I've been involved in the Canadian cleantech venture scene since 2011, and General Fusion has been a particular frustration of mine for that entire time. Their pitch to VCs is like a particularly fragrant pitcher plant:
* We are in the last phases of doing a big experiment
* After the experiment, which will demonstrate net-gain fusion, our valuation will soar to infinity as we instantly render the entire energy industry obsolete
* Therefore, even if you think our chances of success are less than 1%, you must surely take the bet and invest now.
Amazingly they have managed to run this racket successfully and repeatedly for nearly two decades without demonstrating any material success, and still getting nice puff pieces like this one from the tech press.
I encourage any reader to check out their Glassdoor profile, which has a bunch of amusing quotes from disillusioned engineers, like "Management would struggle to deliver a pizza, let alone a billion dollar fusion reactor"
* We are in the last phases of doing a big experiment
* After the experiment, which will demonstrate net-gain fusion, our valuation will soar to infinity as we instantly render the entire energy industry obsolete
* Therefore, even if you think our chances of success are less than 1%, you must surely take the bet and invest now.
Amazingly they have managed to run this racket successfully and repeatedly for nearly two decades without demonstrating any material success, and still getting nice puff pieces like this one from the tech press.
I encourage any reader to check out their Glassdoor profile, which has a bunch of amusing quotes from disillusioned engineers, like "Management would struggle to deliver a pizza, let alone a billion dollar fusion reactor"
[0] https://www.glassdoor.ca/Reviews/Employee-Review-General-Fus...