Protecting Homes After the LA Fires: The Case for Fire Prevention Tech, with CitroTech's CEO Wes Bolsen

Wes Bolsen is the CEO and board member of CitroTech (NYSE AM: CITR), the company behind the only EPA Safer Choice recognized fire inhibitor in the United States. Before CitroTech, Wes co-founded LaderaTech, a wildfire prevention company built on patents from Stanford University and MIT, which he subsequently sold to Perimeter Solutions (NYSE: PRM) and joined their leadership team overseeing global wildfire prevention ahead of the company's $2 billion public listing. He also served as board member and CEO of Imidex, a medical device company focused on early-stage lung cancer detection. Earlier in his career, Wes held executive roles at Cool Planet Energy Systems, Codexis (NASDAQ: CDXS), Coskata, and ICM, and consulted at McKinsey from 2000 to 2006 across the Chicago and Palo Alto offices. Wes is based in Oceanside, California. (02:08) From LaderaTech to CitroTech: why Wes came back (03:21) The Palisades fire & what it changes for developers (05:09) Why community-wide protection beats home by home (06:55) Suppression vs. prevention: the 1-to-7 cost argument (08:38) What home builders are hearing from insurance (11:02) Fire resilience as a marketing differentiator (14:39) Cost of fire-resistant construction vs. traditional methods (16:31) The three layers of CitroTech's approach (22:27) The Hexion JV (26:01) Getting into Lennar, DR Horton, KB Homes, and national spec (27:22) Fire risk across California, Colorado, Montana & Idaho (29:03) Mass timber, CLT, and the fire retardancy case (31:43) What a REIT looks like after deploying CitroTech (33:34) Collaboration superpower: Jesus and Elon Musk 🏙️ Learn more: -Visit CitroTech -Wes Bolsen on LinkedIn 🏙️ In-person Events: -South Florida Capital & Development Forum: Miami | 10/15 -Power Tech and AI Forum & Reception: NYC | 10/19 -Finance Forum: NYC | 11/3 -State of Office Forum: NYC | 11/4 -All upcoming Commercial Observer events 🏙️ Virtual Events: -Spotlight Case Study: Inside the AI Transformation at Cushman & Wakefield: 10/8 -AI & Innovation Forum: 11/18 🏙️ Connect with Tangent: -Edward Cohen on LinkedIn -Zach Aarons on LinkedIn -Tangent on LinkedIn