a16z
5/13/2026

Former Tesla engineers build Mariana
Original: The Founders Who Left Tesla to Rebuild America | a16z
Short summary
Former Tesla engineers Turner Caldwell and Drew Baglino discuss building Mariana Minerals and Heron Power to solve America's critical minerals shortage and aging power grid infrastructure. They cover how automation, reinforcement learning, and supply chain reshoring can accelerate manufacturing, and outline policy changes needed for competitiveness. Tesla lessons—risk appetite, mission-driven talent—shape their approach to unlocking American infrastructure capacity.
- •Former Tesla founders address US critical minerals gap and aging grid infrastructure limiting AI economy growth
- •Automation, RL, and supply chain reshoring can accelerate manufacturing; co-location reduces timeline dependencies
- •Tesla-derived strategies (risk appetite, mission-driven talent) applied to infrastructure startups; policy reform needed
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