Latest essay · Nov 5, 2026
The Real Economy Is Rebuilding. Chemicals Are Paying for It.
The build is real. So is the squeeze. The gap between them is where the next chemicals deals come from.
Open research on chemicals, materials, and AI for people who work in industry
After two decades in specialty chemicals and advanced materials, I pick one hard question at a time, research it properly, and share what I find.
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By Bob Girton · Optimistic, not credulous.
Recent essays
Short notes and long deep dives on how industrial markets are built, priced, and changing.
More from the archive
- Aug 21, 2026
$271,850 for 4,500 Patents: The Bargain America Keeps Rewriting
Who carries the risk? Washington has answered that question four different ways since 1915. This one is missing a piece.
- Aug 13, 2026Paid
Electronic Chemicals: The $73B Market That Makes Every Chip
A ~$73B market read the way an investor should read it: eight segments, one dashboard, and a clear map of where a buyer can build and where the moat is simply too deep to buy.
- Aug 7, 2026
How Much Money Did We Make Today, Dad?
My daughter runs pipeline oversight from the top bunk. Her chore-chart arbitrage taught me more about "AI is cheating" than anything I've read in media.
- Jul 31, 2026
The last inch of copper: why AI's next decade is a power problem, not a transistor problem
Two thousand amps at 0.85 volts is the actual engineering problem the industry is spending hundreds of billions to solve. Here's the plain-English map of who's building what.
Short notes every week. Deep dives every month.
From the Field Guide “Custom Chemistry Makers: What a Buyer Pays For”
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Signals & Observations
Short notes on what I'm seeing and wondering about, open to everyone.
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Field Guides
Long, sourced research on one question, with a claims ledger that shows where every number comes from. Paid readers fund the research.
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Founding partners help pick the questions and join a live discussion each quarter.
Consensus first, then where I think it's wrong
I don't start from a finished opinion. I pick a question, dig through permits, filings, and deal records, say where a number is soft, and ask you to tell me where I've missed.
Written by someone who has spent a working life around these plants
Bob Girton has spent two decades in specialty chemicals and advanced materials and leads investment and strategic advisory work at August Grace Advisory. Curiously Optimistic is where he chases the questions he can't stop thinking about.
Bob Girton, August Grace Advisory
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