Jackie Barbieri is the CEO and co-founder of WhiteSpace, a defense tech company applying advanced AI to real-world national security and operational challenges. Her work bridges AI, defense innovation, and operator-informed design, building systems that perform in contested, real-world environments.

Jarren Reid is the CEO and Co-Founder of Usul, an AI platform that helps companies win government contracts across 60+ nations. Its goal is to build a global marketplace for governments to buy products quickly, starting with defense.

Andy Markoff is a former Special Operations Officer in the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, and currently the Co-Founder and CEO of Smack Technologies, which uses deep reinforcement learning and machine learning to accelerate critical decision-making from the command center to the front lines. Dan and Andy discuss speeding up military kill-chains and command decisions for better "decision dominance" in future conflicts, especially amid rising Indo-Pacific tensions.

Lito Villanueva is a U.S. Air Force veteran, a communications specialist, and was most recently a combat drone pilot in Ukraine. Born in the Philippines and raised in a military family in California, he served in the Air Force before working with the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and supporting Joint Special Operations Command through a Special Missions Unit. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Lito volunteered on the ground, initially delivering humanitarian aid across the country, before applying his expertise to tactical communications with the International Legion of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine. In his last assignment before his service ended, Lito was a Team Leader for a drone team in 3rd Regiment Ukrainian Special Operational Forces. A combat veteran of multiple wars, Lito now supports frontline efforts in Ukraine in a civilian capacity, applying capital investments in critical technologies, and sharing operational lessons learned with military units and leaders in the United States.

Lito Villanueva is a U.S. Air Force veteran, a communications specialist, and was most recently a combat drone pilot in Ukraine. Born in the Philippines and raised in a military family in California, he served in the Air Force before working with the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and supporting Joint Special Operations Command through a Special Missions Unit. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Lito volunteered on the ground, initially delivering humanitarian aid across the country, before applying his expertise to tactical communications with the International Legion of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine. In his last assignment before his service ended, Lito was a Team Leader for a drone team in 3rd Regiment Ukrainian Special Operational Forces. A combat veteran of multiple wars, Lito now supports frontline efforts in Ukraine in a civilian capacity, applying capital investments in critical technologies, and sharing operational lessons learned with military units and leaders in the United States.

Lito Villanueva is a U.S. Air Force veteran, a communications specialist, and was most recently a combat drone pilot in Ukraine. Born in the Philippines and raised in a military family in California, he served in the Air Force before working with the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and supporting Joint Special Operations Command through a Special Missions Unit. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Lito volunteered on the ground, initially delivering humanitarian aid across the country, before applying his expertise to tactical communications with the International Legion of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine. In his last assignment before his service ended, Lito was a Team Leader for a drone team in 3rd Regiment Ukrainian Special Operational Forces. A combat veteran of multiple wars, Lito now supports frontline efforts in Ukraine in a civilian capacity, applying capital investments in critical technologies, and sharing operational lessons learned with military units and leaders in the United States.

Lito Villanueva is a U.S. Air Force veteran, a communications specialist, and was most recently a combat drone pilot in Ukraine. Born in the Philippines and raised in a military family in California, he served in the Air Force before working with the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and supporting Joint Special Operations Command through a Special Missions Unit. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Lito volunteered on the ground, initially delivering humanitarian aid across the country, before applying his expertise to tactical communications with the International Legion of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine. In his last assignment before his service ended, Lito was a Team Leader for a drone team in 3rd Regiment Ukrainian Special Operational Forces. A combat veteran of multiple wars, Lito now supports frontline efforts in Ukraine in a civilian capacity, applying capital investments in critical technologies, and sharing operational lessons learned with military units and leaders in the United States.

This episode dives into the five of the most prominent shifts in the combat history of UAVs. Dan covers UAV tech from the following eras: - Radio-Controlled Aerial Weapons (WWI 1917). - Reconnaissance UAVs (Cold War & Vietnam1950s-1970s). - UAVs in the 90s (Desert Storm). - UAVs in Iraq and Afghanistan (2001-2021). - Mass-Scale, Low-Cost Drone Warfare (Russia-Ukraine War, 2022 - Present).

Mike Sims is the Co-Founder and CEO of Empirium, a unified marketplace platform connecting verified buyers and suppliers across aerospace, defense and manufacturing.

This convo covers:

- Why China dominates 45% of global manufacturing & how we became dangerously dependent.

- Building a trusted defense/aerospace marketplace.

- Amplifying the voices of end-users.

Mike Sims is the Co-Founder and CEO of Empirium, a unified marketplace platform connecting verified buyers and suppliers across aerospace, defense and manufacturing.

This episode covers:

- 9/11 moment that made him drop everything to join the fight.

- Arabic language mastery.

- Becoming a Marine Raider.

Ellen Chang is a deep-tech investor focused on the maritime and space domains. She is Managing Director at CapZone Impact Investments, and Co-Founder and Co-President of Wharton Aerospace. She served the U.S. Navy as an Intelligence Officer, later working on JP Morgan’s aerospace team and founding a B2B aviation parts sourcing startup. She spent 12 years at Northrop Grumman, holding leadership roles across systems engineering, program management, and advanced systems, with work spanning autonomous air and space platforms.

This episode covers:

- Deep tech investor insights.

- Drone adoption and reducing cognitive load.

- Why manufacturing scale, not just innovation, wins wars.

Ellen Chang is a deep-tech investor focused on the maritime and space domains. She is Managing Director at CapZone Impact Investments, and Co-Founder and Co-President of Wharton Aerospace. She served the U.S. Navy as an Intelligence Officer, later working on JP Morgan’s aerospace team and founding a B2B aviation parts sourcing startup. She spent 12 years at Northrop Grumman, holding leadership roles across systems engineering, program management, and advanced systems, with work spanning autonomous air and space platforms.

This episode covers:

- Taiwan and China geopolitics.

- Ukraine War as a preview of future drone warfare.

- Why Taiwan rapidly built a domestic drone industry.

Chad McCoy is a Co-Founder and the Chief Strategy Officer at Firestorm Labs. He’s a Special Operations Veteran and retired Chief Master Sergeant from the United States Air Force’s 24th Special Tactics Squadron. The convo covers: -Importance of a military background as a defense tech founder. -Speeding up DoD adoption. -Firestorm’s strategy. -Winning the Pacific.

Dan reacts to his 12 most viral drone moments on LinkedIn of 2025.

Joslyn Tarr is a seasoned UAS engineering leader with deep expertise in aircraft development and systems engineering. She’s worked for several defense companies including Kratos and General Atomics, loves all things aviation and is currently pursuing her private pilot's license. Not to mention she’s our very own Senior Vice President of Engineering here at Firestorm Labs. This convo covers:

• Working for a defense prime vs a startup.

• 3-D printing drones.

• Rapid prototyping.

• Scaling teams at a startup.

• Lessons from Ukraine.

• Providing the best value for the warfighter.

Jamie Dimon is the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, a global financial services firm with assets of $3.2 trillion and operations worldwide. He’s been one of the most influential voices on Wall Street for the last 2 decades. JP Morgan Chase recently announced the Security and Resiliency Initiative (SRI), a $1.5 trillion, 10-year plan to facilitate, finance and invest advanced manufacturing, defense, energy, AI and quantum computing. Dan reacts to Dimon’s recent remarks at the America Business Forum as a defense tech entrepreneur.

Larsen Jensen is a 2x Olympic medalist, former U.S. Navy Seal and founder of Harpoon Ventures and Vector Defense. Their convo covers:

• Founders must thrive in discomfort.

• Startup failure in the U.S. vs other countries.

• Why Harpoon invested in Firestorm.

Larsen Jensen is a 2x Olympic medalist, former U.S. Navy Seal and founder of Harpoon Ventures and Vector Defense. They dive into:

• Founding one of the first defense tech VCs before anyone in Silicon Valley cared.

• Geopolitical urgency and rapid tech progress.

• VC trends: why physical products are making a comeback.

Founder of Anduril, Palmer Luckey recently appeared on the #1 podcast in the world, the Joe Rogan Experience. Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, Dan Magy reacts to key moments of the show.

Brandon Florian has over 20 years of experience in aerospace and defense at Northrop Grumman and Starburst. He’s the Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Grid Aero, building rugged, long-range autonomous aircrafts to revolutionize cargo logistics at scale. 

They cover: 

• Grid Aero is building a “pickup truck of the skies”.  

• Which top defense primes work the best with startups? 

• What separates successful companies?  

“Defense is an away game; we’re not going to be able to fight our way in” 

Stephen Rodriguez is the Founder of One Defense and an Operating Partner at DCVC. He invests in and serves on the boards of leading defense-tech companies, including Applied Intuition, Firestorm, Ursa Major, Mach Industries, and ZeroMark. He chairs Booz Allen’s Defense Technology Board, leads Blue Forge Alliance as Chairman and serves as a Commission Director at the Atlantic Council. 

This episode covers:  

• American war fighting patterns.  

• Defense is an away game.  

• Replicator Initiative.  

Stephen Rodriguez is the Founder of One Defense and an Operating Partner at DCVC. He invests in and serves on the boards of leading defense-tech companies, including Applied Intuition, Firestorm, Ursa Major, Mach Industries, and ZeroMark. He chairs Booz Allen’s Defense Technology Board, leads Blue Forge Alliance as Chairman and serves as a Commission Director at the Atlantic Council. 

This episode covers: 

• What should our defense policy be? 

• Drone manufacturing reforms.  

• How to keep up with China.  

Ex-SpaceX Dragon Capsule software lead, Karthik Gollapudi, built two-fault-tolerant systems that flew astronauts to the ISS. He left to found Sift, an AI platform that automates testing, manufacturing and observability for rockets, rovers and autonomous fleets. 

This episode covers: 

• SpaceX’s young staff & the push for automating everything. 

• Same job in 12 months = failure.  

• Bootstrapping a tech startup team and funding.  

A VC managing partner covers AI ethics, a boom of domestic jobs in tech and why the gov needs to get out of the way. Hamlet Yousef is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder at Irongate Capital Advisors, where he leads investments in early-stage technologies that strengthen national defense. He has worked with organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies across disruptive and emerging technology sectors.

Are our adversaries building ethical AI? Dive into it on the pod with Lt. Col. Joshua “Cabo” Gunderson, former combat pilot, and former Commander of the Air Force F-22 Demo Team. Since leaving active duty, he serves in the Nevada Air National Guard as an F-22 Subject Matter Expert, works for a private company as a corporate pilot flying the Challenger 300 aircraft, and consults for aviation clients. Hear his takes on ethics in the military, democratizing defense tech, strategic bombardment and advice for the next gen of combat pilots.

Are our adversaries building ethical AI? Dive into it on the pod with Lt. Col. Joshua “Cabo” Gunderson, former combat pilot, and former Commander of the Air Force F-22 Demo Team. Since leaving active duty, he serves in the Nevada Air National Guard as an F-22 Subject Matter Expert, works for a private company as a corporate pilot flying the Challenger 300 aircraft, and consults for aviation clients. Hear his takes on ethics in the military, democratizing defense tech, strategic bombardment and advice for the next gen of combat pilots.

General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.), is a Partner in the global investment firm KKR; Chairman of the KKR Global Institute; and Chairman of KKR Middle East. He is also a member of the boards of Optiv and OneStream; a Strategic Advisor for Semperis, Advanced Navigation, and Ontic; a personal venture investor; the Kissinger Fellow at Yale's Univ's Jackson School; a speaker with the Washington Speakers Bureau; and co-author with Andrew Roberts of the NYT, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly best seller "Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza,” also selected History Book of the year by Aspects of History.

General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.), is a Partner in the global investment firm KKR; Chairman of the KKR Global Institute; and Chairman of KKR Middle East. He is also a member of the boards of Optiv and OneStream; a Strategic Advisor for Semperis, Advanced Navigation, and Ontic; a personal venture investor; the Kissinger Fellow at Yale's Univ's Jackson School; a speaker with the Washington Speakers Bureau; and co-author with Andrew Roberts of the NYT, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly best seller "Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza,” also selected History Book of the year by Aspects of History.

CEO and Co-Founder of Picogrid, Zane Mountcastle is a key member of the emerging El Segundo defense tech scene. Him and Dan discuss the tough questions facing founders today.