In This Article...

• Foreward

• This Month’s Alumni Start-Ups

  • Olden Labs

  • From The Last Issue

• Job Board

  • Olden Labs

• Private Investing FAQ

Foreward

First and foremost… good luck to everyone’s $TSLA for the Robotaxi unveiling tonight! I’ll send out a special issue out tomorrow recapping the event and to share some thoughts.

I’m excited to kick off the last quarter of the year by keeping you updated on what the community is working on. We’ve got some exciting investment deals in the pipeline, so stay tuned.

If you’re new to XSLA Ventures, welcome! Here’s what we’re focused on:

• Highlighting ex-Tesla and ex-SpaceX founders and their companies.

• Securing pre-seed/seed round investments for the growing ex-Tesla and ex-SpaceX investor community.

  • These deals will be communicated explicitly and separately to accredited investors.

This network includes former Tesla and SpaceX employees at all levels, ranging from junior ICs to Execs from various departments — Firmware, Hardware, Supply Chain, Autopilot, and Manufacturing, just to name a few.

This Month’s Alumni Start-Ups

Olden Labs

oldenlabs.com

I’ve known Michael for several years, and I was really intrigued to hear about what he’s building at his new startup, which he co-founded earlier this year. He’s continuing to push forward with innovative mechatronic solutions, and I’ve always admired his scrappy, always-shipping attitude.

From The Founder:

Michael Kaca (Tesla, Controls Engineering ‘17)

From The Last Issue

atopile.io - Matthew Wildoer (Tesla, Energy ‘23) & Narayan Powderly (Tesla, EE Hardware ‘23)

speed-beam.com - Tim Battle (Tesla, Chassis Controls ‘23)

Job Board

If you or your company is hiring, send your job postings to [email protected] to be featured.

Olden Labs

Engineering Test Technician - Research Hardware

This position is for a 3-6 month contract, with the opportunity to convert to full-time. In this position, you will be responsible for building and maintaining Olden’s DOMEs. As an Engineering Test Technician, you will work on the build, assembly, and testing of prototype and production hardware. This role will have you working closely with and learning from our design and development teams to review design integration and brainstorm solutions to resolve hardware risks. If you're a self-starter with a strong background in building and testing prototype hardware, and you want to be a part of a team that is making a real difference in the world, then we want to hear from you.

Private Investing FAQ

What is an SPV?

In angel investing, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is a legal entity (typically an LLC or LLP) created to pool investments from multiple investors into a single startup. By using an SPV, investors combine their funds, making it easier to invest collectively while simplifying the startup’s capitalization table.

Investors pooling their capital into an SPV provides a few benefits:

• Simplicity: Startups deal with just one entity, keeping their cap table clean.

• Cost-sharing: Investors share legal and administrative costs.

• Flexibility: SPVs allow for one-time investments without long-term commitments.

Typically, the fees for an SPV include a 2% management fee for things such as incorporation, legal, and administrative overhead. There is also a typical industry-standard 20% carry attached to the SPV, where after the initial investment is repaid to the investors (in a liquidity event), the lead investor takes a 20% cut of the profits afterwards.

For more info, check out this guide from Carta.

If you’re looking to:

• connect with founders or companies

• tap into the network for technical expertise

• raise capital for your start-up

• highlight your company in the next newsletter

reach out at [email protected]