About

Lachlan Van Egmond

I'm drawn to civilization scale problems where hardware is the key to unlocking new realms in human flourishing and pushing society to the next level where software alone fails to yield tangible progress on vital goals such as national security.

I believe Palmer Luckey said it best: "The Snapchat app is higher tech than anything in the military"

For a long time there was a cultural conception that we had arrived at the end of history regarding hardware development and for much of the early 2000s vast quantities of talent and resources flowed into software companies. The thing to do for any technologically inclined youth was to get behind the software bandwagon and try to replicate Zuckerberg twenty years late. This approach was not without its fruits from a technological and monetary standpoint. Uber, DoorDash, Instagram, Snapchat are all products of this unique cultural moment. However now as those in the US and western society generally begin to take stock of the hollowed out manufacturing base and the crippling impact this has on the national integrity of America it becomes clear that as a society we must focus on bigger problems than food delivery and photo liking.

This thesis contextualizes my work in four major areas with varying degrees of thematic link between themselves:

1) Designing defense tech that marries hardware with AI capability to rapidly accelerate Canada and its ability to defend itself from aggression in the Arctic and coastal waters.

2) Building and shipping apps that allow people to manage their relationships consciously and force serendipity in a heavily tracked world.

3) Crafting aesthetics through various multimedia projects.

4) Getting good at electrical engineering.

Previously I wrote a 160 page book on Soviet vacuum tubes while in high school, ran two Kickstarter campaigns, ran for parliament against incumbents twice my age, worked up north in the oil patch, and sold scrap metal on the side to keep the lights on.

I am currently studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island where I spend my days planning a Napoleonic escape from the Island to San Francisco.

I am the founder and CEO of Ambition AI a Canadian Defense company rapidly accelerating Canada's defense capabilities. Think of the vision as "Anduril North" for now. On the side I design and ship apps that make serendipity possible and allow people to take back control of their social orbit.

You can reach me at lachlanve1@gmail.com or drop me a line on X. I receive a high volume of inquiries, but rest assured, I will read every single inquiry. I am always open to meeting with individuals from all backgrounds. Past inquiries have included requests to fund orbital launch vehicles in Bhutan and an Alpaca farm in Peru.

Aesthetics matter. Trying to do things that matter.

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