Adam Grosser:from Apple's first laser printer to UP.Partners' frontier-mobility bets
Key points
Key takeaways from We the Builders interview with Adam Grosser:
Early career. Grosser worked at Xerox PARC on early graphical user interfaces in 1974. He then interned at Apple in 1979. As Apple director of engineering in the 1980s, he helped build the Apple-Canon desktop laser printer.
Lucasfilm. At Lucasfilm, he directed engineering. Industrial Light and Magic won Academy Awards for effects on films like The Abyss and Terminator 2. Skywalker Sound and THX set new audio standards.
Acquisitions. He argues large corporates stop innovating and buy upstarts. Founders driven by a stake rarely fit a culture of rank. He credits Safi Bahcall Loonshots.
Consensus. Over 26 years, he has reviewed thousands of companies. He backed Silver Spring Networks, the first company to manage the electricity grid at scale. Today, he asks whether anyone can bet against Elon Musk.
Venture model. He doubts the venture model holds. Private equity analytical rigour makes venture look like a clown show. An investor job is to back first-principles thinkers who create new categories.
UP.Partners. He founded UP.Partners in 2020 to back software-enabled mobility. Portfolio companies include Hermeus, Reliable Robotics, Axiom Space, Skydio, Westmag, Pacific Fusion, and Beta. He tests engineering in his own San Carlos workshop.
Read more: Watch on YouTube
