Valar Atomics: a 24-year-old GED founder who bet on nuclear reactors when VCs wouldn't fund capex
MatthewChang · x · 2026-10-11
Robert Sterling tells the story of Valar Atomics: founder Isaiah Taylor, an Idaho native with only a GED, started the company at 24 in El Segundo's deeptech hub, aiming to build nuclear reactors better, cheaper, and faster. Back in 2023, VC culture still worshipped vertical SaaS and the word "capex" got founders laughed out of the room, making heavy-asset fundraising brutal. MatthewChang shared it as a case of "real life being more interesting than fiction."
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