Holland/Bliss/Dustin

Attendees: Dustin J Ross, Bliss Perry, Holland Ferguson Date: March 13, 2026 Type: Partner Session

Summary

Business Model & Strategy

• Building digital twin of semiconductor supply chain to provide multi-tier visibility
• Core problem: Companies only see direct suppliers, limited visibility beyond first tier
• Cold start challenge: Need data asset to provide value, but need value to attract data
• Federated architecture approach
  • Digital twin sits between participating firms
  • Preserves individual data silos while enabling aggregated insights
  • Companies share anonymized structural data for compliance workflows

Customer Discovery & Validation Approach

• Steve Blank suggestion: Build simple model showing Taiwan fab impact scenarios
  • Even with imperfect data, would generate interest and conversations
  • Use as “Trojan horse” to understand real customer problems
• Shift from “what do you think of our idea” to showing actual tool
• Ann from Floodgate: Build 10 versions, see what hits (low cost in AI era)
• Steve Weinstein counterpoint: Must identify customer first before building

Technical Implementation

• AI agent integration for 2026 demo
  • Chatbot interface for analysts to spell out assumptions
  • Real-time simulation with ability to modify logic
  • Shows work, allows back-and-forth refinement
• Command line tool that can be invoked by agents or dashboard
• LLM integration at two levels:
  1. Model calls out to LLM for reasoning
  2. External agents invoke simulation as analysis tool

Potential Customers & Use Cases

• Defense contractors: Supply chain independence for contract wins
• Compliance applications: Prove US-based sourcing for subsidies
• Risk modeling: Taiwan scenario planning for various industries
• Industries beyond semiconductors: Batteries, rare earth, chemicals, robotics
• Government/policy applications: Unclassified reference for classified analysis

Next Steps & Connections

• Jbperry to connect with former SpaceX supply chain lead (now at robotics company)
• Research Hoover contacts for semiconductor/Taiwan expertise
• Full execution mode planned for spring quarter
• Applied for independent study (GSB 390) for academic cover
• No external customer outreach completed yet - priority for Q1

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Co-founder Signal Debrief

Sourced from Signal chat, 2026-02-18 and 2026-03-13

Feb 18: Holland proactively introduced the founders to Joe Felter at a Stanford event with a warm email framing both founders’ backgrounds. Dustin: “Let’s hire Holland dude. She’s such a weapon. I’m a big fan and it’s nice how much she believes in us.” Bliss: “She’s incredible. She is plugged into a whole network of people just like her on campus too.”

Team aspiration: “No, it’s just on us to be super fast and intense and develop this to such a place where it’s tangible enough for us to bring her on board.” — Holland identified as a future operator hire, not just advisor.

Also pending: Holland was going to intro Isobel Porteous (LinkedIn shared in chat). Founders: “We should for sure meet her.” Not yet executed.