# Brian Potter

> Brian Potter is a structural engineer turned writer who publishes Construction Physics, a Substack newsletter with 72,000+ subscribers covering industrial technology, manufacturing productivity, and why buildings still cost so much to build. A Senior Infrastructure Fellow at the Institute for Progress, he spent 15 years in construction - including a front-row seat to the $2B collapse of Katerra - before channeling his frustration into some of the most rigorously researched long-form writing on industrial systems published anywhere. His first book, The Origins of Efficiency, was published by Stripe Press in October 2025.

- **Role:** Senior Infrastructure Fellow at Institute for Progress
- **Organizations:** Institute for Progress, Construction Physics
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Master of Science, Systems Engineering, University of Central Florida
- **Known for:** Founded Construction Physics newsletter, reaching 72,000+ subscribers and 112,000+ Substack followers, Ranked #35 in Technology on Substack, Published 186 essays totaling ~600,000 words across 4.5 years

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Graduated Georgia Tech with BS in Civil Engineering; began career as design engineer at a precast concrete company
- **2007-2018** — ~11 years in construction industry across consulting engineering, subcontracting, and design-build roles
- **2018-2020** — Engineering team manager at Katerra (SoftBank-backed construction startup), managing Atlanta structural engineering team
- **2020** — Left Katerra before its collapse; Katerra raised $2B+ and employed 8,000 across 9 countries before bankruptcy in 2021
- **2020-09** — Founded Construction Physics newsletter on Substack
- **2021** — Newsletter reached 4,000+ subscribers entirely via word-of-mouth; named to notable reading lists
- **2022** — Became Senior Infrastructure Fellow at Institute for Progress (Washington DC think tank)
- **2024** — Newsletter surpassed 72,000 free subscribers; 'How to Build a $20 Billion Semiconductor Fab' became most-engaged article
- **2025-04** — Published '50 Things I've Learned Writing Construction Physics' retrospective - featured by Tyler Cowen on Marginal Revolution
- **2025-10** — Published debut book 'The Origins of Efficiency' via Stripe Press

## Achievements

- Founded Construction Physics newsletter, reaching 72,000+ subscribers and 112,000+ Substack followers
- Ranked #35 in Technology on Substack
- Published 186 essays totaling ~600,000 words across 4.5 years
- Debut book 'The Origins of Efficiency' published by Stripe Press (Patrick Collison's imprint), October 2025
- Endorsed by Derek Thompson, Kevin Kelly, Stewart Brand, and Noah Smith
- Featured on EconTalk with Russ Roberts and Dwarkesh Patel's podcast
- Featured by Tyler Cowen on Marginal Revolution
- Published in The New Atlantis (Fall 2024)
- Senior Infrastructure Fellow at Institute for Progress
- Articles regularly featured on Hacker News front page

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Debut book 'The Origins of Efficiency' published by Stripe Press
- **2025-10** — Appeared on EconTalk (Ep. 622) with Russ Roberts discussing WWII manufacturing
- **2025-08** — Appeared on Summation podcast discussing why America excels at fracking but struggles with construction
- **2025-07** — Appeared on Building 4.0 CRC podcast discussing '50 Things I've Learned'
- **2025-04** — Published '50 Things I've Learned Writing Construction Physics' - featured by Tyler Cowen on Marginal Revolution
- **2024-05** — Published 'How to Build a $20 Billion Semiconductor Fab' - became most-engaged article
- **2024-05** — Published 'How to Build 300,000 Airplanes in Five Years'

## Links

- Website: https://www.construction-physics.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-potter-6a082150/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/_brianpotter

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/brian-potter
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-27