Mission Critical | Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes: Inside America's Plan to Break China's Critical Minerals Grip

A 21-year-old who failed all his classes freshman year just onboarded 23,000 students in a single month—and he built the company that did it.In this episode, Nate Royal joins us to share how he went from failing out of the University of Louisville and struggling with ADHD to co-founding Due Gooder, an AI-powered platform that turns syllabi into structured assignment schedules, calendar syncs, and deadline reminders. Now at 35,000 users across 4,000+ universities, Nate and his all-student founding team are rewriting the playbook on college entrepreneurship.We get into how a thousand printed flyers produced zero signups while a co-founder's random TikTok comments drove thousands of users overnight, why Nate believes nothing is a product problem anymore — it's 100% a marketing problem, how they raised a pre-seed round after being told they had "a feature, not a product," and what happened when their AI agent built an entire feature overnight using OpenClaw. We also talk pricing strategy, the UGC campaign that generated 2.8 million views, and why Nate has an age cap of 26 on his founding team.This is a conversation about distribution, conviction, and what happens when a founder builds the thing they desperately needed — then figures out how to get it in front of everyone else.Hosted by Logan JonesMiddle Tech is proudly supported by:KY Innovation → kyinnovation.comAwesome Inc → awesomeinc.org

A decommissioned coal plant in Clinton, Tennessee is on track to become the site of America's first commercial stellarator fusion reactor.In this episode, Tony Williams — Executive Sponsor of the Infinity Project at the Tennessee Valley Authority — joins us to share how TVA is partnering with Type One Energy to build a proof-of-concept fusion machine inside the retired Bull Run fossil plant, with a full-scale 400-500 megawatt power plant to follow.We toured the facility and discussed what's actually changed to make fusion viable now — from Oak Ridge's exascale supercomputer cutting year-long calculations down to a single day, to advances in manufacturing and material science. Tony breaks down the economics of fusion vs. conventional generation, why TVA chose the stellarator over the tokamak, and how the project is being de-risked through a coalition of partners including Type One Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the DOE, and the University of Tennessee. We also explore what it means to repurpose aging fossil infrastructure for the next generation of energy production.Hosted by Logan Jones and Alex MercerMission Critical is proudly supported by:Valent → getvalent.comAble Construction → ableconstruct.com

A senior developer walks into a startup refusing to use AI coding tools. Three months later, he's compressing months of work into a single weekend—and says he'd never go back.In this episode, Middle Tech co-hosts Logan Jones and Evan Knowles sit down to unpack how artificial intelligence is reshaping entrepreneurship, from the tools founders use daily to the economic forces that will define the next decade. Logan walks through the AI-powered workflow he's built for Middle Tech's production, while Evan shares how Valent is using signal-based outreach and reasoning models to transform their sales processes.The conversation covers the OpenClaw moment and what it signals for agentic AI in 2026, why distribution and domain expertise are the new moats as software barriers collapse, how self-driving and healthcare AI are at our doorstep but not yet diffused, and why broader participation in AI-driven wealth creation is essential to the American Dream surviving this moment.Hosted by Logan Jones and Evan KnowlesMiddle Tech is proudly supported by:KY Innovation → kyinnovation.comAwesome Inc → awesomeinc.org

Upwards of 80% of critical minerals are processed in China - even when they're mined elsewhere. If a global conflict broke out tomorrow, America likely couldn't supply its own defense industrial base.In this episode, Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes joins Logan and Alex to share what she learned deploying $16 billion in grants and tax credits as Deputy Director for Batteries and Critical Materials at the Department of Energy - and why she's now back in the private sector running two critical minerals SPACs worth over $500 million.The conversation covers how China built a state-backed monopoly that Western companies can't outcompete, why the Biden and Trump administrations use different tools to try and accomplish the same goal, and what Project Vault and the recent Critical Minerals Ministerial signal about where policy is heading. Ashley also delivers a warning: the flood of capital into critical minerals will lead to capital destruction, and the industry's reputation may suffer for years. Everything downstream - batteries, defense systems, grid infrastructure, AI - starts with what comes out of the ground.Hosted by Logan Jones and Alex MercerMission Critical is proudly supported by:Valent → getvalent.comAbel Construction → abelconstruction.com

Most people see parking as a necessary evil—a frustrating obstacle between you and wherever you're going. Grant Murray saw an opportunity to turn it into something cities, businesses, and consumers all benefit from.In this episode, Grant joins us to share how he built Proximity Parking, a platform that transforms parking payments into an economic development tool by connecting drivers with nearby local businesses at the exact moment they're parking.Grant traces his path from UK accounting student to Connetic Ventures intern to founder, explaining how he raised $1.5 million from Connetic, KeyHorse Capital, and strategic angels to build a product he's now rolling out across Kentucky. We dig into how he validated the idea by talking to businesses before writing a line of code, why governments are harder (but not impossible) to sell to, and how being based at Covington's SparkHaus helped him land his first city customers. With Lexington, Covington, and soon Newport live—and Louisville and Cincinnati in his sights—Grant makes the case for why staying in Kentucky has been a competitive advantage, not a compromise.Hosted by Logan JonesMiddle Tech is proudly supported by: KY Innovation → kyinnovation.com Awesome Inc → awesomeinc.org

What started as some experimental episodes last season has now turned into it's own series.In this episode, Logan Jones and Alex Mercer introduce Mission Critical, a new show exploring how artificial intelligence and the current technological revolution are reshaping the industries that our powering our future: energy, advanced manufacturing, space, and defense.The conversation covers why we believe America is at an inflection point - where AI is driving unprecedented power demand, supply chain vulnerabilities are forcing a manufacturing renaissance, and a new generation of founders is choosing to build in the physical world again. Logan shares how pilot episodes on energy topics outperformed his Middle Tech average by 250%, while Alex explains how his work at Abel Construction—an 87-year-old, fourth-generation family business—gives him a front-row seat to complex infrastructure projects across the Midwest and Southeast.Hosted by Logan Jones and Alex Mercer.Subscribe here to be the first to hear about new episodes.Supported by:Valent → getvalent.comAbel Construction → abelconstruct.com

Two weeks before his 40th birthday, Jeff Cummins contracted shingles - and it took most of the hearing in his right ear. With young daughters at home whose voices he could no longer hear, he became a hearing aid user. A decade later, that experience led him to co-found a company changing how hearing aids are sold.In this episode, Jeff Cummins joins us to share how Immersive Hearing Technologies is using VR to let patients experience hearing aids in real-world environments before they buy - replacing the brochures and guesswork that have defined the industry for decades.The conversation traces Jeff's 25-year career through startups (including scaling Keys Express from $15M to $70M in revenue), a near-miss with NIH-funded cardiac technology, and the path to landing a deal with Sonova - the world's largest hearing aid manufacturer - now deploying Immersive's system across Western Europe. Jeff also shares hard-won lessons on positioning pain over innovation and why Kentucky's startup resources are among the best in the country for early-stage founders.Hosted by Logan JonesMiddle Tech is proudly supported by:KY Innovation → kyinnovation.comAwesome Inc → awesomeinc.org

Building a company isn't glamorous - it's brutal, uncertain, and rarely as fast as the headlines suggest. But it's also where real growth happens.In this Season 9 kickoff, Logan and Evan sit down to reflect on a pivotal 2025 and share what's ahead. Logan announces he's joined Valent full-time after months as a contractor and angel investor, while Evan shares updates on scaling the AI-powered RFP platform now landing major enterprise customers.The conversation covers the real cost of entrepreneurship, why Logan's attempt to launch DevelopLou didn't pan out, how AI is transforming B2B sales without replacing the fundamentals, and Logan's new "Mission Critical" content series focused on energy, defense, and advanced manufacturing. They also touch on DevelopLex's breakout partnerships with Commerce Lexington and Downtown Lexington Partnership, and why Middle Tech will keep going - even if it never becomes a big business.Hosted by Logan JonesMiddle Tech is proudly supported by:KY Innovation → kyinnovation.comAwesome Inc → awesomeinc.org

In February 2021, Winter Storm Uri plunged Texas into darkness, exposing the fragility of the modern American grid. For Will Howard, it was a call to action.In this episode, Will joins us to discuss his journey from data science to the forefront of the nuclear renaissance as a Project Developer for Elementl Power. He explains how Elementl is pioneering a new "developer model" for the industry, acting as the "quarterback" to secure land, navigate regulations, and de-risk projects for major buyers.The conversation covers Elementl’s partnership with Google to power AI data centers, the concept of "Energy Realism," and why the "Iron Law of Power" means reliability will always win. Will also breaks down the Texas model for nuclear advocacy and outlines the massive opportunity for Kentucky to leverage its industrial legacy in this new atomic age.Hosted by Logan JonesMiddle Tech is proudly supported by:KY Innovation → kyinnovation.comAwesome Inc → awesomeinc.org

A new digital marketplace is modernizing how bourbon barrels are bought, sold, and valued across Kentucky’s signature industry.In this episode, Hogshead co-founder and CEO Chris Wiedmar joins us to share how his company is bringing transparency and technology to the bourbon supply chain - transforming a relationship-driven trade into a data-driven market.From his early experience launching the NFT-powered brand Party Horses to building a two-sided platform used by distilleries, brokers, and investors, Chris explains how Hogshead is helping the industry adapt to a world where barrels are not just aging whiskey, but appreciating assets.The conversation explores how Hogshead is positioning Kentucky at the center of a global market for barrel-aged spirits - connecting tradition, technology, and entrepreneurship in one of the state’s most iconic sectors.Hosted by Logan JonesMiddle Tech is proudly supported by:KY Innovation → kyinnovation.comAwesome Inc → awesomeinc.org