economic Paradigm And Identifying Winners

13:49 - Competing With The Incumbents

19:12 - The Middleman Economy

23:46 - Importance Of Being A Compliment, Not The Commodity

25:20 - Packy’s Journey into Writing and Investing

31:20 - Creator VCs And Getting Paid To Do The Work You Enjoy

33:39 - Packy’s Investment Focus

37:18 - Packy’s View On Decentralization As A Theme

38:20 - Importance Of Market-Based Solutions

40:54 - Future Of Manufacturing In The West and Embodied AI

44:45 - Optimism In The Age Of AI

46:33 - Packy’s Human Strategy Letter

53:45 - Influential Thinkers and Resources

57:12 - Where To Find Packy

💡 Subscribe to learn more how we can use technology to build a decentralized real economy and make commerce more human

📰 Join our newsletter: https://goingdirect.beehiiv.com

Jordan has a conversation with Aleks Gampel, co-founder and COO of Cuby Technologies, Inc. Cuby is building micro-factories for new home construction.

They discuss why decentralized manufacturing is a critical to solving the US housing crisis, the failure of past construction-tech startups, and why Cuby’s approach could finally bring affordable, high-quality housing to market at scale.

Read more about Cuby here - https://www.cubytechnologies.com/

Follow Aleks on X - @AGampel1

Follow Jordan on X - @jrwolfe

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction

01:23 - Aleks Journey From WeWork to Cuby

07:13 - Construction and Its Aging Workforce

07:53 - Meeting His Co-founder and Bringing The Factory Close To The Construction Site

10:56 - How Cuby’s Micro-Factories Work

13:25 - Cuby’s Early Challenges

17:48 - Breaking Down How Homebuilding Works

19:13 - Power of Vertical Integration

21:00 - Competing with Industry Giants

22:42 - Quality Issues in US Construction

25:24 - How Cuby Breaks Down The Problem And Applies Lean Manufacturing

28:48 - Current Status Of Cuby

32:07 - Community of Next-Generation Industrialists

34:18 - How Do We Enable Next-Generation Manufacturing?

39:19 - Detroit’s Missed Opportunity in the 2010s

41:18 - Role of Robotics And Humanoids

43:51 - Breaking Down The Economics Of Cuby’s Micro-Factories

46:15 - Challenges Of Automation In Home Building

48:31 - Why Aleks Is Working On This Problem

50:20 - Cuby’s Geographic Footprint

50:54 - Public Funding Opportunities

51:51 - Why Aleks Doesn’t Think 3D Printing Is The Answer

53:09 - Breaking Down Prefab vs Modular Housing

54:54 - Where to Find Aleks

📢 Subscribe to learn more about how we can use technology to build more decentralized production and make commerce more human.

📩 Newsletter: https://goingdirect.beehiiv.com/

Jordan has a conversation with Ian Rountree, founder and general partner at Cantos Ventures. They discuss the power and limitations of decentralized production, how venture capital fits into the equation, and the role of AI, robotics, and new industrials in reshaping the global economy.

Read more about Cantos here - https://cantos.vc/

Follow Ian on X - @IanRountree

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

03:05 What Is Venture Capital?

06:38 The Power Law: Why 2% Of Companies Drive 90% Of Returns

08:38 The Shift From Software To Deep Tech

12:28 Why Ian Is Investing In Decentralized Production

16:20 Four Key Conditions Where Decentralization Makes Sense

25:47 Role of AI And Robotics in Manufacturing

32:31 Can the West Compete in Manufacturing Again?

38:03 Role of Venture Capital In New Industrials

43:11 Final Thoughts And Where To Find Ian

💡 Subscribe to learn more how we can use technology to build a decentralized real economy and make commerce more human

📰 Join our newsletter: https://goingdirect.beehiiv.com

Jordan has a conversation with Jon Olinto, the co-founder and CEO of One Mighty Mill.

Jon and his team are on a mission to fix flour. The company is building decentralized stone mills across the US where they mill organic wheat and produce breads and other flour-based products that work for our bodies, not against them.

Jon shares how he discovered the broken wheat supply chain in the US and breaks down why ultra-processed, industrial flour took over. 🍞🌾

Read more about One Mighty Mill and order some of their products - https://www.onemightymill.com/

OMM’s products can also be purchased at Costco and Whole Foods nationwide.

Description:

Kate Judge is a Professor of Law at Columbia Law School focused on banking, financial innovation, and financial crises. She is the author of Direct: The Rise of the Middleman Economy and the Power of Going to the Source - where she explores the increasing power of middlemen across our economy.

• Read more about Kate here - https://kathrynjudge.com/
• More information on her book here - https://kathrynjudge.com/books/direct

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction

03:15 - How We Ended Up With A Middleman-Dominated Economy

05:20 - Fragility Of Supply Chains

08:35 - Benefits Of Going Direct And How It Affects Our Daily Happiness

11:45 - How America Has Largely Lost the Culture Around Direct Exchange

13:20- Public’s Reaction To Kate’s Book

18:50 - Importance of Understanding Market Forces And How It Affects Local Economies

22:18 - Discussing The De Minimis Tax Loophole

24:32 - New Administration And Future of U.S. Manufacturing & Supply Chains

30:22 - How e-commerce Fell Short With Removing Intermediaries

35:45 - Consumer Demand For Going Direct

39:41 - First Steps In Building New Systems To Increase Direct Exchange

42:48 - Broken Food System In America

45:50 - 2008 Financial Crisis And How Incentive Structures Are Not Aligned With Protecting Consumers

49:00 - Importance Of Understanding Finance

52:40 - Things For The Average Family Are Going To Get Worse Before They Get Better

54:30 - Changing The System Will Require A Collective Effort

56:00 - Scaling Beyond Limits Of The Direct-to-Consumer Model

1:00:45 - European Corporate Governance Institute

1:02:50 - Closing

📢 Subscribe for more conversations on how we can use technology to go direct and make commerce more human.

📩 Read the Going Direct newsletter here: https://goingdirect.beehiiv.com/

Jordan has a conversation with Aleh Kandrashou, co-founder and CEO of Cuby Technologies. Aleh shares his background as a physicist and engineer, why he started Cuby, and how he’s applying lean manufacturing principles to revolutionize home building.

In this conversation, Aleh explains why construction is a logistics problem, how Cuby’s mobile micro-factories can reduce costs by up to 40%, and why the future of housing depends on decentralized production. 🏗️🏠

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction

01:50 - Meet Aleh Kandrashou

04:58 - Aleh’s Journey From Engineering To Construction

07:33 - Why Construction Is A Logistics Problem

10:45 - Cuby’s Mobile Micro Factories

15:21 - Integrating Manufacturing With Construction

17:56 - Modular vs. Prefabricated Homes

20:33 - Why Aleh Chose To Work On This Problem

23:51 - Poor Housing Quality In America

28:35 - Good/Bad Of Geographically-Dispersed Teams

31:32 - Steel vs Wood-frame Housing

35:32 - Why Decentralized Production Is The Solution

42:53 - Building Factories And Scaling Production

45:24 - The Cost Breakdown Of Building A Cuby Home

48:01 - Unleashing Real Economy, Long-tail Entrepreneurship

50:38 - Aleh Is An Engineer’s Engineer

📢 Subscribe to learn more about how we can use technology to go direct and make commerce more human!

🔗 Our newsletter: https://goingdirect.beehiiv.com/

#goingdirect #makecommercehuman

@cubytechnologies3435