Schrep Discusses Cost Curves and Tech Trends on Danny in the Valley

Hear Insights on Scaling Data Centers, Consumer Hardware, and the Trends Creating Opportunities in Climate Tech

• Early Interest in Technology: Schrep reflects on childhood and how early exposure to computers at school and playing video games on his family’s Commodore 64, sparking initial tech interest. He also shares how love for science and math led to pursuing CS at Stanford University.
• Identifying Trends and Cost Curves: Schrep emphasizes the significance of rapidly declining cost curves in areas such as solar cells, lithium-ion batteries, and genome sequencing. “My experience is that big changes are only obvious after the fact. I can say 30x solar is going to get built a lot faster than you’re thinking because of declining cost curves. I’ve trained my brain over the last 10-15 years to watch and understand what happens when these things shift.”
• Building Hardware: Schrep talks about his experience scaling Meta’s infrastructure, data centers, and hardware teams, stressing the importance of focusing on outcomes and constant learning. He shares his take on the nuances of investing in hardware companies and what Gigascale looks for in founders.
• The Future of Energy: Asked about the technologies that could have a significant impact on the world, Schrep points to widespread solar power and energy storage, “If you look at the deployment of technology over history, it’s usually a simple, easily replicated thing that ends up winning. What does that look like in power? That looks like solar plus storage. The cost advantage is overwhelming.”

We can have clean air, clear water, and power to make people prosperous all around the world. That’s the future we can get. It’s within our grasp.

Mike Schroepfer on Danny in the Valley