Brian Garrett: Rebuilding the Palisades & Betting on Frontier Tech
“The tragedy helped me become as clear as I’ve ever been about what matters.” - Brian Garrett
Brian Garrett is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Crosscut, one of Los Angeles’ longest-standing early-stage venture capital firms. In this episode of Tech Scenes, Jeff Martin joins Brian for a drive through Pacific Palisades—past the neighborhood where Brian grew up, the home his family lost in the fire, and the community he is now helping rebuild.
The conversation explores two forms of rebuilding: restoring a community after devastating loss and reinventing a venture firm for the next era of innovation.
Brian shares how Crosscut evolved from its original mission of catalyzing Southern California’s technology ecosystem into a frontier-tech investment firm focused on energy and power, space and defense, advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, robotics, and resilient supply chains.
He explains why the next wave of value creation will be driven by “AI-powered, bits-enabled atoms,” why Southern California is uniquely positioned to lead it, and what distinguishes the deeply mission-driven founders building mission-critical companies.
Brian also shares the personal story of losing his family home in the Palisades fire, the realities residents face as they attempt to return, and his vision for Palisades Towne Hall—a nonprofit community gathering place designed to help residents reconnect, recover, and rebuild together.
This is a conversation about frontier technology, resilience, community, leadership, and the clarity that can emerge from unimaginable loss.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Episode preview
01:47 Touring the Palisades after the fire
02:52 How Crosscut began in 2008
04:29 Why Brian went all-in on frontier technology
06:14 From software to “AI-driven, bits-enabled atoms”
07:17 Insurance and the difficult road to rebuilding
08:49 Brian’s roots in Pacific Palisades
11:23 The vision for Palisades Towne Hall
16:04 Displacement and the loss of community services
18:24 Can frontier technology help prevent the next wildfire?
19:53 Reinventing Crosscut around frontier tech
22:30 Directed energy, autonomous warfare, and energy security
25:15 What makes frontier-tech founders different
27:19 Mission-critical companies and the risks of rebuilding
33:44 The day Brian and his family lost their home
37:05 Resilience, family, and redefining what matters
40:09 Community, clarity, and learning to ask for help
LEARN MORE ABOUT BRIAN AND CROSSCUT
Brian Garrett and the Crosscut team: https://crosscut.vc/team/
Crosscut: https://crosscut.vc/
SUPPORT PALISADES TOWNE HALL
Help create a nonprofit gathering place where Palisades residents can reconnect, share resources, and rebuild together. One hundred percent of operating profits will support local nonprofits rebuilding the 90272 community.
https://www.pledge.to/towne-hall](https://www.pledge.to/towne-hall
ABOUT TECH SCENES
Tech Scenes brings viewers inside the communities shaping the future through candid conversations with founders, investors, CEOs, and operators about innovation, leadership, growth, and the realities of building something that matters.
Hosted by Jeff James Martin, Founder and CEO of Collective Genius, creator of Peak OS™, and author of Peak Teams.
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Collective Genius helps growth-stage and mission-critical organizations improve alignment, visibility, accountability, decision-making, and execution through the Peak Operating System™.
Learn more about Collective Genius and Peak OS™ https://www.collective-genius.com/
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Read Peak Teams – Mastering the Habits of Unstoppable Venture-Backed Companies https://a.co/d/hp5Jtnu](https://a.co/d/hp5Jtnu
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#TechScenes #BrianGarrett #Crosscut #FrontierTech #VentureCapital #PacificPalisades #DefenseTech #SpaceTech #ClimateTech #Leadership
