#588 Delian on Space and Bitcoin

— Varda is building manufacturing facilities in space to produce high-value materials (cancer drugs, fiber optics, human organs) in microgravity, then returning them to Earth; the company aims to be the "AWS of space" by making launch costs economically viable for non-aerospace industries.

— SpaceX's reusable rockets and cost reduction (now ~$5,000/kg) enabled Varda's business model; bringing materials back via atmospheric re-entry is the hardest technical problem, with Varda targeting the first commercial soft landing on land rather than water.

— Founders Fund operates on conviction-based rather than consensus-based investing, with tiered check sizes (2 people approve up to $1.5M, six people for $30M+); the firm prioritizes intellectual honesty and allows junior investors significant autonomy.

— Delian adopted the "days since founding" metric as a cultural tool to enforce rapid decision-making and execution speed, borrowed from portfolio company Ramp; Varda's Monday all-hands opens with a countdown to first launch.

— Delian initially held Bitcoin as a store of value but remained skeptical of crypto until exploring DeFi's algorithmic liquidity pools; he concluded crypto is not yet ready for mainstream adoption (closer to "DARPANET days than Google") and plans to revisit in 2–3 years.

— Delian relocated from San Francisco to Miami in March 2021 after visiting for Keith Rabois's birthday, citing superior quality of life, vibrant entrepreneurial community, and happier work environment; the move happened within 48 hours of deciding.

— Conviction-based investing structures allow individual investors to own decisions without full partnership consensus; if building conviction on an unfamiliar thesis, find domain experts on your team to evaluate risk rather than forcing consensus from generalists.

— When evaluating emerging technologies (like crypto or space manufacturing), separate the long-term viability from current user experience friction; identify what must improve before mainstream adoption becomes feasible, then time your entry accordingly.

— Geographic arbitrage in talent and quality of life still matters: Miami's lower regulatory burden, better weather, and denser concentration of builders created better conditions for company building and personal productivity than San Francisco in 2021.