Drew Volpe
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thecusp.bsky.social
Drew Volpe
@thecusp.bsky.social
coder / founder / investor. Hard computing VC at @FirstStarVC Interests: AI/ML, Bitcoin, climate, comp bio, coffee, and pie.
Happy Election Day!
Hey, Boston! Today is Election Day, so get out and VOTE! 🗳️

Check where you vote at wheredoivotema.com and find more voting info at michelleforboston.com/vote.
November 4, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
Election Day is here, Massachusetts!

Communities across the state have the chance to cast a vote in their local elections today. Make your voice heard and find your polling location: wheredoivotema.com
wheredoivotema.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
New reddit alternative built on AT
nooki.me nooki @nooki.me · Oct 9
(1/4) I'm soft launching nooki.me to get some early traction and feedback on what to improve. Excited to see how this platform grows!
October 9, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
Harassing the mods into banning someone has never worked. And harassing people in general has never changed their mind.
October 3, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
New post. The whole acetaminophen/autism story is a disgusting little scale model of how the entire Trump administration works:
Acetaminophen and Autism: The Trump Administration Style
www.science.org
October 3, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
NVIDIA just placed a bet on this Boston startup building quantum computers.

www.masslive.com/news/2025/09... — via @masslive.bsky.social
The race to quantum computing supremacy runs through Boston
Local startup QuEra attracts major investment from NVIDIA, highlighting the city's growing influence in the global competition to build computers that could crack current encryption systems.
www.masslive.com
September 16, 2025 at 11:17 AM
I believe in America because hungry, amazingly talented people like Glauber still come here to build a better future. That's who we are. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 🗽

x.com/glcst/status...
Glauber Costa on X: "It is a dark time in which I decided to come to America, and I did it at a huge personal cost. But I am sticking around. I believe in America, like I always did. One day, I hope I can call myself an American. Until then, not that much I can do but pray." / X
It is a dark time in which I decided to come to America, and I did it at a huge personal cost. But I am sticking around. I believe in America, like I always did. One day, I hope I can call myself an American. Until then, not that much I can do but pray.
x.com
September 11, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
Moonlight #Projection Squad is lighting up the Flynn Marine Park tonight! Here, for the benefit of MassDOT’s late shift workers the Highway Operations Center, just across the Haul Road. 🔥 Go Mayor Wu!
September 9, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
Good point by ‪@rainerkattel.bsky.social‬. He would agree that
not just the innovation agencies but the whole bureaucratic edifice needs modernisation. In fact, the necessary return of the State is not in Trump's tariff-mad mode, but in a creative way, providing directionality and missions.
Europe’s innovation agencies are stuck between rigid rules at the top and scattered experiments at the bottom. If they can’t become mission architects, we’ll fail on climate, digital sovereignty & even defence R&D.

More in my new Social Europe piece 👉 www.socialeurope.eu/europes-inno...
Europe's Innovation Agencies Need Radical Reform To Meet Today's Grand Challenges
Innovation agencies in the EU are no longer fit for purpose. A major overhaul of both the concept of innovation and of institutional structures is urgent.
www.socialeurope.eu
September 2, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
In Boston, we start the summer each year with coffee hours in every neighborhood.

It’s a wonderful tradition and a great opportunity to connect residents with their local government! ☕🌸
August 11, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Hydrangeas doing well this year.
July 8, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
New paper by @njudd.com shows that an additional year of education doesn't causally affect telomere length in old age, despite many (theory) accounts arguing otherwise. It's been desk rejected by 13 journals happy to publish small 'positive' telomere studies. Sigh. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June 30, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Juneteenth is the most American holiday.

reason.com/2025/06/19/j...
Juneteenth is the most libertarian holiday
It is hard to think of something more relevant to freedom than the abolition of slavery.
reason.com
June 19, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Chatted w/ @skirsner.bsky.social for "Six things to know about the Circle crypto IPO". Nice to see a Boston-born startup IPO, even if they've moved their HQ to NYC. via @masslive.bsky.social

www.masslive.com/news/2025/06...
Six things to know about the Circle crypto IPO, happening this week
What exactly does Circle do, and why did it decide to move its headquarters from downtown Boston to lower Manhattan late last year? Here are six things to understand about the company, which manages a...
www.masslive.com
June 3, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
1st ever Boston Public Art Triennial is open now through Oct. 31st—a testament to the power of public art & the exchanges that make Boston home.
Walking (and T-ing) Boston’s public art Triennial - The Boston Globe
An unprecedented exhibition of contemporary public art in Boston, the Triennial will have some 20 projects on view around the city. Here’s a sampling, and a way to go about seeing them.
www.bostonglobe.com
May 24, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
New macro-empirical research finds that every dollar invested in non-defense public R&D yields $1.40–$2.10 in economic output, and since World War II, government funding has driven roughly 20% of U.S. productivity.
Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually
Economists find public R&D drives U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself
www.forbes.com
May 19, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Did the prisoners dilemma with my kids tonight. Each wrote Y or X to decide if the other gets dessert. If they defect and choose X and the other person Y, they get 2 desserts. If they both choose Y, both get 1. Both X, they each get 1/2 dessert.

No honor among thieves. Or siblings.
May 19, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Chatted about Boston deep tech startups and VC w/ Matt Crane for MGMT Boston

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm7I...
Drew Volpe, Founder & Managing Partner at First Star Ventures
YouTube video by MGMT Boston - The Lantern
www.youtube.com
May 11, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Muon catalyzed fusion is an old idea that's having a resurgence with new technology.

Fusion plants would be much simpler not the $10B, 25 acre+ facilities that other approaches require.

(disc: I'm a tiny investor in Acceleron Energy)

youtu.be/Z3x6m8r2vEg?...
Cold Fusion Idea Makes Comeback
YouTube video by Sabine Hossenfelder
youtu.be
May 4, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Boston friends: I'm thrilled to back Mayor Wu again. I'm on the host committee for a fundraiser in Fort Point on Thursday, 300 Summer St.
April 15, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
I've seen your comments online, and I've talked to you out on the road, on our main streets, and at the grocery store. I know people are worried and scared right now.

But you are not powerless.

Each of us has a responsibility to do our part. Your voice matters — and we need you to speak up.
April 11, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
Here in Boston, we don't back down.
April 5, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Have been enjoying Common Side Effects. If you need a laugh, highly recommended.
March 21, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Drew Volpe
This is horrible to post, but I may as well post it. We are essentially shutting down research operations in my group, which is focused on treatments for pediatric brain cancer. I’m a well funded investigator, and there’s no choice. Science can’t function without the stability of NIH
March 15, 2025 at 5:32 PM