Code Is More Than Code
June 10, 2025
Code isn't just software. It's system fluency.
At Capitol Stack, we don’t back tourists. We back insiders — the people who wrote the rules, enforced the policy, or spent a decade buried in the workflows everyone else complains about.
Their code isn’t stored in a repo. It’s embedded in how they think.
🔍 The Insider Edge
We’re drawn to founders who:
- Built emissions forecasting models for utilities and now optimize grid load with machine learning.
- Wrote federal compliance checklists and now build SaaS to automate ESG reporting.
- Spent years inside USAID or DOE and now streamline how money actually moves through the system.
They’re not guessing where the pain points are. They’ve lived them.
🧠 What We Mean By “Code”
“Code” includes:
- Policy logic: understanding the nuance in regulations that create real-world bottlenecks.
- Process awareness: knowing which steps are political theater, and which ones are make-or-break.
- Institutional memory: the stuff no website or FOIA request will ever tell you.
This is code that won’t show up in a demo day. But it makes all the difference post-deployment.
📊 Backed by Real Data
- The DOE’s Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs have launched over 150 startups since 2015, focusing on scientific founders embedded in national labs.
- PitchBook’s 2024 Climate Tech Funds Report shows increasing investor allocation toward climate companies with regulatory and scientific founders.
- Brookings reports over 80,000 technical roles vacated across federal agencies since 2021 — many filled by people moving into entrepreneurship or the private sector.
No embellishment. Just facts.
🤖 Why AI Won’t Replace This
AI can generate code. But it can’t replace judgment — especially when building in regulated, legacy-constrained, human-heavy sectors.
Ask ChatGPT how grid interconnection works. Then ask someone who’s done it.
There’s no competition.
🧵 Stitchers, Not Disrupters
We back people who know what not to build. Who understand why previous reforms failed. Who can ship solutions that fit the friction.
That’s the kind of code that scales.
🧠 Come Build With Us
Stacks & Snacks is our dinner series — small tables, real talk, no pitch decks.
If your edge is earned — not imagined — we want to hear what you’re building.
Reach out. Let’s talk.