Andrew A.
Founder: Lightsout CNC
About
I left a career in commercial banking to build a machine shop. Not because it was the obvious move — because I believe it's one of the most important bets anyone can make on America's future right now.
My background is in commercial banking. I spent years understanding how businesses are built, how capital works, and what separates companies that scale from ones that stall. That lens didn't point me toward another financial services role. It pointed me toward manufacturing — specifically, toward the gap between where American machining is today and where technology is about to take it.
I founded Lightsout CNC Manufacturing in Hawthorne, California with one conviction: the next era of US manufacturing won't be won on cheap labor or volume. It will be won by shops that think like technology companies. Automated workflows. Software-defined production. Machines that run lights-out — through the night, without anyone in the building — because every process is designed to not need a human standing over it.
That's what I'm building. A precision machine shop in Hawthorne — ten minutes from SpaceX, in the middle of the country's most active aerospace and defense corridor — designed from day one to be one of the most technologically advanced shops in the country within a decade.
I didn't come from manufacturing. I got certified on a Haas mill to understand what I was getting into. I stood in front of a machine and made a part with my hands. That experience made my conviction stronger, not weaker. This industry is real, the craft is real, and the opportunity to modernize it with the tools available today is as significant as any investment thesis I saw in my banking career.
The US gave up a lot of manufacturing over the last thirty years. I think technology gives us a legitimate path to take it back — not by competing on cost, but by competing on precision, speed, and intelligence. Lightsout is my answer to that challenge.
If you're building in manufacturing, aerospace, or industrial tech, or if you just think American production matters — I'd like to know you.
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My background is in commercial banking. I spent years understanding how businesses are built, how capital works, and what separates companies that scale from ones that stall. That lens didn't point me toward another financial services role. It pointed me toward manufacturing — specifically, toward the gap between where American machining is today and where technology is about to take it.
I founded Lightsout CNC Manufacturing in Hawthorne, California with one conviction: the next era of US manufacturing won't be won on cheap labor or volume. It will be won by shops that think like technology companies. Automated workflows. Software-defined production. Machines that run lights-out — through the night, without anyone in the building — because every process is designed to not need a human standing over it.
That's what I'm building. A precision machine shop in Hawthorne — ten minutes from SpaceX, in the middle of the country's most active aerospace and defense corridor — designed from day one to be one of the most technologically advanced shops in the country within a decade.
I didn't come from manufacturing. I got certified on a Haas mill to understand what I was getting into. I stood in front of a machine and made a part with my hands. That experience made my conviction stronger, not weaker. This industry is real, the craft is real, and the opportunity to modernize it with the tools available today is as significant as any investment thesis I saw in my banking career.
The US gave up a lot of manufacturing over the last thirty years. I think technology gives us a legitimate path to take it back — not by competing on cost, but by competing on precision, speed, and intelligence. Lightsout is my answer to that challenge.
If you're building in manufacturing, aerospace, or industrial tech, or if you just think American production matters — I'd like to know you.
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Joined: June 19, 2026
Last seen: June 27, 2026