EXCLUSIVE: Quantum’s SpaceX Moment? Ashlee Vance on PsiQuantum’s Moonshot

Core Memory creator, Silicon Valley’s Science Expert, & once–quantum skeptic Ashlee Vance sits down with PsiQuantum’s Co-Founder & CSO Pete Shadbolt for a candid, wide-ranging conversation.

After touring PsiQuantum’s secretive labs—more than five years after first covering the company—Ashlee found his skepticism shaken, likening PsiQuantum’s ongoing uphill climb to SpaceX’s decade-long, near-death march toward liftoff. Pete reveals why mission, mindset, and his mantra “always be impressive” are non-negotiables for a team attempting a moonshot that may take years to fully realize.

If PsiQuantum succeeds, this may be remembered as the conversation where skeptics began to believe.

1. Pete Shadbolt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-shadbolt-4b7541126/

2. Ashlee Vance: https://x.com/ashleevance

3. Molly O’Shea: ⁠https://x.com/MollySOShea⁠

4. Sourcery: ⁠https://x.com/sourceryvc⁠

Brought to you by:

• Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, & travel.

As a Sourcery Listener you get: 75,000 points after spending $3,000 on Brex card(s), white-glove onboarding, $5,000 in AWS credits, $2,500 in OpenAI credits, & access to $180k+ in SaaS discounts. On top of $500 toward Brex travel, $300 in cashback, plus exclusive perks (like billboards..) visit → https://brex.com/sourcery

• Turing—Turing delivers top-tier talent, data, and tools to help AI labs improve model performance—and enables enterprises to turn those models into powerful, production-ready systems. Visit: https://turing.com/sourcery

• Kalshi—The largest prediction market and the only legal platform in the US where people can trade directly on the outcomes of future events: https://kalshi.com/sourcery

Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!

https://www.sourcery.vc/

Chapters:

(00:00 ) Intro: Molly welcomes Pete & Ashlee

(00:53 ) Ashlee’s history covering quantum since 2007

(03:11 ) What makes PsiQuantum different

(05:11 ) Touring PsiQuantum labs: hardware challenges & scale

(07:20 ) Why Ashlee trusted PsiQuantum’s story

(08:43 ) Pete: “Come and see the wafers”

(10:23 ) The academic → startup culture gap in quantum

(13:24 ) Ashlee’s “mind palace” shoot in chaotic engineer’s office

(16:12 ) How PsiQuantum keeps its team motivated for a decade-long mission

(17:02 ) Apollo 11 as a model for focus & alignment

(20:01 ) Pete’s management mantra: “Always be impressive”

(20:25 ) The mud-slinging problem in quantum pitches

(22:51 ) Hardware timelines: SpaceX as a 10–15 year lesson

(24:47 ) Closing reflections: Quantum’s future and PsiQuantum’s place in history