Tweener Talks: Jason Massey Founder of Ndustrial. From Mebane to Menlo and Back - North Carolinia Native Comes Home to Build...
How a small-town North Carolina founder helped build a GreenTech powerhouse... and the Triangle ecosystem along the way.
Who is Jason Massey?
Jason Massey is the CEO and cofounder of Ndustrial.
After an early dream of flying jets for the Navy was dashed by poor eyesight, he pivoted. First to NC State (where he studied physics and finance), then to Wall Street in the heat of the dot-com boom, and eventually to Silicon Valley venture capital. There, he cut his teeth learning sales, strategy, and humility. These experiences he now calls his “real MBA.”
Over time, Jason found his calling in clean tech. After an angel investing win with Tapulous (creators of Tap Tap Revenge, acquired by Disney), he moved back to NC with his wife and started building something of his own.
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And special thanks to our friends at Walk West for partnering with us to produce this pod!
How I met Jason
Jason and I have crossed paths repeatedly through our shared work in the Triangle ecosystem. Jason guest lectured at NC State, mentored rising student entrepreneurs, and even hosted Dr. Tom Miller’s engineering entrepreneurship cohort at his house in Menlo Park. One of those visits would later introduce him to the Klein brothers, NC State grads who helped Jason build Ndustrial’s early software, and later founded AllStacks after working out of Ndustrial’s Durham office.
I mention in the interview, “We were joking before, there’s been a few startups that have grown out of the dysfunction of [Jason’s] own company,” thanks to the talent and experimentation that surrounded us.
Listen/Watch Our Interview:
Jason’s story isn’t just a roadmap for startup success. It’s a love letter to building meaningful things in places that matter. Whether it's his mentorship to Triangle founders, his company’s work in green tech, or his openness about the grind of building a real business over a decade, Jason Massey shows us what it looks like to lead with depth, humility, and resolve.
Listen in to learn more about:
How a 14-year journey turned a service company into a $25M+ industrial SaaS success and how Ndustrial now powers over a third of refrigerated food throughput in the U.S.
Why cold storage is one of the most energy-intensive industries and how Ndustrial’s machine learning tool helps companies avoid $50K+ demand charges by predicting utility peaks.
Jason Massey’s unexpected path from NC State to Wall Street to Silicon Valley and back including lessons from venture capital, startup failure, and clean energy diplomacy in China.
Why Ndustrial rejects the “pure SaaS” playbook and why customization, services, and hardware are essential in the industrial world.
How Jason pitches sustainability in CFO terms and why he believes green projects with high ROI should be no-brainers.
The role of AI in transforming dashboards into decision-making conversations helping plant managers get instant, actionable insights.
What it means to come full circle as Jason returns to small-town NC to build a nationally recognized clean tech company with global reach.
How to watch:
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