Ep 65: Gene Berdichevsky, Co-Founder & CEO at Sila Nanotechnologies

Today’s guest is Gene Berdichevsky, Co-Founder & CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies. 

Prior to co-founding Sila, Gene was the seventh employee at Tesla Motors where he served as Principal Engineer on the Roadster battery, leading the development of the world’s first, safe, mass-produced, automotive lithium-ion battery system.

Gene holds two degrees from Stanford University; an MS in Engineering with a focus on energy and materials, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He has co-authored 42 patents and 4 academic publications. Gene has been named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list, the MIT Technology Review 35 Under 35, and was a recipient of the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

In today’s episode, we cover:

• Overview of Sila Nanotechnologies
• Battery industry overview, and the role of batteries in the climate fight
• Where EVs are in their adoption curve, and how they will connect to the grid in the future
• Gene’s path to becoming a battery entrepreneur, including joining Tesla as employee #7
• Gene’s great story about how he got hired at Tesla!
• Origin story of Sila Nanotechnologies, including how it formed while he was an EIR at Sutter Hill Ventures
• The importance of starting in high value markets in tough tech
• Gene’s views on the best ways for tough tech companies to get funded
• The importance of focusing on the process, not the result
• Sila’s progress to-date, and how the company has been capitalized along the way
• The potential impact it can have, if successful
• What’s coming next, and what barriers and hurdles they face to adoption
• The most impactful things that could change in order to accelerate their path
• What Gene would do with a big pot of money to maximize its impact in the climate fight
• His advice for others looking to find their lane

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

• Sila Nanotechnologies: https://silanano.com/
• Tesla: https://www.tesla.com/
• J.B. Straubel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._Straubel
• Pat Brown: https://impossiblefoods.com/company/ourteam/patbrown/
• Mike Speiser: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikespeiser/
• Sutter Hill Ventures: https://www.shv.com/
• Gleb Yushin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gleb-yushin-54780618/
• Cyclotron Road: https://www.cyclotronroad.org/
• Bessemer Venture Partners: https://www.bvp.com/
• California Air Resources Board: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/homepag

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant