#197: Brian Riordan, Co-founder of Avalanche — $45M for Fusion Energy. Microreactors. Reducing Scaleup Risks. Regulatory Pathways. Getting Destroyed in the Gym.

Avalanche is developing the world's first fusion microreactor, and it has $45M of investor backing from our friends at Congruent Ventures, Grantham, and Climate Capital.

Brian has one of the more entertaining bios in climate tech. Here are snippets and a link: https://avalanchefusion.com/about/team/brian-riordan.

He’s an engineer hardwired to be “all-in”; he no dimmer switch and always chooses the red pill; wine-making, leather & wood workin’, campin’, bee keepin’, farmin’, salt-water lovin’ father to four awesome kids who think he’s an invulnerable jungle gym.

In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.

1. How they are reducing cost and regulatory hurdles often associated with conventional nuclear fission power
2. The scale-up risks they avoid by building small
3. The difference in transactional vs. authentic relationships
4. Why you must get destroyed in the gym for mental health

🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:

Avalanche - https://avalanchefusion.com 

Brian - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-riordan-a7883b11 

The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything - https://shorturl.at/07HO0 

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable - https://shorturl.at/wsMIm 

Building Brand Authenticity: 7 Habits of Iconic Brands - https://shorturl.at/GuIV1

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🤔 PODCAST HOST:

Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).