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Wesley Zheng
About
Wesley Zheng, a founder and Stanford PhD, discusses his entrepreneurial journey in building hardware companies, including Volansi and his current venture, Posh, which tackles energy bottlenecks in the AI industry.
Best quotes
I kind of quit my professorship and moved back to San Francisco and continue my startup journey and um it has been a fun ride and this is probably the best place in the world to do startup
as any startup especially in the hardware space um um is is always a more challenging experience because you are not like a SAS company where you have recurring revenue.
if US doesn't build up the power generation capacity and uh we don't have enough AI data centers to continue to train the model the uh the lead and the race for sure, right?
you want to view China as a competitor but not as an enemy. And there's a a a difference between a competitors and the enemies, right?
know yourself and know your enemy um um you um then you don't have fear for for 100 battles.
FAQ
Who is Wesley Zheng?
Wesley Zheng is a founder, Stanford PhD, and former professor at the National University of Singapore who transitioned into the startup world in San Francisco. He previously founded the drone company Volansi and later started Posh to address energy challenges for commercial and industrial applications.
What was Volansi and what happened to it?
Volansi was Wesley's first company, founded in 2017, which built fixed-wing vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for commercial and defense logistics. After raising about $75 million, securing a $400 million Air Force contract, and growing to about 150 people, the company sold its assets to Sierra Nevada Corporation in 2022.
What is Posh and why is it important for the AI industry?
Started by Wesley around 2022, Posh focuses on energy solutions for commercial and industrial applications. It rides on the tailwind of huge power demand from AI data centers, addressing the critical energy and power generation bottlenecks currently facing the United States.
Why does Wesley believe cutting China out of the AI race is difficult?
Wesley notes that cutting China out is impractical because of their massive trajectory and speed in infrastructure development, such as numerous nuclear plants under construction and massive solar installations. Furthermore, if restricted from Western chips, Chinese labs could adopt alternative ecosystems like Huawei.
Where can people find out more about Wesley Zheng and his work?
People can connect with Wesley on LinkedIn, X, or through his company website at poshenergy.com.
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