“#284 Venky Ganesan: Menlo Ventures Partner on early Anthropic investment, moving from India to rural America at 16 and more” from “The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal” by pods4.me

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers.  ________ What does it take to go from an introverted kid obsessed with robotics to building rockets at SpaceX and co-founding a $13 billion energy company? And what happens when an intense, no-BS operator decides to build a company of his own? Justin Lopas is Co-founder and COO of Base Power, one of America's fastest-growing energy companies, which has raised over US$2 billion since launching in 2023. Previously, he helped build SpaceX's Starbase manufacturing operations in Texas and led manufacturing at Anduril, one of America's leading defence technology companies. In this unusually candid conversation with Vidit, Justin reveals how volunteering for a job in a town he'd never heard of led him to help build SpaceX's Starbase, the leadership mistakes he made under intense pressure, and why he eventually walked away. He reflects on his childhood, his father's influence, and the lessons from SpaceX and Anduril that shaped his approach to building and leading teams. They explore how an unlikely partnership with Zach Dell became Base Power, a $13 billion company reimagining America's electricity grid through home batteries and distributed energy infrastructure. Justin shares what it takes to scale manufacturing at extraordinary speed, why he and Zach argue constantly, and the unconventional culture behind Base's rapid growth, from starting all-hands meetings with failures to the infamous "hot potato" rule. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more.  Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers.  ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Intense, direct and no-BS 01:30 – How his wife's family ended up cooking for hundreds of Base employees 03:00 – Midwest America childhood and his father's influence 08:15 – Growing up antisocial, obsessed with robotics and uninterested in fitting in 10:00 – The strict routines behind Justin's intense personality 16:00 – Inside SpaceX and what separates its exceptional engineering talent 21:15 – Volunteering to build Starbase 24:00 – SpaceX burnout and leadership mistakes 28:45 – Becoming COO and why titles matter less than execution 31:30 – Making choices and finding his next chapter at Anduril 38:00 – How SpaceX and Anduril hire, develop and challenge exceptional people 41:00 – Building supplier relationships and scaling manufacturing at extraordinary speed 47:15 – Why Base Power is building electricity infrastructure, not just home batteries 48:45 – Meeting his co-founder Zach Dell and the origins of Base Power 51:00 – Why Justin and Zach argue, and how their partnership works 54:00 – Starting all-hands with failures and the “hot potato” rule 55:40 – Why negative feedback motivates Justin and how he adapts his leadership style 58:45 – Navigating America's complicated electricity regulations 1:03:40 – Testing Base's earliest batteries in an investor's home 1:04:15 – Base's next products and expansion plans 1:10:40 – Justin's family life and the person tougher than him ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Aleks Spaseska (CEO, Kmart) David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Coatue), Venky Ganesan (Managing Partner, Menlo Ventures), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).