Dino Mavrookas

And then it's like these little intangible things as what makes Saronic so special. Rob's uncle was the secretary of the Navy for six years. John Lehman in the 1980s under Reagan. Now, and John's an advisor to us now. It's not saying like, hey, his uncle's why we're successful. But here's a person that I met on a hunting trip.

that grew up inside the Navy, that understands how to navigate that ecosystem in only a way that somebody that grew up in it could understand. And that's what you need to be successful. So once we had the team in place, then it was like, let's just start building. And we had a very, very laser-focused view from the beginning on scale. It's like, yes, we can build the best software.

that grew up inside the Navy, that understands how to navigate that ecosystem in only a way that somebody that grew up in it could understand. And that's what you need to be successful. So once we had the team in place, then it was like, let's just start building. And we had a very, very laser-focused view from the beginning on scale. It's like, yes, we can build the best software.

that grew up inside the Navy, that understands how to navigate that ecosystem in only a way that somebody that grew up in it could understand. And that's what you need to be successful. So once we had the team in place, then it was like, let's just start building. And we had a very, very laser-focused view from the beginning on scale. It's like, yes, we can build the best software.

Yes, we can go design really cool hardware. But if we can't put it all together and build at scale, like thousands of units, it doesn't matter. I don't care how good the software is. I don't care how cool the hardware looks. I don't care how cool the boat looks. If you can't build thousands, it doesn't matter. It's all irrelevant. So our next hire was a guy named John Morgan.

Yes, we can go design really cool hardware. But if we can't put it all together and build at scale, like thousands of units, it doesn't matter. I don't care how good the software is. I don't care how cool the hardware looks. I don't care how cool the boat looks. If you can't build thousands, it doesn't matter. It's all irrelevant. So our next hire was a guy named John Morgan.

Yes, we can go design really cool hardware. But if we can't put it all together and build at scale, like thousands of units, it doesn't matter. I don't care how good the software is. I don't care how cool the hardware looks. I don't care how cool the boat looks. If you can't build thousands, it doesn't matter. It's all irrelevant. So our next hire was a guy named John Morgan.

He was our third employee. Runs our manufacturing. The first question I asked him was, John, we don't even have a design for a prototype yet.

He was our third employee. Runs our manufacturing. The first question I asked him was, John, we don't even have a design for a prototype yet.

He was our third employee. Runs our manufacturing. The first question I asked him was, John, we don't even have a design for a prototype yet.

why are we hiring ahead of why do we need a head of manufacturing now explain it to me from your perspective because he lived it he was at spacex for 10 years he was a direct report in the elon musk he took the falcon 9 engine from prototype all the way to production or the raptor engine excuse me from prototype all the way to production insanely talented guy i'm like We're not building anything.

why are we hiring ahead of why do we need a head of manufacturing now explain it to me from your perspective because he lived it he was at spacex for 10 years he was a direct report in the elon musk he took the falcon 9 engine from prototype all the way to production or the raptor engine excuse me from prototype all the way to production insanely talented guy i'm like We're not building anything.

why are we hiring ahead of why do we need a head of manufacturing now explain it to me from your perspective because he lived it he was at spacex for 10 years he was a direct report in the elon musk he took the falcon 9 engine from prototype all the way to production or the raptor engine excuse me from prototype all the way to production insanely talented guy i'm like We're not building anything.

I don't even have a design for you to build. If we don't start thinking about manufacturing now, in 18 months when you build your first prototype, you're screwed. You're gonna have to start all over again. You're gonna have to put the processes in place. You're gonna have to redesign it for manufacturing. Your product isn't even going to look like what your prototype looked like.

I don't even have a design for you to build. If we don't start thinking about manufacturing now, in 18 months when you build your first prototype, you're screwed. You're gonna have to start all over again. You're gonna have to put the processes in place. You're gonna have to redesign it for manufacturing. Your product isn't even going to look like what your prototype looked like.

I don't even have a design for you to build. If we don't start thinking about manufacturing now, in 18 months when you build your first prototype, you're screwed. You're gonna have to start all over again. You're gonna have to put the processes in place. You're gonna have to redesign it for manufacturing. Your product isn't even going to look like what your prototype looked like.

You have to start now if you actually want to produce at rate. Now, if your goal isn't to produce at rate, Start whenever you want. But if your goal is to produce that rate, you have to start now. And I go, okay, I'm sold. Right? So we had this core nucleus that was just A plus players. And it just built from there and built from there. And we just started building things.

You have to start now if you actually want to produce at rate. Now, if your goal isn't to produce at rate, Start whenever you want. But if your goal is to produce that rate, you have to start now. And I go, okay, I'm sold. Right? So we had this core nucleus that was just A plus players. And it just built from there and built from there. And we just started building things.

You have to start now if you actually want to produce at rate. Now, if your goal isn't to produce at rate, Start whenever you want. But if your goal is to produce that rate, you have to start now. And I go, okay, I'm sold. Right? So we had this core nucleus that was just A plus players. And it just built from there and built from there. And we just started building things.

And we had our very first prototype in the water in under six months.