Tony Atti and How Phononic Was Founded During the 2008 Financial Crisis| PART 1 of 2
In this episode (Part 1), we cover the origin story.
Tony 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.
Then 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.
Highlights from Part 1
- Growing up blue-collar in Buffalo and why that shaped Tony’s leadership style
- The career-defining decision to leave the Northeast for USC
- What JPL teaches you about rigor, testing, and humility
- Why most university spin-outs struggle with equity alignment
- How venture capital experience sharpened Tony’s founder instincts
- Why cooling is the last unsolved semiconductor frontier
- Founding Phononic the day Lehman collapsed
- Why the Triangle, and NC State’s Centennial Campus, won as Phononic’s home
Where to Find Tony Atti:
TradePending: https://phononic.com/
Where to Find Scot Wingo:
Tweener Times: https://www.tweenertimes.com/
Timestamps:
01:40 — Scot tees up why Tony is a “special treat” + why Phononic matters in the Triangle
03:50 — Travel / frequent flyer miles (4M miles + recent global sprint)
05:10 — Why Phononic is a “quiet deep tech giant” more people should know
05:23 — Tony background: blue-collar Buffalo + early “entrepreneur roots” (paper route, driveways, grass)
06:00 — Parents + upbringing + being the only Italian family in an Irish neighborhood
06:50 — “Boardroom to factory floor” comfort as a leadership superpower
07:07 — College path: biochem → decides against med school → USC opportunity
08:20 — USC + energy/sustainability roots before it had a name
08:50 — JPL/Caltech work: solid polymer electrolytes + Mars-era applied R&D
10:07 — JPL geek-out: what JPL does + Tony’s work context
11:42 — Engineering culture: redundancy, testing, quality mindset
11:56 — Funny JPL story: Tony’s dad jokes “it’s all fake, filmed here”
12:26 — The Martian detail: radioisotope thermoelectric generator explanation
12:59 — First startup failure: university IP / cap table misalignment lessons
14:23 — Timeline bridge: how that failure pushed Tony into VC + founding MHI Energy Partners
15:48 — The Phononic founding story starts: 2007–08 crisis + job search
16:46 — Venrock mentor moment: “world doesn’t need another VC” challenge
17:00 — Thesis: semiconductors transformed everything except cooling/heating
17:41 — 3-month “liars and thieves” tour: universities + semiconductor ecosystem due diligence
18:20 — Thermoelectrics vs vapor compression (what makes solid-state different)
19:16 — The pitch day: Lehman collapse on the screens while Tony presents
20:45 — Term sheet drop: $2M commitment + “founded the company that afternoon”
21:33 — Why Venrock matters / halo effect (Scot commentary)
21:59 — Why North Carolina: portfolio company move + Tony relocates
23:26 — Why RTP/NC State won: Centennial Campus enabled fast lab/fab buildout
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This episode of Triangle Tweener Talks is hosted by Scot Wingo, presented and produced by Triangle Tweener Fund, with creative assets and design support from Walk West.
We couldn’t share posts like this without our amazing sponsors:
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