Defense Industry
topic on 9 shows · 12 statements across 12 episodes
We Live to Build 
American Optimist 
the Knowledge Project 
the Neon Show 
Sourcery 
the a16z Podcast 
All-In 
TBPN 
20VC
12 statements about Defense Industry, every show
Stephens: Anduril hires consumer tech talent to build a defense brand
“We're pulling people from Consumer businesses to build a consumer profile for a defense company, and that's really never been done before.”
Three to five years is an optimistic timeline for first defense sales
“In the sense, you start investing three to five years is a very, very optimistic time when the first sale happens.”
Garrett: European defense rearmament demand will attract talent and VC capital
“The biggest takeaway, just like we've seen in the U S is there's a market shift, which will attract talent and capital because there's an end customer. That's very, very serious about supporting new on trial and supporting the existing industrial base and spen…”
Gil: Cost-plus contracts incentivize defense firms to run late and overrun costs
“The way that the business model for the defense industry works is this cost plus. So you basically make, say, five to 12% on top of whatever your cost to work the product out is, and that includes your labor, that includes every component, and that's why there…”
Sankar: Defense consolidation's real cost was eliminating founder-led heresy
“The real issue is that consolidation bred conformity, and the conformity pushed out all the heretics. It pushed out all the founder personalities that you need to make this stuff really work.”
Legacy defense contractors wait for contracts and bill by the hour
“The old defense industry model is like, wait for the contract and then build by the hour. Basically, that's how it works.”
Torsten Reil: Best defense investments are scaled firms with record programs
“I think it is, so, I mean, I'm biased, but I think it is around those companies that have got to scale, that have programs of record, and that are basically active in a conflict.”
Lonsdale: Six to eight new primes will drive defense innovation
“I tend to think it's going to end up being six, seven, eight new primes that are like. 80% of the new impact that matters. Not, not the super distributed thing that, but at the same time, it was, you know, we'll probably be buying a bunch of those eventually i…”
Sacks: The U.S. defense industry is an oligopoly of five prime contractors
“The defense industry is dominated by five of these prime defense contractors who work on cost plus are basically an oligopoly.”
1993 defense consolidation replaced venture innovation with dividends and stock buybacks
“The much more profound consequence of The Last Supper is it began a deep financialization of defense. It became about dividends and buybacks and leverage ratios. It, you know, it became about M&A. New venture formation was about spin-outs and mergers, not abou…”
Tom Pierce: Healthcare and Defense Software Prioritize Compliance Over User Experience
“And I think the healthcare industry is kind of parallel to the defense industry and how unbelievably bureaucratic, regulated, and, you know, how the compliance dictates the behavior of the software to such a degree that you end up Being punitive, being an obst…”