Why defense companies build public brands

a16z General Partner David Ulevitch joins Sourcery to break down the real state of American Dynamism, their $600M fund, across defense, energy, mining, robotics, manufacturing, public safety, and national security.

We discuss America’s supply-chain exposure to China, why deterrence—not parity—defines the future of U.S. defense, and how new companies are rebuilding core capabilities in nuclear, missiles, autonomy, grid reliability, materials, mining, and industrial operations.

David highlights key a16z portfolio companies including Anduril, Radiant Nuclear, Base Power, Exowatt, Apex, Skydio, Flock, Long Eye, and Mariana Minerals, and shares why the best founders are magnetic attractors of capital and talent.

We also dive into Anduril’s authenticity-first marketing philosophy (“no renders” - Palmer Luckey), the “Don’t Work at Anduril” campaign led by Snap Alumn Jeff Miller, the importance of real test footage, and why mission-driven cultures are fueling the next generation of frontier companies.

A broad, detailed look at the future of American reindustrialization and the companies shaping it.

Select Portfolio Companies & Areas:

• AI: Applied Intuition, Ambient AI

• Defense: Anduril, Saronic, Shield AI, Castelion, 

• Energy: Radiant, Base Power, Exowatt, RigUp

• Aerospace: SpaceX, Apex, Northwood, Aerodome, Air Space Intelligence (ASI), Astro Mechanica, Astranis

• Manufacturing: Hadrian, Senra

• Public Safety: Flock Safety, Long Eye, Skydio

• Supply Chain: Zipline, Flexport, 

• Minerals: Mariana Materials, KoBold Metals

David Ulevitch: https://x.com/davidu

Molly O’Shea: ⁠https://x.com/MollySOShea⁠

Sourcery: ⁠https://x.com/sourceryvc

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• Turing—Turing delivers top-tier talent, data, and tools to help AI labs improve model performance—and enables enterprises to turn those models into powerful, production-ready systems. https://turing.com/sourcery

• Carta—Carta connects founders, investors, and limited partners through software purpose-built for private capital. Trusted by 65,000+ companies in 160+ countries, Carta’s platform of software & services lays the groundwork so you can build, invest, and scale with confidence. https://carta.com/sourcery/?utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=sourcery&utm_campaign=20250923-amer-carta_sourcery_data_insights

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(00:00) America’s supply-chain vulnerability

(03:28) Most investable wedges: robotics, automation & lights-out factories

(04:11) Rebuilding U.S. minerals & mining capacity (lithium, copper, steel)

(04:29) Applying software to legacy sectors (lumber, metals, production)

(05:20) Energy: Radiant’s microreactor & first new U.S. design in 50+ years

(06:23) Grid resiliency & storage: Base Power, Exowatt

(07:12) Defense innovation: Anduril, Saronic, Castelion

(08:28) Public safety tech: Flock Safety, Long Eye & Skydio

(13:30) Anduril’s “no renders” rule & authentic product culture

(14:27) Inside the “Don’t Work at Anduril” campaign

(19:11) Talent density: references, hiring, firing & magnetic teams

(20:45) Lessons from building OpenDNS: reinvention, team rebuilds & decade-long “overnight success”

(26:00) Kalshi’s growth & future of prediction markets