From Fish Tanks to Hundreds of Megawatts: Carson Smith’s Industrial Leap

Johnpaul Baric interviews Carson Smith, pioneer of immersion cooling and builder of SBI Group’s 250MW global mining arm, now driving energy-efficient Bitcoin and AI infrastructure with 21 Tree Capital, Density AI, and Merkel Edge. They unpack power economics, demand response, treasury discipline, and the entrepreneurial grit required to survive and learn from multi-million-dollar mistakes.

00:01:00 – Early Mining Journey & Technical Evolution
00:03:00 – ASIC Development, Fried Cat, and DIY Immersion Cooling
00:07:00 – Scale of Early Immersion Operations & Challenges
00:10:00 – Career Pivot to SBI & Building a Global Mining Footprint
00:17:00 – Large-Scale Deployment Lessons & Mistakes
00:20:00 – Operational Tooling for Massive Miner Fleets
00:24:00 – Negotiating Energy Contracts & Local Partnerships
00:26:00 – Demand Response & Grid Dynamics
00:32:00 – Creditworthiness & Capitalization Challenges
00:33:00 – Current Focus: 21 Tree Capital, AI Crossover, and Merkel Edge
00:36:00 – Power Costs & Strategic Importance (Bitcoin vs. AI)
00:41:00 – Small AI Data Centers, Offtake, and Idle Capacity Monetization
00:46:00 – Converting Bitcoin Mines to AI & Compatibility Challenges
00:47:00 – Cooling Trends in AI Infrastructure
00:49:00 – Treasury Management & Preparing for Cycles
00:52:00 – Entrepreneurship Wisdom & Closing Thoughts

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