TOOL or DIE Podcast - Reindustrialize, Rebuild, or Retire

🎙️ Maneva is building video-based AI agents that plug directly into real-world manufacturing environments and deliver real-time insights across safety, uptime, quality, and process improvement without changing the floor layout or installing a new camera system. This week on TOOL OR DIE, we talk to Rae Jeong, Maneva co-founder and CEO. From his roots in a blue-collar Alberta town to AI research at...

Kevin William is a car journalist. He keeps going to China to drive new Chinese cars, write about what he sees and experiences and feels with his own two hands. But his reports about the rapidly increasing quality of Chinese cars for InsideEVs.com over the last year have been controversial for Western audiences, many of whom simply can’t believe a really easy-to-fathom, if painful concept: Chinese...

🎙️ Not every manufacturing company is a giant or a startup. Some are still family-owned companies slogging it out, making key components that look simple but involve detailed problem solving every single day. Numberall Stamp & Tool Co. is a family-run, rural Maine manufacturer making industrial marking tools for everything from lobster traps to Apollo missions. You’ve probably touched something th...

🎙️ Magnets without rare earths. Didn’t even know it was possible. Yet Niron Magnetics is making them in Minnesota and very soon the rest of the world. Simply put, what Niron has done is one of the most exciting and important industrial-scale innovations happening in the United States today. Magnets are critical in the electric motors that power everything from EVs to drones to robotics. But curren...

🎙️ It’s easy to think America doesn’t manufacture anything, but it’s simply not true. But one of the open questions around manufacturing in 2025 is simply: what if American manufacturing were more connected? What if the factories, logistics partners, and service providers already exist but need a new kind of network—one with actual business operations answers—to unlock them? Chris Nolte is a co-fo...

🎙️ Global trade data used to be buried in bureaucratic sludge until Dave Applegate turned it into ImportYeti, a tool for transparency (if you’re a shopper) and competitive advantage (if you’re building a competitor). It’s a really great tool just as a piece of UX on top of customs data. And that Dave and his team have built a business on top of it for power users—basically building the Bloomberg t...

🎙️ America’s drinking water infrastructure is aging—and out of sight can’t keep meaning out of mind. But what if we could see inside the systems that keep our cities alive to make smarter and more timely repairs? Motmot is building inspection robots that do exactly that—swimming through water pipes under cities like Detroit, delivering critical insights before leaks turn into catastrophes. This we...

🎙️ We want more factories in the U.S. For better products, for growing the middle class, for national pride and national security. But not everything America once made is coming home—and certainly not immediately. So how should we be thinking about the future—and power—of American manufacturing on a global scale? Elaine Dezenski—senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and head...

🎙️ Austin Bishop, co-founder of the New American Industrial Alliance ( NAIA )—known by most as the people behind the REINDUSTRIALIZE conference —joins TOOL OR DIE to explain how an engineering kid from Cleveland ended up helping create one of the most influential gatherings in American manufacturing. From early days of Atomic Industries to igniting a movement, Austin breaks down the convergence of...

🎙️ Nate Ames helps run a very clever program at Ohio State University. While the “ Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence ” is an official arm of the school, it functions more like a paid internship. Hundreds of students have worked on real projects from over 150 companies, learning not just skilled trades and engineering, but also how to work within the same type of corporate and team str...

🎙️ Matt Puchalski, founder and CEO of Bucket Robotics , joins TOOL OR DIE to explain how building defect-detection cameras for self-driving cars led him to modernize factory inspection systems. Bucket is attacking the quality-critical task of surface inspection with synthetic data, low-cost cameras, and vision software designed for factory floors, not research labs. From his time at Argo AI to lea...

🎙️ Jim Belosic , co-founder and CEO of SendCutSend , joins Tool or Die to explain how a small side hustle making car parts turned into one of the most important new manufacturers in the U.S. SendCutSend reinvented custom metal fabrication by embracing high-mix, low-volume production a the modern online shopping experience. It’s ecomm software meets lots and lots hardware . From nesting algorithms...

🎙️ I met Cameron because he DM’d me and said “Would you ever want to talk to a guy who just started working as a machinist?” To which I replied (professionally) “You bet your ass I would.” Cameron Schatz is 25, didn’t (yet) finish college, and just a few years ago was fixing hot tubs and driving an hour each way to work. Today, he’s a CNC machinist at Lycoming Engines, cutting steel and running ga...

🎙️ Industrial designer and former auto journalist Peter Holderith joins Tool or Die to talk about… well, we should be talking about the hybrid kit sports car he’s designing and building from scratch with no hard tooling, no team, and no OEM funding. But instead we’re talking about this toaster that he’s designing because Jim Belosic of SendCutSend challenged him (and others!) to design a 100% Made...

🎙️ Ted Feldmann ( @teddyfeld ), founder of Durin , joins Tool or Die to discuss how his startup is tackling one of the most overlooked but vital problems in American reindustrialization: the lack of modern drilling rigs for mineral exploration. Ted explains why the U.S. is decades behind on core sampling tech, how Durin is building a programmable drilling rig from the ground up, and what it would...

🎙️ Tool or Die welcomes three fine gentlemen from IACMI – The Composites Institute , who are leading national efforts to rebuild America’s manufacturing workforce from the ground up. Justin Brooks oversees workforce development initiatives like America’s Cutting Edge (ACE) and METAL, programs designed to tackle the skilled labor shortage in machining, casting, and forging. David Roberson , a Marin...

🎙️ Caleb Chamberlain , co-founder of Osh Cut , joins Tool or Die for a loose conversation about the viral video that hit a nerve in U.S. manufacturing circles. The video—posted by a frustrated entrepreneur—calls out American manufacturers for being unwilling or unable to build a simple ATM kiosk enclosure, contrasting that experience with seamless production in China. Joel, Alex and Caleb break do...

🎙️ Gabe Elias , CEO of Material , joins Tool or Die to discuss his journey from Honda engineer to Formula One designer to battery manufacturing innovator. We explore how Gabe's determination to work in F1 led him to quit his stable job at Honda, move to England, and eventually land a position at Mercedes F1 , where he contributed to seven world championships. Now, Gabe's startup is revolutionizing...

🎙️ Gavin Stener , founder of 67 Designs , joins Tool or Die to discuss his journey from ERP software to building a U.S.-based manufacturing company focused on high-quality off-road vehicle mounts and accessories. We explore the challenges of American manufacturing, the fight against counterfeiters, generational knowledge transfer, and the cultural shift needed for reindustrialization. TIMESTAMPS:...

🎙️ Barrett Ames , CTO of BotBuilt , joins Tool or Die to discuss how his company is revolutionizing home construction with robotic framing technology that dramatically reduces build time. We explore how BotBuilt's approach differs from failed construction startups by focusing on flexibility and real-world applications , the severe labor shortage in construction , and how Barrett's background in NA...

🎙️ David Moody , founder of Foundry Lab , joins Tool or Die to discuss how he’s reinventing metal casting with a digitized, tooling-free process that could reshape U.S. manufacturing. We dig into why casting is one of the four most critical industries identified by the White House for reshoring, the shortage of skilled workers , and why his New Zealand-born startup is moving to the U.S. to support...

🎙️ Halley Hartenbower , Advanced Manufacturing Market Executive at Mortenson , joins Tool or Die to talk about the massive industrial and infrastructure projects shaping America—from solar megaprojects to semiconductor fabs to nuclear submarine bases. With nearly 20 years at Mortenson, Halley gives an insider’s look at the challenges of reshoring advanced manufacturing , the realities of building...

🎙️ Mai Bui , co-founder and CEO of Quarter 20 , joins Tool or Die to discuss how they’re revolutionizing documentation for manufacturing and why automating assembly instructions is critical for scaling U.S. industry. With experience at SpaceX, Tesla, and Alta Motors , Mai brings deep insight into the challenges of bringing hardware products to market, from battery safety to robotics to manufacturi...

How do you take lessons from designing washing machines and apply them to reshoring America’s industrial base? Phillip Swanson, Head of Venture Development and Investment at Centrepolis Accelerator, joins Tool or Die to break down the future of U.S. manufacturing. From decarbonizing industrial processes to building the next generation of defense and energy startups, Centrepolis is playing a pivota...

🎙️ Bernhard Leitner, founder of Leitner Designs, shares his journey from racing and product design to manufacturing, pioneering the consumer adventure rack industry for overlanding and outdoor enthusiasts. He discusses his family's legacy in motorsports, the challenges of reshoring manufacturing, and how he built a premium U.S.-made product that has found its way onto everything from lifeguard tru...