Oetting: 'Build It And They Will Come' Is Bad Hardtech Strategy
Drew Oetting · How 8VC Builds Billion-Dollar Companies | Palantir, Addepar, Saronic · Sourcery with Molly O'Shea · Aug 22, 2025 · at 49:02
Drew Oetting, Founding Partner at 8VC, reflects on lessons learned from co-founding biomanufacturing company Resilience and managing hardtech capital allocation.
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“Well, like with resilience, one thing we learned, which is going to sound very obvious, but you know, early on, we took a little bit of like, if we build it, they'll come strategy. That's a bad idea. It's much better to buy or invest in a facility alongside a customer who has, you know, either already signed or who has given so much demand signal that they need what you are about to build and has clarified the economics.”
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