{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"NC Tweener Talks","title":"Tony Atti and How Phononic Was Founded During the 2008 Financial Crisis| PART 1 of 2","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/e485b5a5\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1558,"description":"In this episode (Part 1), we cover the origin story. \nTony walks through the decisions, failures, and inflection points that led to Phononic’s founding: leaving the Northeast for graduate school at USC, working on applied energy systems at JPL during the Mars rover era, and learning painful but formative lessons from a university spin-out that didn’t work.\nThen comes the moment you can’t script. In the fall of 2008, while the global financial system is actively collapsing, Tony presents a research thesis on why semiconductors transformed everything except cooling. He walks out that same day with a term sheet and a $2M commitment to found Phononic.\nHighlights from Part 1Growing up blue-collar in Buffalo and why that shaped Tony’s leadership styleThe career-defining decision to leave the Northeast for USCWhat JPL teaches you about rigor, testing, and humilityWhy most university spin-outs struggle with equity alignmentHow venture capital experience sharpened Tony’s founder instinctsWhy cooling is the last unsolved semiconductor frontierFounding Phononic the day Lehman collapsedWhy the Triangle, and NC State’s Centennial Campus, won as Phononic’s homeWhere to Find Tony Atti:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-atti-ph-d-316483/TradePending: https://phononic.com/\nWhere to Find Scot Wingo: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thescotwingo/ Tweener Times: https://www.tweenertimes.com/ X: https://x.com/scotwingo\nTimestamps:01:40 — Scot tees up why Tony is a “special treat” + why Phononic matters in the Triangle03:50 — Travel / frequent flyer miles (4M miles + recent global sprint)05:10 — Why Phononic is a “quiet deep tech giant” more people should know05:23 — Tony background: blue-collar Buffalo + early “entrepreneur roots” (paper route, driveways, grass)06:00 — Parents + upbringing + being the only Italian family in an Irish neighborhood06:50 — “Boardroom to factory floor” comfort as a leadership superpower07:07 — College path: biochem → decides against med...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/UEzoK7N1siD9YRaSVBWfZ8B3suSS2aonEIZ5NwBH1Gs/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80NjBh/YWVhZTA4ZTUyY2Fl/MDdhNzQwZWFhNDI4/MDc3Zi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}