SOSV Deep Tech LIVE

SOSV Deep Tech Live

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Entrepreneurship
Updated Monthly

SOSV’s new Deep Tech LIVE event series features top technologists, researchers, and founders working on the frontiers of deep tech.

6d ago

The Atomic Architect: Rick Gottscho on Plasma’s Role in Semiconductor Fabrication & Physical AI Infrastructure

🎥 Moore’s Law isn't dying—it’s changing. In this episode of SOSV Deep Tech Live, we sit down with semiconductor legend Dr. Rick Gottscho, Retired Head of Products and CTO of Lam Research, to unpack the past, present, and highly disruptive future of chip manufacturing. Without plasma, Moore's Law would have stalled decades sooner. It remains the foundational technology enabling the etching, deposition, and cleaning of transistors at the atomic scale. Now, as silicon hits its physical limits and AI pushes compute demand to historic highs, plasma is becoming more critical than ever. Rick spent 40+ years at the center of how chips actually get made. If you're building in semiconductors, advanced hardware, or physical AI, this conversation changes how you think about the stack beneath the stack. What we cover: The $400B Corporate Turnaround: How Lam Research went from one quarter away from bankruptcy in 1998 to a global powerhouse by embedding core values like radical open communication throughout the entire organization. Skating to the Inflections: The new playbook for predicting massive industry shifts—including how Lam anticipated 3D NAND and dry resist lithography to capture dominant market share. Why Pure AI Fails in Hardware: Why a Tesla-style "big data" approach doesn't work when a single physical data point takes a day and costs thousands of dollars—and how Lam pioneered a "Hybrid Physical AI" model. America’s True Bottleneck: Why the US doesn't have an innovation problem, but a manufacturing problem—and why regaining system-level ecosystem control matters more than just owning the most advanced chip. The HAX Plasma Forge: A look at SOSV’s newest collaboration with the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (PPPL) to help deep tech startups bridge the gap between PowerPoint theories and physical, scaled hardware. Are you a founder building in semiconductors, advanced materials, or industrial processing? Learn more and apply to the HAX Plasma Forge today: https://hax.co/ 📍 Broadcast live from the SOSV NY event space in Manhattan, SOSV Deep Tech LIVE is our monthly video podcast series exploring the frontiers of deep tech with leading founders, researchers, and technologists.

54 min
Apr 29

Plasma Beyond Fusion: Powering Next-Gen Semiconductor Fabrication & Materials | SOSV Deep Tech LIVE

At our latest SOSV Deep Tech Live, we sat down with a panel of world leaders in plasma to explore how plasma is quickly becoming one of the most important…and misunderstood..forces shaping the future of semiconductors, clean manufacturing, advanced materials, and of course, clean energy. While much of today’s AI conversation centers on LLMs that help us write and design, the truly transformative frontier is Physical AI. To bring intelligence into the physical world, we require a new generation of semiconductors – the “picks and shovels” that provide the necessary compute power and advanced sensing without draining the world’s energy reserves. This is where plasma technology becomes indispensable. As a primary tool for semiconductor fabrication, plasma allows us to manipulate materials at an atomic level, creating the high-performance chips that Physical AI demands. However, this relationship has created a challenging cycle: we need better chips to run AI, but we now need AI to design better plasma processes. Because the “experimental space” for plasma chemistry is nearly infinite and incredibly complex, traditional trial-and-error methods are no longer sufficient. By leveraging ML and AI-driven modeling, we can now navigate this complexity with high precision, discovering “impossible” materials and optimizing multi-phase plasma environments in ways that were previously unimaginable. This synergy is precisely what will define the future of high-performance compute. How Can Deep Tech Startups Win in an Industry Defined by Massive Capital Costs & High Risk? Enter The HAX Plasma Forge. There is a notorious Valley of Death where breakthrough research often stalls before reaching the market. To overcome this – and to bring a secure supply chain back to the U.S. – we cannot simply copy existing manufacturing models. We must leapfrog the competition through a radical merger of fundamental research, applied science, and early-stage funding. This is why we are launching HAX Plasma Forge, a 10,000-square-foot lab and co-working space in Princeton, NJ, designed to help founders commercialize plasma-based breakthroughs. The HAX Plasma Forge combines: SOSV’s proven model for startup commercialization, world-class plasma physics expertise and resources from PPPL, and $51 million in dedicated funding from SOSV, the New Jersey Economic Development (NJEDA), and PPPL to make it all possible. Apply to the HAX Plasma Forge today. Find the live recording on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever else you get your podcasts. 📍Broadcast live from our SOSV NY event space in Manhattan, SOSV Deep Tech LIVE is our monthly video podcast series exploring the frontiers of deep tech with leading founders, researchers, and technologists.

46 min
Apr 23

The 100-Year Quest for Fusion Energy with Sir Steven Cowley (PPPL) | SOSV Deep Tech LIVE

Fusion energy has long been called the “holy grail” of clean power because in theory it’s cheap, abundant, clean, and safe. Yet despite 100+ years of scientific research and billions in investment, the profound engineering challenges associated with fusion-based power are far from settled.𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐲, 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐃𝐎𝐄’𝐬 Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).Sir Steven is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on nuclear fusion, having spent decades at the forefront of fusion energy. Since 2018, he has been the Director of PPPL, one of the U.S.’s flagship fusion energy research centers, after having been CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority and head of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, where he led the UK’s national fusion research program. Sir Steven has shaped not only the science of plasma, but also the engineering strategies and global policy discussions around fusion power. For his services to fusion research, he was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen.In this conversation, moderator Duncan Turner (General Partner, SOSV & Managing Director, SOSV HAX) and Sir Steven will explore:🔹 Fusion’s hardest problem: why controlling plasma is so difficult & what’s finally changing🔹 The role of AI: how AI is accelerating reactor design & plasma stability🔹 From lab to grid: what stands between experiments & commercialization🔹 Plasma beyond fusion: how plasma physics is transforming semiconductors, advanced manufacturing & quantum devices🔹 The role of national labs: how institutions like PPPL & the HAX Plasma Forge are partnering with startups, investors, and industry to bring this tech to market📡 Broadcast live from our SOSV NY event space in Manhattan, this is the next installment of SOSV Deep Tech LIVE, our video podcast series exploring the frontiers of deep tech with leading founders, researchers, and technologists.--SOSV is the most active deep tech venture capital firm globally. We support visionary founders intent on making a profound impact on human and planetary health.We have three deeply resourced locations for founders in New York, Newark, and San Francisco. Each year, SOSV makes roughly 60 pre-seed investments of up to $550K each, as well as another 150 follow-on investments in deep tech companies. The pre-seed founders spend 4–6 months working side-by-side with SOSV General Partners and the broader team of experts in science and engineering, design and product development, supply chain and product-market fit. Additionally, founders gain access to each location’s office space and equipped lab space. More info on our locations and to apply: https://sosv.com/locations/More more info on SOSV:https://www.sosv.comMore info on our portfolio companies:https://sosv.com/deep-tech-100/

49 min
Apr 16

Heat Beneath Our Feet: Unlocking Superhot Geothermal | SOSV Deep Tech LIVE

Geothermal energy is one of the most promising solutions to the surging energy. ☄️ But drilling to the super hot rock many miles down is a vexing technical challenge and is one reason why geothermal provides 1% of global electricity. 📽️ Our next 𝐒𝐎𝐒𝐕 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 features Carlos Araque (CEO, Quaise Energy) and Duncan Turner (General Partner, SOSV & Managing Director, SOSV HAX), exploring: ➡️ Why conventional geothermal stalled ➡️ The cost & resource realities of drilling into superhot rock ➡️ Lessons learned partnering with oil & gas incumbents ➡️ An inside look at the 1st superhot geothermal power plant in the U.S. Quaise Energy is spinout from the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at MIT, that is pioneering a radically new drilling technology. An MIT-trained engineer, Carlos spent 15 years on complex energy systems at SLB (Schlumberger), before joining MIT’s The Engine to commercialize tech. More info on our locations and to apply: https://sosv.com/locations/ More more info on SOSV: https://www.sosv.com More info on our portfolio companies: https://sosv.com/deep-tech-100/ #geothermal #deeptech #deeptechlive

46 min
Season 2, Episode 2 Trailer

Heat Beneath Our Feet: Unlocking Superhot Geothermal | Quaise CEO Carlos Araque on Deep Tech LIVE

Tune in April 9th for a fascinating live conversation between Quaise Energy's CEO Carlos Araque and SOSV GP Duncan Turner - livestreaming on YouTube and LinkedIn (details below)Geothermal energy is one of the most promising solutions to the surging energy. ☄️ But drilling to the super hot rock many miles down is a vexing technical challenge and is one reason why geothermal provides less than 1% of global electricity.📽️ Our next 𝐒𝐎𝐒𝐕 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 will feature Carlos Araque (CEO, Quaise Energy) and Duncan Turner (General Partner, SOSV & Managing Director, SOSV HAX), exploring:➡️ Why conventional geothermal stalled➡️ The cost & resource realities of drilling into superhot rock➡️ Lessons learned partnering with oil & gas incumbents ➡️ An inside look at the 1st superhot geothermal power plant in the U.S.Quaise Energy is spinout from the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at MIT, that is pioneering a radically new drilling technology. An MIT-trained engineer, Carlos spent 15 years on complex energy systems at SLB (Schlumberger), before joining MIT’s The Engine to commercialize tech.The livestream starts at 6 PM, conversation starts at 6:15 PM on SOSV's LinkedIn and Youtube channels. Post-produced video and audio podcast will be released on all the services soon thereafter.

1 min
Mar 13

The Industrial Sherpa and the Sandbox: How Deep Tech Actually Scales (Featuring Energy's "Godmother of Investing," Dr. Barbara Burger)

If your only customer is "humanity," you don't have a business. And if you’re working with a global energy incumbent, you need more than great tech. On this episode of SOSV Deep Tech LIVE, we’re talking about how industrial systems actually work. This is the practical, behind-the-scenes path from promising science to full-scale deployment. Tune in for this fireside chat with Dr. Susan Schofer (SOSV / HAX Partner) and Dr. Barbara Burger (the “Godmother of Energy Investing,” Caltech PhD, Berkeley MBA, and former Chevron executive). Dr. Burger has spent decades serving as an “industrial sherpa” - guiding breakthrough tech through the messy realities of industrial scale, now advising companies like Bloom Energy, Energy Impact Partners, and Syzygy Plasmonics. Together, she and Susan will dig into what it takes to go from lab bench to commercial deployment: How to test tech and prove reliability inside complex, global systems What real industrial operational constraints look like How to navigate regulatory nuance and the true costs of renewables What to do when valuations race ahead of deployment The common pitfalls that quietly kill scale-up attempts If you're building for the energy sector or trying to sell into it, this conversation will save you years of guesswork. Don’t miss it!

52 min
09/23/2025

Fracking For Heat: Fervo's Moment - with CEO and Founder Tim Latimer | SOSV Deep Tech LIVE

As part of New York Climate Week, this SOSV Deep Tech Live features Fervo Energy founder Tim Latimer in conversation with Duncan Turner, General Partner at SOSV and Managing Director of HAX. Join us for an in-depth discussion about Latimer’s Fervo and the remarkable advances in geothermal energy that promise to enhance much-needed, carbon-free baseload power on the grid. 📍🏙️ Broadcast live from our IndieBio NY event space in Manhattan, this is next installment of 𝑺𝑶𝑺𝑽 𝑫𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉 𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑬, our video podcast series, where we explore the frontiers of Deep Tech with the world’s leading technologists, founders, and researchers. All episodes are available on Youtube, Apple, Spotify and wherever else you get your content. And if you're getting ready to launch a deep tech startup, get in touch! 👉 https://sosv.com/programs/

49 min
08/06/2025

Bitter Truths and Sweet Lies: Navigating the Metabolic Minefield with Dr. Robert Lustig | SOSV Deep Tech LIVE

🧬 Deep tech isn’t just AI and quantum computing — it includes 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐑, 𝐥𝐚𝐛-𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝, and more. These technologies are reshaping the inputs and outputs of both our 🌱 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 and 🏥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬.🔥 Get ready for a 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 with Robert Lustig, M.D., M.S.L., one of the world’s most 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 on 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡, 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, and 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲. In this one-on-one 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭 brought to you by 𝐒𝐎𝐒𝐕, Dr. Lustig joins Mohan Iyer (𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐒𝐎𝐒𝐕 & 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫, IndieBio) to unpack: 🍭 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐫𝐚-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 🧠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 — 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫, 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 ⚙️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧, 𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐲𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 💊 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐋𝐏-𝟏: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬? 📢 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜? 📚 A professor emeritus of pediatrics at UCSF and 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 (Fat Chance, The Hacking of the American Mind, Metabolical), Dr. Lustig’s work bridges 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡, and 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲. His viral lecture “𝐒𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡” is one of the most viewed non-music videos ever released on YouTube — 𝟐𝟓𝐌+ 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 🎥💡 Don’t miss this 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞 into the 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲, and 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 that could help 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 — and 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 🌍📍🏙️ Broadcast live from our IndieBio NY event space in Manhattan, this is next installment of 𝑺𝑶𝑺𝑽 𝑫𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉 𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑬, our video podcast series, where we explore the frontiers of Deep Tech with the world’s leading technologists, founders, and researchers. All episodes are available on Youtube, Apple, Spotify and wherever else you get your content. And if you're getting ready to launch a deep tech startup, get in touch! 👉 https://sosv.com/programs/

1h 8m

5

out of 5

2 Ratings

SOSV’s new Deep Tech LIVE event series features top technologists, researchers, and founders working on the frontiers of deep tech.

Creator

SOSV Deep Tech Live
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

13
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© SOSV Deep Tech Live
Show Website

SOSV Deep Tech LIVE