The Drone Ultimatum

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, disaster response, critical infrastructure, data center demand, and why on-site hydrogen production could eliminate major supply chain bottlenecks. Rick also shares his path from telecom and early IoT into startups, defense, and energy entrepreneurship. This is a practical discussion about resilience, logistics, and where hydrogen may actually make sense in the real world.

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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.

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The conversation spans Iran, great power competition, and the second-order effects of U.S. strategy on global markets and startups. Patrick also shares how he evaluates companies, why certain founders consistently outperform, and where defense tech is still misunderstood by investors.

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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.

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Jocelyn Kinsey on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-kinsey/

DFJ Growth Website:
https://dfjgrowth.com/

DFJ Growth has been investing in deep tech for decades, including early bets on SpaceX.

In this conversation, Jocelyn explains how the firm approaches growth-stage investing—and why defense is fundamentally different from traditional venture categories.We cover:
Why defense is a hit-driven industry, not SaaS
The surge of capital into defense and whether it’s a bubble
Lessons from SpaceX and Palantir on working with government
How modern drone warfare is reshaping defense priorities
The need for layered counter-drone systems
Why detection remains one of the hardest problems
What investors look for in defense founders and teams
The importance of marketing, lobbying, and go-to-market
If you’re building or investing in defense tech, this episode is a clear look at how the game actually works.

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Jim's book, With My Shield

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 near the front lines, explaining how urban combat works in practice and why counter-drone systems are becoming essential on the modern battlefield.

The conversation explores drone swarms, fiber-optic drones, AI targeting, and the limits of airpower in modern conflicts.We also discuss NATO, the future of warfare in the Pacific, and what Western militaries must learn from Ukraine’s battlefield innovations.

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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 scalable, grid-independent power for industrial infrastructure, military installations, and emerging technologies like AI.

In this episode, Isaiah explains why energy production is falling behind advances in AI, robotics, and manufacturing and why that gap matters for both economic competitiveness and defense readiness. He also breaks down Valar's approach to radically simplifying reactor design so they can be manufactured and deployed at scale.

We discuss the global nuclear race with China, how modular reactors could power military bases and industrial capacity, and why the real opportunity isn’t selling reactors, it’s producing abundant electricity.

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