Episodes

Jason Zins is the Founder and Managing Partner of Nomi Capital. Nomi Capital invests across defense, aerospace, manufacturing, space, energy, and national security technologies. Jason shares how his team evaluates defense sta...

In this episode, Steve sits down with John "JD" Parkes, Founder and CEO of Parry Labs, and Amber Walker, Chief Growth Officer. Parry Labs develops mission-critical software and digital infrastructure that helps military syste...

Zane Mountcastle is the co-founder and CEO of Picogrid, a defense technology company building the software and hardware infrastructure layer that connects drones, sensors, autonomous systems, and command platforms into unifie...

Ben Cipperley is the Chief Strategy Officer of HavocAI and a former Navy EOD officer who spent more than two decades in the Navy, including work on robotics, autonomy, and the Navy’s strategic modernization efforts. Follow Be...

Weston Moyer and Jonathan Rue of MVP Ventures join The Drone Ultimatum to discuss defense tech investing, AI, robotics, aerospace, manufacturing, and what it takes for startups to scale in national security. 00:00:00 — Intro ...

Nick LaRovere is the co-founder and CEO of Pryzm, a startup building an AI-powered operating system for defense business development and procurement. 00:00 - Intro 01:19 - AI coding, “vibe coding,” and hiring engineers 04:27 ...

David Michelson, former Army Ranger, DIU autonomy leader, and current Drones Thesis Leader at Re:Build Manufacturing, discusses what’s actually working and not working in drones and autonomy today. ⁠⁠ Learn more about our spo...

Cheap drones are reshaping warfare in real time. In this episode, Soren Monroe-Anderson, co-founder and CEO of Neros Technologies, breaks down what it actually takes to build low-cost, scalable FPV drone systems for modern co...

Nathan Mintz, founder and CEO of CX2 and former founding CEO of Epirus, joins the show to break down how electronic warfare is reshaping modern drone defense.We cover the origin of Epirus, the moment the drone threat became i...

Kurt Freshley, Chief Growth Officer of Valinor Enterprises, joins the show to break down the company's strategy and portfolio companies while sharing what it actually takes to scale in defense and advanced manufacturing. Kurt...

Jamie Goettler (CRO, BTX Precision) breaks down what’s actually happening inside U.S. advanced manufacturing right now. Demand across defense, aerospace, semiconductors, and medical devices is surging at the same time, but th...

Rick Harlow, founder of NovaSpark Energy, joins the show to break down how his company turns water into hydrogen for military drones, backup power, and off-grid energy systems. The conversation covers defense use cases, disas...

Patrick Blumenthal (Investor at Anomaly Fund) returns to break down how venture capital actually works in defense, what makes founders worth backing, and how geopolitical realities shape investment decisions. Subscribe to our...

Jocelyn Kinsey, Partner at DFJ Growth, joins us for a deep dive into defense tech investing, startup strategy, and the realities of building in the national security ecosystem. Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thedroneult...

Former U.S. Army Ranger James Lechner joins the podcast to discuss modern warfare, drone combat, and the lessons the West should be learning from Ukraine.Lechner shares experiences from Mogadishu to advising Ukrainian units n...

Sign up for our newsletter Isaiah Taylor, founder and CEO of Valar Atomics, joins the show to discuss why energy is becoming a national security issue. Valar is building small modular nuclear reactors designed to deliver scal...

Sign up for our newsletter Clayton Swope, Deputy Director of the Aerospace Security Project and Senior Fellow in the Defense and Security Department, joins us to break down the real state of U.S. space and missile defense. We...

Today we’re joined by Charles Acknin and Isaac Roberts from Skyways, the Austin-based aerospace company building long-range autonomous cargo aircraft for real logistics missions. We dig into why Skyways went defense-first, ho...

Chandler Luzsicza, Founder and CEO of Galadyne, joins us to break down why he’s betting on liquid propulsion to reinvent long-range missile production. A former SpaceX engineer who started working on liquid rockets as a teena...

Heather Armentrout, President and General Manager of Kongsberg US, joins the show for a candid look at how a European defense leader is scaling real production inside the United States. We cover NASAMS, CROWS, and how lessons...

The war in Ukraine, defense tech, procurement, and private capital are colliding in real time, and most people in the West are missing what matters. Mentions: Disinformation by Ion Mihai Pacepa (Wikipedia) Match in a Haystack...

Austin Gray, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Blue Water Autonomy, returns to the show to break down what it actually takes to build large unmanned ships that can operate for months without touch maintenance. We get i...

Olaf Hichwa joins the podcast to break down the reality of modern drone warfare, FPVs, and why small drones now drive the majority of battlefield casualties. Drawing on direct exposure to Ukraine and deep experience building ...

Congressman Pat Harrigan (NC-10), former Army Special Forces officer and defense manufacturer, joins the show to talk about why he ran for office after the fall of Afghanistan and what that moment signaled to adversaries. We ...