Co-founder @DreamstarLines, a private rail startup delivering world-class passenger rail in the U.S., starting with overnight sleeper service between LA & SF
USA
Joined April 2012
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We found a way to expand passenger rail across America without laying a single track.
Dreamstar Lines uses underutilized freight capacity to run passenger trains across thousands of miles of existing rail infrastructure
We’ve secured a memorandum of understanding with Union Pacific to operate on the LA -> SF corridor one of the highest-demand rail routes in the country, with plans for this route to launch service on the eve of the 2028 Olympics.
This is just the beginning. We plan to expand these partnerships across the most important corridors in America. In just a decade, Americans will have a well deserved alternative to flying or driving in the medium distance. Once and for all we will Make Trains Great Again.
Exciting times for rail infrastructure in this country.
I've been telling folks for years this is coming.
HOLY SHIT WE ARE BACK
@BucyForTexas just submitted a bill in the Texas legislature to fund high speed rail with state money! 🤯
How does a fast train (passenger) pass a slow train (freight)?
Railroads built temporary "lanes" called sidings.
And some freight trains have grown longer than the sidings built to let other trains pass.
That means giving an passenger trains priority isn't always enough: the freight train needs somewhere it can fit while the passenger train goes by.
Longer sidings can help passenger trains run on time while keeping freight moving.
As luck would have it, the US Government is allocating billions of dollars for upgrades like this to improve our rail infrastructure.
Better infrastructure = more reliable service = better trains.
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The Eisenhower lore behind the Interstate Highway System is actually a fascinating story that dates back to World War I, if you can believe it.
(P.S. U.S. railroads were nationalized during World War I. )
Eisenhower was famously inspired by the Autobahn in building the interstate highway system. This literally happened. Like literally literally.
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Joshua | Building Trains 🚆 retweeted
I would go to visit friends in ‘nearby’ cities so much more often if this was a possibility.
I'm glad to see he is learning what a K-shaped economy means in real-world, lived terms.
It's tough when nobody in your immediate social circle is really connected to what most Americans are facing day to day.
You assume the base rates are represented by your own network, when in fact the more successful you are, the less representative Your network is to what's actually going on in the United States.
It's not a dig. It's just reality.
When I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I thought when unemployment was low, GDP was hi, household income rose, it meant everyone was winning.
Not true.
The American economy has decoupled the economic progress of asset owners from wage earners to such a degree that broad based measures of success are no longer reliable measures of progress.
This single issue of asset ownership vs progress of wage earners will be the defining issue in all future elections.
Other issues will get caught in the interpretation (price of eggs, Iran war, price of gas etc) but the candidate that realizes that those are downstream of asset vs wage earners and gets their messaging focused on it will win.
No amount of money spent in an election or gerrymandering will change this outcome.
That is what I learned on Nov3.
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Yeah. A little history to understand how much stuff is degraded
Untold US history.
How private industry colluded to destroy their competitors.
Is the world better for this type of behavior?
This is broadly true for freight and inter-city passenger rail. But there was also a concerted effort by GM, Standard Oil babies, and other corporations in the 1930s-1940s to destroy light rail systems and light railcar manufacturing around the country. teapaw.org/musharbash_b/status/20…
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Joshua | Building Trains 🚆 retweeted
You can go to sleep in Portland, ME and wake up in Birmingham, AL with this technology. Absolutely insane we are getting trainmogged.
One of the less understood benefits of a nationwide high speed network.
You enable trips like this you would't otherwise consider when you think trains.
All aboard the world's fastest sleeper train!
This is a China Railways CR400AF-AE taking me from Beijing to Hong Kong-West Kowloon covering the 2250km in 10 hours and 19 minutes. We will hit top speeds of 350km/h on this trip! 🇨🇳
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Eh - agents solve all this now.
Is no more work for most founders anymore.
Though still doesn't mean a founder will choose ya!
I suspect the funds that are correctly positioning themselves for AI search are going to see an uptick in cold outreach deal flow.
Separating signal from noise - however is still an open problem.
My 'hot take' of the day:
Over the next few years.
VCs and funds who ask founders to apply will die.
VCs and funds who share their terms upfront and ask for an opportunity to invest will thrive.
@Standard_Cap was early on this.
Most others can't follow because they have little alpha to compete. Why would a top tier founder pick them?
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When people say "car-brained," this is genuinely what they mean, not necessarily in a mean way.
Just the kind of person who can't imagine living without a car.
You can't really blame them. You only know what you know.
But pretty much everyone I know prefers to live in a walkable (safe) neighborhood once they experience it.
Don't want to be edged out of a deal?
It's a shame more of these rounds are done on public markets.
I long for a world for early stage tech stocks in public markets with tons of growth ahead of them.
World is a better place when MORE people have MORE access to MORE growth opportunity.
We need more companies like Amazon, Google, Tesla to go public earlier
Pay the "premium" P/E and give most Americans who invest via 401k exposure to the greatest wealth generating opportunities in our generation without needing to require managers in the middle.
Less "regulations" on public markets solves lots of these structural problems at a stroke.
I don’t agree. More money in private markets means more TAM and value created in private markets.
I just don’t understand zero sum thinking for VCs. Isn’t the entire belief structure that innovative tech creates net new value?
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