Santiago Pliego & Josh Clemans / Vashon

Santiago Pliego, Josh Clemans, and Ryan Hiepler are building Vashon, an expeditionary capital firm designed to be useful where physical-world companies actually operate. They steward a network across the fields, mountains, oceans, deserts, supply chains, and jurisdictions their founders have to navigate.

That model compounds through proximity. A founder needs an introduction, a manufacturer, a regional relationship, or help navigating a political constraint. Vashon’s role is to be present enough to recognize the problem early and credible enough to assemble the right people around it.

Our conversation gets into why they are focused on long-duration industries rather than the current venture cycle, what they learned from B2B SaaS about the limits of a standardized startup playbook, and how they think about political complexity as an operating skill. We also talk about the early friendship behind their partnership, including their attempt to paddle to Vashon Island in toy plastic kayaks.

Full episode above or on Spotify and Apple Podcast.