The key idea of the video is that hard tech startups face unique challenges, but can create monumental leverage and defensibility by solving complex problems with scalable technology and a shared language.

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  00:00

  Chad Righetti shares his experience with hard tech startups and expresses gratitude for speaking at Y Combinator with his company, Forgetty.

  • Chad Righetti from Righetti quantum computing talks about hard technology startups and how sometimes you just have to work and work until everything comes together.
  • Chad talks about his company, Forgetty, and expresses gratitude for the opportunity to speak at Y Combinator.
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  02:34

  A team of PhDs is building a quantum computer in Berkeley to solve impactful problems in science, medicine, and material science.

  • A team of about 20 PhDs at Righetti computing is building a five cubic quantum computer in a warehouse in Berkeley, in a race to define this technology for the next 20-40 years.
  • The lecture discusses the transition from Newtonian mechanics to microchip technology and the current shift towards quantum computing using individual atoms.
  • Quantum computers are worth building because they can solve impactful problems in quantum chemistry, science, medicine, and material science.
  • Simulation driven design of catalysts can help solve global warming and machine learning on corne computers will lead to more powerful forms of artificial intelligence.
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  06:50

  Building large-scale computers face challenges with Moore's law and parallelization, but a Berkeley startup has developed a quantum computing system with 60-70 qubits.

  • Tianhe-2 was the most powerful computer costing $400 million, burning 20 megawatts of electricity, based on 3.2 million intel cores, and about half the size of a football field.
  • Building large-scale computers is facing two problems: the end of Moore's law and the limiting benefits of parallelization according to Amdahl's law and Bell's law.
  • Obama plans to build an exascale computer 30 times more powerful than Tianhe-2 by 2020, costing a billion dollars and requiring a nuclear power plant, but there is a faster and cheaper path through quantum computing.
  • A hard tech startup in Berkeley has developed a quantum computing system with a single chip containing 60-70 qubits, requiring the development of their own supply chain and advanced electronics for control and access over the cloud.
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  10:33

  Quantum computing uses individual photons to store and process information, allowing for scalable chip technology.

  • The speaker spent 15 years working on the problem of quantum computing and was inspired to pursue it due to frustration with not understanding quantum physics and how computers work.
  • The speaker worked on developing quantum integrated circuits using special electrical circuits based on superconductors that mimic real atoms, which allows for leveraging traditional semi character manufacturing capabilities and building scalable chip technology.
  • Quantum computers store and process information in individual photons, using about a hundred billion photons per bit process in the iPhone 7.
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  13:39

  Successful hard tech companies create monumental leverage and defensibility, as seen in the examples of the Manhattan Project and Apollo missions.

  • A hard tech company has to deal with additional risks and uncertainties compared to a regular tech company.
  • Successful hard tech companies create monumental leverage and defensibility, as seen in the examples of the Manhattan Project and Apollo missions, which inspire and stir the heart.
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  16:07

  Hard tech companies face communication challenges, but having a shared language can create long-term advantages in solving complex problems like curing cancer and solving global warming.

  • Hard tech companies provide defense ability and leverage, but face challenges in team communication and integration.
  • Having a shared language among experts in different fields can create a long-term advantage for organizations to solve complex problems such as curing cancer and solving global warming.
  • Define your organization's mission as a rallying cry to solve humanity's most important problems.
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  19:17

  Build a full stack business with integration, capabilities, and clarity to create a successful hard tech organization.

  • Integration creates defensibility and the goal is to build a full stack business including chip, system integration, software, applications, and drug design.
  • Take 10 minutes to reflect on what kind of company or organization resonates with you, especially if it's a hard tech organization, and as a founder or leader, your job is to build the necessary capabilities and create organizational clarity.
  • Creating a product or company involves a process of pumping entropy out of the vision through making micro decisions and building capabilities.
  • Hire people who pump entropy out of your vision for your organization.
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  22:42

  The Control Data Corporation 6600 machine, built by a group of 34 people in Wisconsin, was the first supercomputer and had a significant impact on geopolitics.