What it Takes for Dual-Use Tech Companies to Truly Succeed
Sherman Williams, the co-founder of AIN Ventures, joins Ryan at the bar to discuss the hard realities of dual-use investing. They dig into inflated valuations, the dangers of easy capital, and the risks of betting on defense budgets that may not endure. They also examine the outlook for space companies, the role of private equity, and what it really takes for startups to survive in this sector.
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19:15
Rockets, Politics, and Power: A Conversation with Tory Bruno of ULA
Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, joins us to talk about the hard business of getting things into space. He reflects on competition, what it took to turn ULA around, the politics of building new rockets, and what assured access to space means in the new era of great-power competition.
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52:20
Moving at the Speed of War: A Conversation with Horacio Rozanski of Booz Allen
The future fight won’t be won by those with the biggest budgets, most polished strategies, or largest armies. It will be won by those who can translate breakthrough technology into usable capability at speed and scale. Ryan was joined by Horacio Rozanski, the CEO of Booz Allen, to talk about the role his company is playing in this race. Having reoriented Booz Allen into a technology integrator, he shares the cultural and organizational challenges of turning Booz Allen into a company of builders, the bets being made on emerging technologies, and how his personal journey — from immigrant to Booz Allen intern to CEO — shapes how he sees change.
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48:33
From BUD/S to the Boardroom: The Fight to Revolutionize Munitions Factories
A career-ending spinal injury during Navy SEAL training could have closed Joe Musselman’s chapter of service. Instead, it became the catalyst for a new one. He first founded The Honor Foundation to help special operators bring their elite standards to civilian leadership, then launched BVVC Capital, a venture fund backing relentlessly focused founders. He most recently assembled the founding team at Union, a munitions company designed to re-imagine munitions production. In this conversation, Musselman shares the through line in all of his work and how elite standards, trust, and execution can reshape people, networks, and organizations.
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45:38
Solving the Pentagon's Acquisition Puzzle
There's a fundamental mismatch between the agile acquisition processes that the Pentagon says it wants, and the unfortunate bureaucratic reality. Bonnie Evangelista, an acquisition maverick, joins the show to explain why. She spent the last seven years implementing rapid acquisition strategies for Army Defensive Cyber, the Joint AI Center, and the Chief Digital AI Office, and is now a strategic advisor supporting the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul team rewriting the Federal Acquisition Regulations.
A new show and vertical focused on defense tech and the defense industrial base, created and produced by WAR ON THE ROCKS and supported by BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON.
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