Daniel Plainview

About

From orphaned prospector with a busted ankle to sole proprietor of California’s most ambitious pipeline-to-port network, I’ve spent the last 25 years turning untapped dirt into compounding dividends—for my partners, for the railroads, and, unapologetically, for myself. I marry frontier grit with modern-era operational rigor: every derrick, every barrel, every handshake is a data-point on the single KPI that matters—total extraction velocity (TEV). If you share my obsession with radical throughput, subterranean strategy, or simply believe the earth still has plenty to give, drop me a note. I’m always evaluating JV partners, rail integrations, and frontier basins where a little persuasion (and some pipe) can unlock exponential value.

Experience

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  Founder & Managing Partner

  Plainview Oil & Drilling Co.

  1902 - 1927 · 25 yrs

  Little Boston, California

  • Drove 9,450% ROI on initial $500 silver-claim stake by reinvesting earnings into high-pressure rotary rigs and vertical integration (land ► drilling ► pipelines ► ocean freight). • Negotiated 97% mineral-rights coverage across Little Boston basin through a blend of stakeholder alignment, community tithes, and—when necessary—bowling-alley diplomacy. • Built and operated fully functioning derricks, pipelines, and transport infrastructure in previously undeveloped regions. • Re-channeled $65k+ in strategic philanthropy to local schools & churches, boosting labor retention by 4.8× and securing a durable social license to operate. • Personally oversaw every step of the drilling and extraction process—"I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed."

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  Independent Silver Prospector

  Freelance

  1898 - 1902 · 4 yrs

  Various Locations, CA

  • Discovered and extracted precious metals under harsh frontier conditions. • Developed early geologic intuition and risk tolerance that later guided oil exploration. • Transitioned from mining to petroleum after recognizing long-term commercial scalability of fossil fuels over silver.