Mar 4, 2025 · 37m · the-pitch
#102 Tether: Bodyguard of the Grid
Louis Medina · 13m spoken Josh Muccio · 7m spoken Elizabeth Yin · 3m spoken Mac Conwell · 1m spoken Charles Hudson · 1m spoken Jillian Manus · 1m spoken Neal Sales-Griffin · 1m spoken Sauce Entrepreneur · 7s spoken Lisa Muccio · 2s spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
First-time clean-tech founder Louis Medina pitches Tether, a virtual power plant SaaS platform that aggregates parked electric vehicles to balance power grids, securing $150,000 in conditional syndicate commitments on The Pitch. After navigating complex international corporate structuring and tax hurdles, the founders successfully transition to a Delaware C-Corporation to finalize institutional US backing.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Josh holds 25.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Josh as informed peer 4.5 Guest teaching 3.1 Guest disagreement 1.5 Josh pushing back 3.4
speaking balance: gold is Josh, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 28:18 Louis resists premature US corporate incorporation
Louis pushes back against investor pressure to immediately establish a Delaware C-Corp, arguing that closing doors in Europe would jeopardize their live Swedish commercial pilots.
Hardest push from Josh ▶ 24:13 Elizabeth refuses foreign entity investment under fund mandateElizabeth firmly rejects Louis's inquiry about keeping the company Swedish, explaining that PFIC regulations prevent her fund from investing and reducing her check to a personal five thousand dollar amount.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:31 Louis educates VCs on utility market fragmentationLouis reframes Elizabeth's question about car manufacturer competition by breaking down the regulatory fragmentation of distribution and transmission operators across Europe and the US.
Josh holds their own ▶ 14:50 Charles and Elizabeth assert PFIC tax compliance requirementsCharles and Elizabeth leverage their institutional VC expertise to explain why foreign entities consume ninety percent of audit bandwidth, demanding a Delaware C-Corp restructure as a hard requirement.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Josh as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Josh pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tether Elevator Pitch: Turning EVs into Grid Batteries | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | Louis introduces Tether's thesis of utilizing parked EVs as grid storage to solve renewable energy curtailment. Charles interrupts with baseline pushback regarding EV range anxiety, which Louis promptly acknowledges and promises to address. | |
| Grid Balancing Mechanics and Revenue Generation | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | Investors probe Tether's revenue model and integration requirements. Louis corrects Charles by specifying they operate in grid balancing markets rather than spot markets, introducing the 'bodyguard of the grid' analogy. | |
| Traction, Letters of Intent, and Deployment Timeline | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | Elizabeth pushes back by raising the competitive threat of major automotive OEMs like Ford entering vehicle-to-home charging. Louis counters effectively by detailing the regulatory complexity of regional transmission operators that generalist car makers avoid. | |
| Corporate Domicile and Initial Round Terms | 6 | 2 | 1 | 5 | Mac, Charles, and Elizabeth inquire into Tether's corporate domicile. Charles and Elizabeth condition their investments on converting from a Swedish entity to a Delaware C-Corp due to PFIC compliance issues, right before Louis feels dizzy. | |
| Pitch Room Health Scare and Founder Backstory | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | After recovering from a brief blood sugar dip with Gatorade, Louis shares how listening to The Pitch inspired his journey. The investors rally with enthusiasm, quickly pricing a convertible note at a four million post-money cap. | |
| Investor Post-Pitch Debrief and Syndicate Opportunity | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | In the post-pitch investor debrief, the VCs review the macroeconomic case for grid support software and early distribution moats. Elizabeth suggests opening up an SPV allocation for the Pitch syndicate. | |
| Due Diligence and Cross-Border Tax Complications | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 | Louis tests whether Elizabeth would invest if Tether stays a Swedish entity due to European angel restrictions. Elizabeth firmly pushes back, citing US PFIC tax regulations and reducing her check to a nominal personal commitment if he refuses to flip. | |
| The Dual Techstars Accelerator Strategy Dilemma | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | Louis explains being torn between Techstars Stockholm and Techstars Berlin, the latter requiring a European entity. Neil and Josh push back on his indecision, while Louis defends prioritizing immediate European commercial pilots over US legal restructuring. | |
| Delaware C-Corp Decision and Engineering Expansion | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Louis and Martim announce their decision to incorporate as a Delaware C-Corp after consulting specialized cross-border legal and tax advisors. They discuss the ten thousand dollar per subsidiary compliance overhead and hiring plans. | |
| Listener Syndicate Call to Action and Production Credits | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Host monologue featuring syndicate investment call to action, production credits, and teaser clip for the upcoming episode. |
Statements from this episode (22)
Medina: A typical passenger car is parked 95% of the time
“So a typical car is parked for 95% of the time.”
Medina: Europe will see 130 million electric vehicles sold within ten years
“And with a hundred and thirty million electric vehicles being sold in Europe alone in the next 10 years, that's a hundred and thirty million potential batteries that could be used to reinforce a power grid, substitute fossil fuel power plants, And allow more r…”
Medina: Tether has a commercial deal in Sweden and is raising $1.5M
“We have a commercial agreement with a major EV charging company in Sweden, and so we're raising 1.5 million to get there.”
Medina: Sweden's EV market is growing 120% year-over-year
“Sweden's electric vehicle market is a 120% year-on-year growth right now. It's at around forty-something percent of all vehicles being sold today are electric, and they're gonna going to have three million vehicles sold before 2030.”
Medina: Tether is currently pre-product and pre-revenue
“Yes, so we're pre-product, pre-revenue, we're developing the software.”
Medina: Automakers lacking vehicle-to-grid tech will face massive competitive disadvantages
“All manufacturers are going to be V-IIG, like any car manufacturer in the future that doesn't have that is going to be at a significant competitive disadvantage compared to the ones that do.”
Medina: Ford F-150 Lightning backup power ignores electric grid coordination
“What you mentioned about the Ford F one 50, basically what they're doing is they're discharging their battery on their house, right? But they're not coordinating that with the grid. They're not actively participating on those markets.”
Medina: Grid fragmentation creates a massive moat for Tether's VPP software
“In the U S each grid has its own laws and its own regulations of how you operate and in Europe as well. So if you are a vehicle manufacturer, You would have to have software that knows where the vehicle is and changes the way you bid into the market and the wa…”
Medina: Tether built its foundation on just a $10,000 uncapped SAFE
“It's a safe, and it was like, 10 K, so it wasn't too much, but.”
Yin commits $50,000 to Tether, pending agreement on valuation terms
“So I think, assuming we can get to terms on valuation, I'm in for 50 k.”
Hudson predicts Tether will get strong state and local government support
“And so I also think you will end up getting a lot of support from governments. Yeah. At the state and local level to do this.”
Hudson offers $25,000, conditional on Tether restructuring as a Delaware C-Corp
“I'd like to do 25 with one caveat, just around corporate structure, as Elizabeth knows, as a U.S. Investor, when you have non-Delaware C-Corp companies, the end of year, basically I spend 90% of my time on my audit on the three companies that are not based in …”
Sáles-Griffin: Techstars' Rising Stars fund mandates companies be US-based
“You have to be a US-based company for my pre-seed fund called Rising Stars through Techstars. But assuming that is something that happens, you can count on the commitment later.”
Conwell commits $50,000 to Tether, pending a Delaware C-Corp conversion
“Pending that Delaware C-Corp, because you're not a Delaware C-Corp, like, I'm not, like I do North America, South America, the UK, and even then that's time tough. So if you're a Delaware C-Corp, I'm in, dollar amount, I'll match her. I'll match Elizabeth. I'l…”
Conwell: Dominating Europe's virtual power plant market creates a massive company
“If he can make it work in Sweden, even if he doesn't get to the US, if he can own the Europe. Still a big company.”
Hudson: Charge operators' demand for single software aggregators creates massive lock-in
“I don't believe these charge operators want five different software systems. They're gonna pick one. And if he can make it work, he has a chance to be an early winner and lock up a bunch of distribution that will be very difficult, if not impossible, for someo…”
Yin: Hustle Fund invests in foreign entities despite significant regulatory hurdles
“So we've invested in a number of foreign entities, but when we do, we have to jump through a lot of hoops.”
Yin offers a $5,000 personal check if Hustle Fund cannot invest
“If in the case that we cannot do it out of Hustle Fund, I would be happy to write you a 5000 dollar personal check.”
Medina: Techstars Berlin demands a European entity, blocking US investment
“So Techstars Berlin, they contacted us, and basically they're doing a program that is a vertical only for companies in the EV space, which is great, and it's in conjunction with an Audi accelerator. Now, here's the wrench in the gearbox. This is the only Techs…”