Emergent: Building the Future

Building Revolutionary Technology for Seniors

In this episode, we sit down with Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz, founder and CEO of Chapter, a technology company transforming how seniors navigate Medicare and retirement through data-driven plan selection and AI-enabled advisory services. A former member of Palantir’s U.S. government team, Cobi started Chapter after watching his own parents receive poor guidance from a local Medicare broker. We dive into how Chapter has built the best provider directory and prescription pricing engine in the country to match seniors with the right plan across 25,000+ Medicare permutations—without the conflicts of interest that plague the rest of the industry. Cobi shares why he chose to keep the team lean, how Chapter’s B2B2C model unlocked enterprise health system partnerships, what it took to testify before Congress and catalyze regulatory reform, and how he thinks about building a full retirement platform beyond Medicare. If you’ve ever wondered how Medicare actually works, why the brokerage industry is under DOJ investigation, or what it takes to build a product-plus-service company with real defensibility, this episode is for you. Key Takeaways * Medicare covers roughly 70 million Americans, with about 25,000 plan permutations across the country—seniors typically choose from 100 to 200 options in their zip code with no HR department to guide them * Chapter takes a radical approach to being a Medicare brokerage that decouples plan recommendations from economics—advisors don’t know what plans pay the company, and Chapter enrolls people in plans on which it earns nothing every day * The company built the best provider directory in the country for Medicare using data integrations, ML models, and AI-powered automations—it’s the only company that can tell you the exact benefits in each plan and what a prescription will cost at a given pharmacy on a given plan. * Counterintuitively, Seniors use phones more than people in their 30s and 40s, but for communication, not transactions—this shapes Chapter’s product strategy toward phone and text-based engagement over web apps. * Voice AI has massive potential for seniors but is only effective today for narrow, well-scoped tasks like checking a specific benefit—open-ended Medicare guidance still requires human advisors. * How Chapter tested paid ads for direct to consumer but ultimately landed on a B2B2C where health systems refer patients * Why Cobi has no hiring targets and how he still finds amazing people and remains quite lean for a company with Chapter’s level of traction * How Chapter earned the right to testify before Congress without lobbyists or PR firms * Chapter’s broader vision for seniors beyond Medicare involves reverse engineering the use-money vs. earn-money life phase to find optimal solutions. — Brought to you by: Productboard [http://productboard.com/judelson] This episode is brought to you by Productboard, the intelligent product management platform. For over 10 years, Productboard has helped leading organizations like Zoom, Salesforce, and Autodesk build the right products faster. Its end-to-end platform is purpose-built for helping product teams uncover customer needs, define their strategy, and align everyone around the roadmap. And now, it’s equipping product organizations to excel in the AI era with Productboard Spark, its new specialized agent for product management. Explore new product ideas or generate a product brief in seconds with AI that already understands your product and your business. See how Productboard can help your product teams ship faster and deliver high-impact products. Head to productboard.com/judelson. [http://productboard.com/judelson] PropelAuth [https://www.propelauth.com/?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=emergent] Startups and corporate innovation teams routinely waste months building core user authentication and authorization flows into their products. PropelAuth has automated all the most important pieces of the user management lifecycle. Instantly set up waitlists, magic links, social login, user impersonation, user management, Role-Based-Access-Control, SAML integrations for enterprise, team management and much more. With PropelAuth, each of these challenges takes just a few lines of code instead months of development and integration time. And with thoughtful control over design and skinning, it’s easy to keep your product fully on-brand. Get a generous free starter pack that scales through 1,000 Monthly Active Users or mention EMERGENT25 to receive 25% off for the first 6 months for more mature products. Get back to building your actual product and let PropelAuth handle your user management needs. Visit www.propelauth.com [http://www.propelauth.com] to learn more. FlyKitt [https://www.flykitt.com/] This episode is brought to you by FlyKitt “F-L-Y-K-I-T-T”, the first full solution to jet lag. Based on research with Navy SEALs and fighter pilots, the FlyKitt team discovered that long flights cause inflammation in addition to disrupting your circadian rhythm, and they figured out how to solve both these challenges using a customized program for when to eat, sleep, and use their patented supplements and blue light blocking glasses. It’s simple to follow and you don’t have to change anything before your travel day. With FlyKitt, more than 90% of people can sleep well in Europe, Asia, or anywhere else in the world on night 1. Visit flykitt.com [http://flykitt.com], and use coupon code FLYWITHEMERGENT to get 15% off FlyKitt. — In this episode, we cover: * Introduction (00:00:42) * What Medicare actually is and the different plan types (00:03:52) * What happens when you turn 65 and have to figure out Medicare (00:05:19) * What Chapter builds: the data engine behind plan matching (00:07:37) * The perverse incentive structure of Medicare brokerages (00:11:33) * Chapter’s unbiased model and why they enroll people in plans they earn nothing for (00:14:22) * Why there are 25,000 Medicare plan permutations across the country (00:15:46) * Building tech for seniors: misconceptions and design principles (00:17:28) * Voice AI for seniors: where it works and where it doesn’t (00:21:46) * From Palantir to consumer: learning the B2B2C model (00:24:01) * How Chapter’s enterprise partnerships actually work (00:26:50) * Keeping the team lean: hiring philosophy and ruthless prioritization (00:30:16) * Testifying before Congress without lobbyists or PR firms (00:36:02) * The service-plus-product hybrid: advisors as an asset, not a seasonal hiring problem (00:41:40) * Beyond Medicare: building the retirement platform of the future (00:47:53) * What was obvious at the start and what the company got wrong initially (00:51:41) * Where to find Cobi and Chapter (00:55:26) — You can connect with Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz through the following platforms: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cobibgantz/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/cobibgantz/] * Website: https://askchapter.org/ [https://askchapter.org/] — You can connect with Adam through the following platforms: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/] * Substack: https://www.emergentproduct.com [https://www.emergentproduct.com] * X: https://twitter.com/Ajuggles [https://twitter.com/Ajuggles] * Website: www.firstprinciples.la [http://www.firstprinciples.la] — Where to find Emergent Newsletter and Podcast: * Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@emergentproduct [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE2nyPJNGIo&t=13s] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5TMMwU5zoSlX5Ex1A4vl9D [https://open.spotify.com/show/5TMMwU5zoSlX5Ex1A4vl9D] * Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergent-building-the-future/id1746963428 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergent-building-the-future/id1746963428] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamjudelsonemergent [https://www.instagram.com/adamjudelsonemergent] * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adamjudelson [https://www.tiktok.com/@adamjudelson] * Website: https://www.emergentproduct.com [https://www.emergentproduct.com] — For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast or becoming a guest, email adam@firstprinciples.la [http://adam@firstprinciples.la]. — Get full access of the Emergent’s Newsletter at www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe [http://www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe [https://www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Defense Startup That’s Quietly Disrupting China and Russia

In this episode, we sit down with Brett Granberg, co-founder and CEO of Vannevar Labs, a defense technology company developing advanced software and hardware systems for the U.S. national security community. With a background at In-Q-Tel and McKinsey, Brett shares his path from the corporate world to building one of the most successful emerging defense startups in recent years. We dive into how Vannevar is bridging the gap between Silicon Valley engineering and national security missions, starting with data collection from adversary nations and scaling to $80M+ in revenue. Brett shares lessons from their earliest failed product attempts, why speed is the key advantage for startups over defense primes, and how they think about non-kinetic warfare, generative AI, and building a multi-product roadmap for the future of U.S. defense. If you’ve ever wondered what building a defense tech company from scratch really takes, how DOD’s acquisition ecosystem actually works, or what distinguishes Vannevar from Palantir and Anduril, this episode is for you. Key Takeaways * Vannevar’s mission is to fill collection gaps in U.S. intelligence by building sensors and software that detect adversary activity in hard-to-access domains * The company operates on a “sense, decide, act” model—collecting novel data, transforming it into insights, and driving operational outcomes * Vannevar’s flagship product, Decrypt, started as Arabic OCR but pivoted to open-source Mandarin military data after early customer feedback * The team discovered early that features don’t matter if you’re solving a problem no one cares about—traction is the true signal * DOD doesn’t buy features—they buy complete, integrated mission systems. Minimizing integration work is critical to adoption * To win in defense, companies must self-fund product development, iterate faster than government teams, and own IP to avoid cost-plus traps * Active data collection is what sets Vannevar apart from Palantir, whose early value was organizing and exploiting existing data. * Selling to DOD involves mapping funding flows, using OTA contracts, and leveraging unpaid pilots to demonstrate value * Generative AI is most useful for multi-step agent-based search across complex datasets. Vannevar uses LLMs for summarization and recall, not just chat * Brett stresses building new product bets from direct contact with users—every successful product came from sitting with operators, not brainstorming in a room — Brought to you by: PropelAuth [https://www.propelauth.com/?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=emergent] Startups and corporate innovation teams routinely waste months building core user authentication and authorization flows into their products. PropelAuth has automated all the most important pieces of the user management lifecycle. Instantly set up waitlists, magic links, social login, user impersonation, user management, Role-Based-Access-Control, SAML integrations for enterprise, team management and much more. With PropelAuth, each of these challenges takes just a few lines of code instead months of development and integration time. And with thoughtful control over design and skinning, it’s easy to keep your product fully on-brand. Get a generous free starter pack that scales through 1,000 Monthly Active Users or mention EMERGENT25 to receive 25% off for the first 6 months for more mature products. Get back to building you actual product and let PropelAuth handle your user management needs. Visit www.propelauth.com [https://www.propelauth.com/?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=emergent] to learn more. FlyKitt [https://flykitt.com/discount/FlyWithEmergent] This episode is brought to you by FlyKitt “F-L-Y-K-I-T-T”, the first full solution to jet lag. This might seem hard to believe, but I’ve flown from Los Angeles to Tokyo and back with virtually no jet lag using FlyKitt. Based on research with Navy SEALs and fighter pilots, the FlyKitt team discovered that long flights cause inflammation in addition to disrupting your circadian rhythm, and they figured out how to solve both these challenges using a customized program for when to eat, sleep, and use their patented supplements and blue light blocking glasses. It’s simple to follow and you don’t have to change anything before your travel day. With FlyKitt, more than 90% of people can sleep well in Europe, Asia, or anywhere else in the world on night 1. Visit flykitt.com [https://flykitt.com/discount/FlyWithEmergent], and use coupon code FLYWITHEMERGENT to get 15% off FlyKitt. Chaser [https://trychaser.com/] Chaser is a task management solution completely embedded in Slack. When teammates have requests of each other, it's no longer necessary to involve a project manager add the issues to a task tracker and remember to follow up. Right from within any Slack channel or message, with a few simple keystrokes, you can identify a message as a task for another person, or yourself, and Chaser automatically tracks it and reminds the assignee of the work to be completed until it's done. We started using Chaser at First Principles to create stronger clarity on those important, but less formal tasks that must happen to get from start to finish on a project, but that often don't arise until the middle of a discussion. We now spend less time context switching out of Slack and following up with each other, and balls are no longer dropping. Plus there is great transparency into who owes what to the team for success. Get a 14 day free trial at www.trychaser.com [http://www.trychaser.com/] and use the code FP50 to get 50% off your first 3 months. — In this episode, we cover: * Introduction (00:00:42) * Vannevar Labs’ founding thesis and approach to building defense technology (00:04:41) * The intelligence collection gap and how Vannevar closes it (00:06:46) * Non-kinetic warfare and its rising strategic importance (00:08:45) * Why the U.S. government needs vendors to move faster than primes (00:13:11) * Brett’s path from McKinsey to In-Q-Tel and founding Vannevar at Stanford (00:16:42) * Early product failures and the pivot that led to Decrypt (00:22:09) * Crossing the classified divide with forward-deployed engineers (00:35:01) * Scaling from a $15K pilot to over $80M in revenue (00:39:28) * Securing DIU contracts and funding through unfunded requirements (00:43:13) * Integrating LLM agents to enhance search and product usability (01:02:25) * Where to find Brett and Vannevar Labs (01:08:13) — You can connect with Brett Granberg through the following platforms: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-granberg/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-granberg/] * Website: https://www.vannevarlabs.com/ [https://www.vannevarlabs.com/] — You can connect with Adam through the following platforms: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/] * Substack: https://www.emergentproduct.com [https://www.emergentproduct.com] * X: https://twitter.com/Ajuggles [https://twitter.com/Ajuggles] * Website: www.firstprinciples.la [http://www.firstprinciples.la] — Where to find Emergent Newsletter and Podcast: * Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@emergentproduct [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE2nyPJNGIo&t=13s] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5TMMwU5zoSlX5Ex1A4vl9D [https://open.spotify.com/show/5TMMwU5zoSlX5Ex1A4vl9D] * Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergent-building-the-future/id1746963428 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergent-building-the-future/id1746963428] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamjudelsonemergent [https://www.instagram.com/adamjudelsonemergent] * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adamjudelson [https://www.tiktok.com/@adamjudelson] * Website: https://www.emergentproduct.com [https://www.emergentproduct.com] — For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast or becoming a guest, email adam@firstprinciples.la [http://adam@firstprinciples.la]. — Get full access of the Emergent’s Newsletter at www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe [http://www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe [https://www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

How the Best AI Product Teams Act Differently

In this episode, we sit down with Christian Marek, VP of Product at ProductBoard, to explore how AI is fundamentally reshaping product management. With experience at Meta, DocuSign, and now ProductBoard, Christian has been at the forefront of integrating AI into product workflows long before the generative AI boom. Now he's helping build ProductBoard's AI-powered features that help PMs distill thousands of pieces of customer feedback into actionable insights in minutes—work that previously took days or weeks. If you've ever wondered how AI will change the day-to-day work of product managers, what skills PMs need to develop to stay relevant, or how the best product teams are already using AI to 10x their productivity, then this episode is for you. Key Takeaways * Product managers are evolving from feature spec creators to curators of vision, strategy, and commercial aspects * The biggest AI value is in discovery—prototyping and processing high data volumes that humans couldn't handle alone * AI is most helpful for customer feedback analysis, requirements definition, and rapid prototyping with tools like V0 * Strategic judgment and deep market understanding remain uniquely human and will differentiate future PMs * Companies sitting on large data pools but unable to leverage LLMs due to architecture or compliance are prime targets for disruption * The most successful AI product features solve deep pain points using core LLMs without requiring extensive fine-tuning * PMs need to think strategically, ask AI to think, then think together for exceptional outcomes * Voice interfaces may finally replace keyboard-mouse dominance as AI transcription becomes more accurate — In this episode, we cover: * Introduction (00:45) * Christian’s journey in product and AI from DocuSign to Meta (01:14) * Building for product managers and challenges of the space (04:00) * Where Gen AI is most and least helpful in product work (05:35) * Why being Gen AI-native is a strategic advantage (09:01) * The importance of thinking critically with and without AI (10:25) * Companies successfully applying Gen AI to solve deep pain points (12:34) * UX design pitfalls and patterns in AI-powered products (15:51) * Why foundational model performance varies across tools (18:28) * The shift toward “vibe coding” and PMs shipping faster (21:01) * Impacts of AI on product team size and structure (22:45) * What defines a great AI PM and how to become one (23:53) * Get in touch with Productboard (25:31) — You can connect with Christian Marek through the following platforms: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianmarek/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianmarek/] * Website: https://www.productboard.com/ [https://www.productboard.com/] — You can connect with Adam through the following platforms: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/] * Substack: https://www.emergentproduct.com [https://www.emergentproduct.com] * X: https://twitter.com/Ajuggles [https://twitter.com/Ajuggles] * Website: www.firstprinciples.la [http://www.firstprinciples.la] — Where to find Emergent Newsletter and Podcast: * Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@emergentproduct [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE2nyPJNGIo&t=13s] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5TMMwU5zoSlX5Ex1A4vl9D [https://open.spotify.com/show/5TMMwU5zoSlX5Ex1A4vl9D] * Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergent-building-the-future/id1746963428 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergent-building-the-future/id1746963428] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamjudelsonemergent [https://www.instagram.com/adamjudelsonemergent] * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adamjudelson [https://www.tiktok.com/@adamjudelson] * Website: https://www.emergentproduct.com [https://www.emergentproduct.com] — For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast or becoming a guest, email adam@firstprinciples.la [http://adam@firstprinciples.la]. — Get full access of the Emergent’s Newsletter at www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe [http://www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe [https://www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

A Mobile Phone Carrier That Protects Its Subscribers

In this episode, we hear from John Doyle, founder and CEO of Cape [https://www.cape.co/], America's first privacy-focused mobile carrier. Before Cape, John ran Palantir’s national security business, served as a special forces sergeant, and attended Harvard Law. Now he's solving critical privacy and security gaps in the mobile carrier industry with Cape’s software-defined mobile network, which is designed to protect users from common vulnerabilities like data breaches, SIM swaps, and unauthorized location tracking. If you've ever wondered how traditional mobile carriers handle your personal data, why privacy breaches in telecommunications have become so common, or how the next generation of carriers are building security from the ground up rather than as an afterthought, then this episode is for you. Key Takeaways * Major carriers such as AT&T have experienced significant data breaches in recent years with most of us unaware * Mobile carriers routinely sell subscriber location and communication data to third parties, including data brokers and advertisers * Technical vulnerabilities in cellular networks can be exploited for location tracking and call/text interception * SIM swap attacks are a growing threat where attackers can gain control of a phone number to reset passwords and act as the subscriber * Traditional telecom security focuses on preventing unauthorized network usage rather than protecting subscriber privacy * How Cape collects minimal subscriber data while delivering superior services * What is looks like to building a privacy-focused carrier from the ground up — Brought to you by: PropelAuth [https://www.propelauth.com/?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=emergent] Startups and corporate innovation teams routinely waste months building core user authentication and authorization flows into their products. PropelAuth has automated all the most important pieces of the user management lifecycle. Instantly set up waitlists, magic links, social login, user impersonation, user management, Role-Based-Access-Control, SAML integrations for enterprise, team management and much more. With PropelAuth, each of these challenges takes just a few lines of code instead months of development and integration time. And with thoughtful control over design and skinning, it’s easy to keep your product fully on-brand. Get a generous free starter pack that scales through 1,000 Monthly Active Users or mention EMERGENT25 to receive 25% off for the first 6 months for more mature products. Get back to building you actual product and let PropelAuth handle your user management needs. Visit www.propelauth.com [https://www.propelauth.com/?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=emergent] to learn more. FlyKitt [https://flykitt.com/discount/FlyWithEmergent] This episode is brought to you by FlyKitt “F-L-Y-K-I-T-T”, the first full solution to jet lag. This might seem hard to believe, but I’ve flown from Los Angeles to Tokyo and back with virtually no jet lag using FlyKitt. Based on research with Navy SEALs and fighter pilots, the FlyKitt team discovered that long flights cause inflammation in addition to disrupting your circadian rhythm, and they figured out how to solve both these challenges using a customized program for when to eat, sleep, and use their patented supplements and blue light blocking glasses. It’s simple to follow and you don’t have to change anything before your travel day. With FlyKitt, more than 90% of people can sleep well in Europe, Asia, or anywhere else in the world on night 1. Visit flykitt.com [https://flykitt.com/discount/FlyWithEmergent], and use coupon code FLYWITHEMERGENT to get 15% off FlyKitt. Chaser [https://trychaser.com/] Chaser is a task management solution completely embedded in Slack. When teammates have requests of each other, it's no longer necessary to involve a project manager add the issues to a task tracker and remember to follow up. Right from within any Slack channel or message, with a few simple keystrokes, you can identify a message as a task for another person, or yourself, and Chaser automatically tracks it and reminds the assignee of the work to be completed until it's done. We started using Chaser at First Principles to create stronger clarity on those important, but less formal tasks that must happen to get from start to finish on a project, but that often don't arise until the middle of a discussion. We now spend less time context switching out of Slack and following up with each other, and balls are no longer dropping. Plus there is great transparency into who owes what to the team for success. Get a 14 day free trial at www.trychaser.com [http://www.trychaser.com/] and use the code FP50 to get 50% off your first 3 months. — In this episode, we cover: * Introduction (00:49) * Privacy issues with existing mobile carriers (04:04) * Mobile network infrastructure vulnerabilities (05:20) * SIM swap attacks explained (05:43) * Data collection and monetization by carriers (07:29) * Cape's approach to building a secure network (09:17) * Software-defined mobile carriers explained (11:16) * Minimizing data collection and retention (14:15) * Journey from military and Palantir to founding Cape (21:49) * National security implications of mobile privacy (23:38) * Securing carrier partnerships with U.S. Cellular (28:06) * Expanding from government to consumer markets (34:10) * Identifier rotation and privacy features (38:03) * Encrypted voicemail implementation (39:49) * Building a team without telecom backgrounds (43:03) * Working with law enforcement while ensuring privacy (46:53) * International roaming while maintaining security (49:12) * Challenges of building a telco from scratch (51:39) * Where to sign up for Cape (56:06) — You can connect with John Doyle through the following platforms: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-doyle-48633227/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-doyle-48633227/] * Website: https://www.cape.co/ [https://www.cape.co/] — You can connect with Adam through the following platforms: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/] * Substack: https://www.emergentproduct.com [https://www.emergentproduct.com] * X: https://twitter.com/Ajuggles [https://twitter.com/Ajuggles] * Website: www.firstprinciples.la [http://www.firstprinciples.la] — Where to find Emergent Newsletter and Podcast: * Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@emergentproduct [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE2nyPJNGIo&t=13s] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5TMMwU5zoSlX5Ex1A4vl9D [https://open.spotify.com/show/5TMMwU5zoSlX5Ex1A4vl9D] * Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergent-building-the-future/id1746963428 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergent-building-the-future/id1746963428] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamjudelsonemergent [https://www.instagram.com/adamjudelsonemergent] * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adamjudelson [https://www.tiktok.com/@adamjudelson] * Website: https://www.emergentproduct.com [https://www.emergentproduct.com] — For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast or becoming a guest, email adam@firstprinciples.la [http://adam@firstprinciples.la]. — Get full access of the Emergent’s Newsletter at www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe [http://www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe [https://www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Lessons from SpaceX and the Future of Advanced Manufacturing

In this episode, we hear from Karan Talati, co-founder and CEO of First Resonance, a Los Angeles-based company building software to revolutionize advanced hardware manufacturing. Karan shares insights from his experience as an early engineer at SpaceX, where he developed automated systems that reduced production issues during the company's transition to reusable rockets. Now at First Resonance, he's solving critical infrastructure gaps in modern manufacturing with their platform called Ion, which is trusted by next-generation hardware innovators. If you've ever wondered how companies like SpaceX manufacture complex hardware at scale, why manufacturing capabilities are becoming a crucial competitive advantage, or how the latest generation of hardware companies are accelerating development through parallel manufacturing processes, then this episode is for you. Key Takeaways * Advanced manufacturing is rapidly evolving beyond traditional techniques, incorporating technologies like 3D printing, connected robotics, and data analytics * Manufacturing capabilities are becoming a crucial competitive advantage for hardware companies that want to scale * How regulatory environments change the level of complexity of the manufacturing across rockets, satellites, and eVTOL aircraft * Parallelizing manufacturing processes allows teams to work simultaneously on different aspects of the same component, dramatically accelerating development * The U.S. faces significant challenges from having outsourced manufacturing capabilities over decades, creating vulnerabilities in defense and critical technology supply chains * Successful hardware companies are integrating R&D and production as continuous, parallel processes rather than sequential stages — Brought to you by: PropelAuth [https://www.propelauth.com/?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=emergent] Startups and corporate innovation teams routinely waste months building core user authentication and authorization flows into their products. PropelAuth has automated all the most important pieces of the user management lifecycle. Instantly set up waitlists, magic links, social login, user impersonation, user management, Role-Based-Access-Control, SAML integrations for enterprise, team management and much more. With PropelAuth, each of these challenges takes just a few lines of code instead months of development and integration time. And with thoughtful control over design and skinning, it’s easy to keep your product fully on-brand. Get a generous free starter pack that scales through 1,000 Monthly Active Users or mention EMERGENT25 to receive 25% off for the first 6 months for more mature products. Get back to building you actual product and let PropelAuth handle your user management needs. Visit www.propelauth.com [https://www.propelauth.com/?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=emergent] to learn more. FlyKitt [https://flykitt.com/discount/FlyWithEmergent] This episode is brought to you by FlyKitt “F-L-Y-K-I-T-T”, the first full solution to jet lag. This might seem hard to believe, but I’ve flown from Los Angeles to Tokyo and back with virtually no jet lag using FlyKitt. Based on research with Navy SEALs and fighter pilots, the FlyKitt team discovered that long flights cause inflammation in addition to disrupting your circadian rhythm, and they figured out how to solve both these challenges using a customized program for when to eat, sleep, and use their patented supplements and blue light blocking glasses. It’s simple to follow and you don’t have to change anything before your travel day. With FlyKitt, more than 90% of people can sleep well in Europe, Asia, or anywhere else in the world on night 1. Visit flykitt.com [https://flykitt.com/discount/FlyWithEmergent], and use coupon code FLYWITHEMERGENT to get 15% off FlyKitt. Chaser [https://trychaser.com/] Chaser is a task management solution completely embedded in Slack. When teammates have requests of each other, it's no longer necessary to involve a project manager add the issues to a task tracker and remember to follow up. Right from within any Slack channel or message, with a few simple keystrokes, you can identify a message as a task for another person, or yourself, and Chaser automatically tracks it and reminds the assignee of the work to be completed until it's done. We started using Chaser at First Principles to create stronger clarity on those important, but less formal tasks that must happen to get from start to finish on a project, but that often don't arise until the middle of a discussion. We now spend less time context switching out of Slack and following up with each other, and balls are no longer dropping. Plus there is great transparency into who owes what to the team for success. Get a 14 day free trial at www.trychaser.com [http://www.trychaser.com/] and use the code FP50 to get 50% off your first 3 months. — In this episode, we cover: * Introduction (00:45) * Definition of advanced manufacturing (04:23) * Products built with advanced manufacturing techniques (05:38) * Manufacturing as key competitive advantage (09:30) * Parallelizing manufacturing processes (16:16) * Geopolitical importance of U.S. manufacturing capabilities (19:25) * Differences between manufacturing rockets, spacecraft and other hardware (44:21) * First Resonance's Ion platform (32:24) * Lessons from SpaceX for scaling manufacturing (37:55) * Value of software in modern factories (52:10) * The manufacturing paradox and scaling challenges (53:44) * Bridging hardware and software expertise (01:00:02) * Role of humanoid robots in factory automation (01:07:50) * Get in touch with First Resonance (01:10:17) — You can connect with Karan Talati through the following platforms: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karan-talati/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/karan-talati/] * Website: www.firstresonance.io/ [https://www.firstresonance.io/] — You can connect with Adam through the following platforms: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/] * Substack: https://www.emergentproduct.com [https://www.emergentproduct.com] * X: https://twitter.com/Ajuggles [https://twitter.com/Ajuggles] * Website: www.firstprinciples.la [http://www.firstprinciples.la] — Where to find Emergent Newsletter and Podcast: * Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@emergentproduct [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE2nyPJNGIo&t=13s] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5TMMwU5zoSlX5Ex1A4vl9D [https://open.spotify.com/show/5TMMwU5zoSlX5Ex1A4vl9D] * Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergent-building-the-future/id1746963428 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergent-building-the-future/id1746963428] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamjudelsonemergent [https://www.instagram.com/adamjudelsonemergent] * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adamjudelson [https://www.tiktok.com/@adamjudelson] * Website: https://www.emergentproduct.com [https://www.emergentproduct.com] — For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast or becoming a guest, email adam@firstprinciples.la [http://adam@firstprinciples.la]. — Get full access of the Emergent’s Newsletter at www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe [http://www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe [https://www.emergentproduct.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]