America is rebuilding its industrial base.

And the companies enabling that shift will become the defining winners of the next decade.

Here’s our case for investing in industrial innovation at CT Capital: For ~15 years, technology focused almost entirely on the application layer.

We optimized last-mile delivery - the final 20% of the supply chain that touches consumers: Amazon, DoorDash, Instacart.

But the first 80% (factories, ports, warehouses, construction sites) stayed largely unchanged.

That imbalance is now breaking.

Small teams can now operate with the scale and sophistication of Fortune 500s.

And modern infrastructure is powering it.

Here’s why we’re investing in this category at CT Capital: There’s a long-held assumption that small business = small opportunity.

In reality, small businesses employ nearly half of the American workforce and represent about 43.5% of US GDP - so “small” has never actually meant “insignificant.”

At the same time, some of the highest-performing companies in the world operate with surprisingly tiny teams because modern infra lets them stay lean while operating globally.

The most interesting opportunities in software right now are in old, analog industries finally getting rebuilt.

My thesis for investing in vertical SaaS at CT Capital: Simply put, vertical software means SaaS built for a specific industry with its own tailored workflows & regulations.

Rather than “software for everyone,” it’s designed to rebuild an entire legacy workflow end-to-end.

And that matters right now because, even though we may assume most industries are fully digitized by 2025… we’re not even close.

I read this article from @JTLonsdale and I couldn’t agree more with how he breaks down AI investing into six tiers.

A few notes of my own: @JTLonsdale Starting at the bottom: Energy Infrastructure at Tier 0.

AI compute requires tons of electricity and it’s growing exponentially.

Without massive grid upgrades, we’ll likely need to off-shore data centers.

Mega cap funds are firmly focused here.

A decent product with great distribution will beat a great product with no distribution.

• FB wasn't the first social network
• Google wasn't the first search engine
• iPhone wasn't the first smartphone

Here’s why distribution is as important, if not more, than product: I don't make blanket statements but I will say this - most companies don't fail from having a horrible product.

Typically, it’s because people don't know they exist.

As a team that knows the power of strong distribution, we spend a ton of time drilling down on this before investing.

I got out of uniform, and didn’t know what would fit next.

Most saw the Trident, but I didn’t want to lean on it.

Through asymmetric networking I landed incredible mentors.

Here’s how I found mentors who flung doors open for me: When I was finding my way I sought advice from those I saw myself emulating.
- A self-made billionaire
- A hedge fund manager
- A former CIA operative
- A Fortune 100 COO

And others who led companies, teams, movements, and lives I aspired to.

Here's what worked for me:

2 years ago, I left the military after 10 years.

I got an MBA, tried out a few jobs, and learned hard lessons about transition.

Here’s what I wish I knew when I left one “industry” for another: Conflicts were dying down and the focus on success was missing the mark. I believed I could have a greater impact out of uniform, I had no idea if going to war and leading teams would translate to the private sector.