QuantumScape: A Zero or the Next Tech Giant? With Simon Erickson
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Show Notes
This week we brought back Simon Erickson from 7investing to discuss the solid-state battery start-up QuantumScape. Here are some questions we asked him about the company:
Can you describe what QuantumScape is trying to do? Why is a solid-state battery so much better, if commercially achieved?
Who are QuantumScape’s most significant competitors? What makes QuantumScape better positioned to succeed? Where are they at relative to the competition today?
Why is the 24-layer cell such a significant milestone for them?
Does QuantumScape have any deals with customers yet? How long do you think it’ll be until they are generating revenue?
How ample is the opportunity that they’re going after?
What do you think about valuation for a company like QuantumScape?
What is their burn rate? How long can they go at this rate with the current cash on the balance sheet? How do they plan to raise more funds to keep things operational?
Obviously it’s difficult to tell this early, but do you have any sense for the kind of margins QuantumScape could have at maturity?
What do you think of management?
Premortem: How could this investment go wrong?
Disclosure: The author and podcast guests are not your financial advisors. Ryan Henderson and Brett Schafer are general partners and portfolio managers at Arch Capital. Clients of Arch Capital may hold securities discussed on this show.