CRAFTED. How Google Built a Moonshot Factory — And How You Can, Too | Astro Teller (Captain of Moonshots at X, The Moonshot Factory)
Mar 20, 2025
Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots at X, has spent over 15 years at the forefront of innovation, overseeing groundbreaking projects like Waymo. In this insightful discussion, he reveals how to transform wild ideas into world-changing innovations. Astro emphasizes the importance of 'greenlighting everything' and swiftly 'redlighting' projects using pre-agreed criteria. He discusses creating diverse teams for enhanced creativity and the merging of biology and engineering. Finally, he shares where X is investing today, including exciting ventures in climate-tech and bioengineering.
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Greenlight Everything, Then Redlight Fast
- Greenlight every moonshot idea initially to encourage creativity and risk-taking.
- Quickly redlight projects that don't show early promise using pre-agreed kill criteria.
Use Kill Criteria to Decide
- Establish kill criteria in advance to evaluate progress and decide continuation.
- Use missed kill criteria as a natural checkpoint to discuss if the project should be stopped or pivoted.
Train the Monkey First
- Focus first on solving the hardest core problem, not on building supporting infrastructure.
- Practice intellectual honesty about experimental results to decide to continue or kill projects.