Every Day Learn Something, Every Day Build Something: 77 Patents Later

What if the thing that pushed you toward your life's most important work wasn't inspiration, but tragedy? Tom Chi, a founding team member of Google X and named inventor on 77 patents, joins Sean to share how watching a coral reef collapse outside his Hawaii home in a matter of weeks set him on a path to investing in climate tech. In this conversation, you'll hear how Tom built a career around actually making things rather than just patenting ideas, why he believes tragedy creates more lasting commitment than inspiration ever could, and how his inventor's mindset shapes the way he works with founders today. Tom also unpacks what it really means to learn something and build something every single day, and why that philosophy has guided everything from self-driving cars and Google Glass to his current work on planetary-scale problems. Check out the company: https://www.atoneventures.com ────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 📚 NETWORK BEFORE YOU NEED IT (6 LESSONS THAT MADE SEAN $15M) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Get my brand new eBook free - https://welivetobuild.com/network ────────────────────── 📋 WORK WITH ME ────────────────────── ▶ Buy 300 Lessons From 300 Founders: https://welivetobuild.com/300-lessons-ebook ▶ Sponsor the Channel: https://www.welivetobuild.com/sponsorship ────────────────────── 🔗 CONNECT WITH SEAN ────────────────────── ▶ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/seanweisbrot ▶ Inquiries: welivetobuild@gmail.com ────────── 🕐 CHAPTERS ────────── 00:00 - Tom Chi's Tragedy-Driven Path into Climate Investing 02:55 - Coral Reefs Extinct by 2055: Tom's Wake-Up Call 08:38 - Physical Monopolies Beat SaaS's 11th Option 11:53 - 4 Industries Behind 90% of Water Pollution 13:28 - Tom's "Triad" Framework for Deep Tech Bets 14:40 - Green Premiums Never Change Industrial Defaults 15:40 - The CapEx Inertia Trap Parity Can't Escape 18:00 - Checking Physics via Matter, Energy, Time, Space 22:50 - Why Software Diligence Is Just Faith and Belief 25:35 - Late Lab Bench: Tom's Science-Risk-Free Entry Point 27:50 - Cold Fusion and Superconductors as Cautionary Tales 30:10 - Every Day Learn Something, Every Day Build Something