Ideas

A call for startups building very specific products.

1. Subsurface sensing, exploration, mapping, and navigation. We barely understand the subsurface of the earth and sea, but it’s important for everything from geothermal boreholes to navigation of subsurface robots. Who is building the location layer for the subsurface?
2. Insurance for unexpected behaviors of AI models. Its exceedingly rare that a new insurance category is created (the last major one was cyber insurance). AI models that drive real world decisions open up a huge category for insurance for when these models don’t behave as expected. Who is building the underwriting engine to price insurance on complex AI models?
3. Arctic-ization of technology. For the first time in multiple generations, we’re going to have a new global trade route open up. We’ll need new battery chemistries, industrial lubricants, geolocation, telecommunications, deicing equipment, and more (not to mention huge projects like icebreaking ships). Who is building the suite of products for activity in the Arctic?
4. Universal comms protocol for defense tech. We need the USB for defense technology. When you unbundle a complex, exquisite systems to instead be a mosaic of specialized products, the subsystems need to talk with eachother easily. Who is building the open architecture operating system for everyone else’s defense technology?
5. Custom silicon for all. There’s a future not too far away that allows mid-sized companies to produce custom silicon, at decently advanced process nodes, and at sufficiently small quantities. Previously, the cost to tape out a custom chip demanded expertise, scale, and access to TSMC’s best fabs. Who is building the generative tools negotiating the business partnerships to do cheap custom silicon?

more to come…