Why Startups Sign Short Contracts for Compute

The infrastructure behind AI is massive - learn to leverage it with our free guide to advanced prompt engineering: https://clickhubspot.com/fnw

Episode 84: What’s the real infrastructure powering every mind-blowing AI app and model you see today—and are we heading for a “compute bubble”? Nathan Lands (https://x.com/NathanLands) is joined by Evan Conrad (https://x.com/NathanLands), CEO of SF Compute and a leading expert in data centers and AI infrastructure.

Evan, previously an AI audio model founder, now leads SF Compute—building a groundbreaking spot market for AI compute that transforms supercomputers into a tradable, financeable commodity. He’s at the heart of the rapidly growing AI data center industry, shaping how AI is built, scaled, and funded.

This episode pulls back the curtain on the biggest physical build-out in tech history—compute infrastructure. Nathan and Evan break down how AI companies actually get the raw power they need, the economics behind GPU clusters, credit risk bubbles, power constraints in the US vs. China, and why making compute tradable could make or break the future of AI. Whether you’re an investor, founder, or just love tech, this is your crash course in the “invisible” industry driving the AI revolution.

Check out The Next Wave YouTube Channel if you want to see Matt and Nathan on screen: https://lnk.to/thenextwavepd

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Show Notes:

• (00:00) AI Cluster Economics Explained

• (05:59) Venture Capital Dependency Risks

• (09:34) GPU Cloud Requires Long-Term Contracts

• (10:23) GPU Contracts and Market Solution

• (13:57) US vs China: AI Competition

• (19:33) Crypto vs. Automation Ambitions

• (22:03) US Plutocracy and Environmental Barriers

• (26:03) GPU Cluster Investment Management

• (26:55) Compute as Real Estate Model

• (29:52) Future Skills for a 12-Year-Old

• (34:20) Automated In-Home Delivery System

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Mentions:

• Evan Conrad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-conrad

• SF Compute: https://sfcompute.com/

• Pipedream: https://pipedream.com/

• Udio: https://www.udio.com/

• Suno: https://suno.com/

• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/

• Waymo: https://waymo.com/

Get the guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/tnw

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Check Out Matt’s Stuff:

• Future Tools - https://futuretools.beehiiv.com/

• Blog - https://www.mattwolfe.com/

• YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/@mreflow

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Check Out Nathan's Stuff:

• Newsletter: https://news.lore.com/

• Blog - https://lore.com/

The Next Wave is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Production by Darren Clarke // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano