(1/n) This week @TheEconomist posed an important argument, "Why the world needs more franchises". And funninly enough, I agree. So if you know anyone who has an itch to start their own business (but with a bit of support) I would love to speak. We'll pay a referral bonus too.
In real terms, the net capital stock of machinery in Britain's factories is just 75% of what it was in 1995.
This is why increasing defence spending leads to such poor payback.
My latest:
Britain should subsidise machine tool purchases with £1 billion of grants per year. It would:
- double the equipment spending power for thousands of machine shops.
- Reduce lead times.
- Make reshoring of manufacturing easier.
For reindustrialisation to be more than vibes, policy must consider actual, granular industrial processes.
We start the first in our series on revitalising British national security with @RianCFFWhitton, who highlights the vital role of machine tools:
https://t.co/heou6PAiPG
I think that the "industrial explosion" is about as important an idea as the "intelligence explosion", but gets far less attention.
I discuss this idea with @TomDavidsonX here! We cover:
What is the industrial explosion?
Why the case for recursive self-improvement is stronger for physical industry than for software
How fast the physical economy could grow, the case for weekly doubling times, and limits from natural resources
Three phases of the industrial explosion: AI-directed human labour → autonomous replicators → atomically precise manufacturing
Why authoritarian regimes might have a structural advantage in the industrial explosion — and whether they could lose the race to AGI, but win the race to industrial dominance
Could a leading country outgrow the entire world to achieve decisive dominance?
Why doubling your rival's GDP could mean 30 years of tech advantage — enough for military dominance
Why does the industrial explosion get ~1% of the attention of the intelligence explosion?
England will be 1100 years old next summer. Still time to commission a massive bronze of Athelstan. We can put it on the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square, thus sparing ourselves many more decades of rotating modernist nonsense.
It only needs a few crazy ones to fix a continent… Let's be crazy… I got something to announce:
We're launching PROTOTYPE: a new fund, fully focused on Europe.
A small fund that punches way above it's size.
With it we back what Europe is world-class at: robotics, automation, manufacturing, and anything that requires hard engineering.
First check. First round. As early as it gets.
Europe invented industry. We're the birthplace of precision manufacturing. The second largest manufacturing hub on the planet. Leaders in automation and robotics.
And yet…
We sell out our best tech to China. We export our best founders & most of our investment money to the US. That's insanity.
What should we do instead?
Build the next trillion euro companies in robotics, manufacturing, automation right here: in Europe. Showcase to young founders what is possible and change the system around them where needed.
What we will do:
→ Publish all our fund updates and build in public: https://t.co/JROaYikB2Y
→ Showcase Europe’s Most Ambitious Startups on Youtube: https://t.co/l3xVkjtbox
→ Launch & support more projects like @euinc_petition. Enough talking about Europe. Time to build it: Startups, makerspaces, student clubs, and much more.
→ And most importantly, invest into the best founders in Europe. Same model as our previous funds that are in their top 1-5% cohorts worldwide.
We won’t do a VC fund in the classic sense.
This will be a community of hyper-ambitious people who want to actively change Europe for the better.
It only needs a few crazy ones to fix a continent… Let's be crazy.
Check out https://t.co/h2lPmypoaM!