Intro

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.

00:00 - Teaser
01:05 - Introduction: Meet deep tech investor Ellen Chang
01:42 - Ukraine as the "Spanish Civil War" precursor to WWII tech
02:38 - Ukraine's decentralized "factory" model vs. US Bureaucracy
04:04 - The Lobbying Game: Why startups need lobbyists early
05:28 - Ellen’s Journey: Growing up in Taiwan in the 60s
06:46 - Career Path: Navy Intelligence, Banking, and Northrop Grumman
08:04 - Leaving the Primes: The early days of DJI and 3D Robotics
09:36 - Re-industrializing America: Opportunity Zones and Shipyards
10:24 - Taiwan’s economic rise and export-oriented history
12:32 - Reshoring manufacturing: Decoupling from Shenzhen and Guangdong
13:55 - The Generational Divide: Taiwanese Identity vs. Reunification
15:50 - Galvanizing Identity: Lessons from the 2014 invasion of Ukraine
17:02 - Successors of Industry: The US-educated "Second Generation"
18:58 - Invasion Scenarios: The geography and defensibility of Taiwan
20:56 - Building a native drone industry from scratch in two years
23:08 - Legacy: Protecting democracy for the next generation

About Drone Wars

Firestorm Studios brings you The Drone Wars Podcast, a show that explores all facets of autonomous systems - ground, air, and sea - and their transformative impact on various aspects of human life, from agriculture to warfare. We feature interviews with CEOs, founders, and C-suite executives from the world's leading autonomy and robotics companies.