Building @BlackwingVC • Investing in America's future (@ValarAtomics, @Atomic_Inc, @AskariDefense) • Optimistic Midwest farm boy • Soli Deo Gloria

California, USA
Americans used to build machines that became heirlooms. Feels worth getting back to that. 160 antique John Deeres. My grandpa was a fairly normal Southern Illinois guy.
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Chad Cazel 🇺🇸/acc retweeted
Rainmaker has raised $100M to become the world’s best lab for weather modification and atmospheric science. Thank you @noavctech @upfrontvc @DCVC @lowercarbon @DreamVenturesVC and other visionary partners. We are aggressively hiring and scaling our research org to create a flywheel of atmospheric data collection, synthesis, understanding, and intervention. We will solve the weather and we will set the stage for the terraformation of Earth. More in my essay below.
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I’m a big fan of American Moment and a friend of its founder, @NickSolheim. If you’re a patriotic builder, spend a summer with them, then take what you learn back to building a stronger America.
NEWS: Applications are OPEN for the Summer 2027 Fellowship for American Statecraft! 🚨 👀 Get your career in DC started in mere months with a $3,250/month + signing bonus, benefits & networking funds. ⚙️ Apply by January 17 → americanmoment.org/fellowshi…
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Michael and I were on the founding team of the Thiel Fellowship and left to scale our work backing young ambitious minds and builders before anyone else. 1517 turns 12 next year. And though we fly humbly under the radar, you know some of our greats: Lambda, Loom, Mach, Positron, ntop, Deepgram, Rainmaker. As of last week, Fund I is at a 5X DPI. We were the first check before anyone else would have a serious conversation with these founders and by doing that, we (a teacher and philosopher) have turned $20M into over $100M which doesn't even include our SPVs to continue driving our wins home. There is nothing like building a small community that you believe in before anyone else, you see something special and cultivate the hell out of it, and then grow that into a force of nature with multiplying effects. Best is yet to come!
One of the crazier facts about venture is that it seems consistently possible to build a small community of college-aged kids that is incredibly talent dense, e.g.: - Thiel Fellows (ETH, Figma, I think Cognition) - KP Fellows (Opensea, also Figma) - Dorm Room Fund (Cursor) - Prod (Mercor, Etched, also Cursor) - Neo Scholars (Cog, also Cursor) Other than Neo (@neo) though, this hasn't really become anyone's dominant strategy.
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Chad Cazel 🇺🇸/acc retweeted
Hey America, start your morning tomorrow with @Ginger_Zee and @ADoricko talking about the future of weather mod live from El Segundo on @GMA
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Chad Cazel 🇺🇸/acc retweeted
The best college is no college
America's best colleges 2026-2027, per TIME. 1. Stanford University 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3. Harvey Mudd College 4. Princeton University 5. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 6. California Institute of Technology 7. University of Pennsylvania 8. Columbia University in the City of New York 9. Claremont McKenna College 10. Harvard University 11. Yale University 12. Babson College 13. Cornell University 14. University of Virginia-Main Campus 15. University of California-Berkeley 16. University of Florida 17. Carnegie Mellon University 18. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 19. University of Notre Dame 20. Georgetown University 21. Lehigh University 22. Vanderbilt University 23. Dartmouth College 24. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus 25. Brown University 26. Williams College 27. University of Chicago 28. Bentley University 29. Santa Clara University 30. Stevens Institute of Technology 31. Rice University 32. University of Southern California 33. Villanova University 34. University of California-Los Angeles 35. University of California-San Diego 36. CUNY Lehman College 37. Davidson College 38. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo 39. Northwestern University 40. Duke University 41. Johns Hopkins University 42. Berea College 43. University of California-Santa Barbara 44. University of Wisconsin-Madison 45. College of the Holy Cross 46. Washington University in St Louis 47. CUNY Bernard M Baruch College 48. Boston College 49. Washington and Lee University 50. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 51. Fashion Institute of Technology 52. William & Mary 53. Florida State University 54. Brigham Young University 55. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 56. Bucknell University 57. University of Connecticut 58. Binghamton University 59. Colorado School of Mines 60. Swarthmore College 61. University of Delaware 62. Florida International University 63. University of Maryland-College Park 64. Bowdoin College 65. Colgate University 66. Amherst College 67. CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice 68. Lafayette College 69. Wellesley College 70. University of La Verne 71. Citadel Military College of South Carolina 72. The University of Texas at Austin 73. Virginia Military Institute 74. North Carolina State University at Raleigh 75. Massachusetts Maritime Academy 76. Pomona College 77. Worcester Polytechnic Institute 78. SUNY Maritime College 79. Texas A & M University-College Station 80. Colby College 81. Fairfield University 82. Clemson University 83. Emory University 84. Purdue University-Main Campus 85. Molloy University 86. University of San Diego 87. University of Georgia 88. New York University 89. Middlebury College 90. University of California-Davis 91. George Washington University 92. Hamilton College 93. Maine Maritime Academy 94. Barnard College 95. New Jersey Institute of Technology 96. Trinity College 97. University of Richmond 98. Yeshiva University 99. The College of New Jersey 100. Wake Forest University
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Midwestern dad portfolio update: the beans are absolutely ripping.
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Chad Cazel 🇺🇸/acc retweeted
Rainmaker just produced ~19M gallons of water in Alaska via next-gen cloud seeding over 3 hours of operations. We are the first company to provably produce precipitation in Alaska. As promised, we’ve linked our white paper and relevant data. In the future, Rainmaker will protect and restore glaciers with man-made snowfall. Immediately, this demonstration shows how Rainmaker will add new water to the Colorado River and Great Salt Lake in the coming months. We turned around this analysis and white paper just a couple days after operating. There are many data sources I want to deepen our understanding of the atmosphere and increase our provable production; we’re building the instruments to collect that data in subsequent operations. But at Rainmaker, we won’t tout LOIs, simulations, or lab tests. What matters is physically measuring that you’ve affected the atmosphere; proving that we’ve produced water. We prefer sharing only the tech that has proven to make more water for farms, industries, and ecosystems in need. Expect a regular cadence of these from us as we build the best atmospheric science lab in the world. Feedback is welcome in the interim. Rainmaker Century. rainmaker.com/blog/alaska-va…
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Thanks for hosting us @rileymeik and @bobbyfijan and showing us what you’re building at @americanhousing. America needs a lot more homes. Especially starter homes young families can actually afford. The answer is to build.
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Bonus: spotted an @ImpulseLabs stove in the wild. Very cool seeing @sdamico’s hardware already shipping into new homes. Many more, please.
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Elon is on an absolute another level.
Terafab approximate size comparison between Giga Texas, the Pentagon, Apple Park, and the Mall of America. There has never been a building this large. Elon Musk says it will be the most valuable building by far.
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Chad Cazel 🇺🇸/acc retweeted
Base Power get a Billy Valar gets a Billy Hadrian gets a Billy America is BACK!!! 🇺🇸🦅
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Reindustrialization will not be stopped. Huge congrats @2112Power on the massive round.
Today we're announcing our Series D: $1.37B in new capital at a $7.87B valuation to Reindustrialize America. Thank you to all our investors. WCM Investment Management, @WashingHarbour, Valor Equity Partners, @137ventures, and @BaillieGifford led the round. @jpmorgan Chase's Strategic Investment Group acted as anchor co-lead, investing through the firm's Security and Resiliency Initiative. The round also included major participation by @1789capital, as well as participation from @MorganStanley Wealth Management, @apolloglobal, @TRowePrice, @a16z, @CapitalG, @foundersfund, @lux_capital, @AltimeterCap, @constructcap, and existing investors. This round confirms our belief in a few simple things: America needs to Reindustrialize, Physical AI is real, transforming the world of atoms matters 100x more than the world of bits, and, most importantly, that the New American Workforce is the center of everything we do. Here's what we've built, and what comes next.
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“…the biggest energy company on Earth.”
"We're building the biggest energy company on Earth." Valar Atomics CEO Isaiah Taylor discusses the startup's $1 billion funding round, its plan to scale nuclear power and why he believes nuclear is critical to winning the AI race bloom.bg/3TALJOO
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Chad Cazel 🇺🇸/acc retweeted
We’re excited to announce Blackwing’s participation in Valar Atomics’ $1 billion Series B. The round was led by @shaunmmaguire and @Liamcorrigan at @sequoia, alongside an all-star group of co-investors: @AntonioGracias at Valor Equity Partners, @GavinSBaker at Atreides Management, @DougPhilippone at @SnowpointVC, @RichardDreamVC and @Pedramsheraf at @DreamVenturesVC, @smarcus at Riot Ventures, @saranormous at @conviction, @kimmaicutler at @Initialized, and @abemurray at @alley_corp. Congratulations to @isaiah_p_taylor and the entire @valaratomics team. A decade from now, few companies will have done more to secure America’s industrial edge.
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AI and American industry are going to need far more power than we have today. @isaiah_p_taylor saw that early and has been moving faster than almost anyone thought possible. We’re stoked to keep backing him and the @valaratomics team.
We’re excited to announce Blackwing’s participation in Valar Atomics’ $1 billion Series B. The round was led by @shaunmmaguire and @Liamcorrigan at @sequoia, alongside an all-star group of co-investors: @AntonioGracias at Valor Equity Partners, @GavinSBaker at Atreides Management, @DougPhilippone at @SnowpointVC, @RichardDreamVC and @Pedramsheraf at @DreamVenturesVC, @smarcus at Riot Ventures, @saranormous at @conviction, @kimmaicutler at @Initialized, and @abemurray at @alley_corp. Congratulations to @isaiah_p_taylor and the entire @valaratomics team. A decade from now, few companies will have done more to secure America’s industrial edge.
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Chad Cazel 🇺🇸/acc retweeted
Time to double up
Philip Morris Doubles Zyn Factory Investment to $1.2 Billion bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Chad Cazel 🇺🇸/acc retweeted
Total American Victory. @isaiah_p_taylor
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Chad Cazel 🇺🇸/acc retweeted
Valar Atomics CEO Isaiah Taylor: "Over the last 30 years, we became more interested in Powerpoint than in power plants, and it's your leadership that is changing that." 🔥
.@POTUS: "Last year, I signed 4 historic executive orders to reignite a wave of progress in America’s nuclear power production and promote this abundant, affordable, unlimited supply of energy for the American people. As part of this effort, I directed @SecretaryWright to establish a pilot program for advanced reactors and to see at least 3 cutting-edge reactors started up safely by the 4th of July... most believed the goal is impossible, but I’m delighted to say that FOUR companies succeeded in meeting that deadline."
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