Problems with Defense Procurement and Private Capital's Role

David details how government R&D oversight favors primes and argues private capital should fund R&D while government commits to buying outcomes.

Play episode from 15:14

chevron_right

Transcript

chevron_right

Transcript

Episode notes

David Ulevitch, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), who co-leads the firm’s American Dynamism practice with Katherine Boyle joins Sourcery to break down America’s comeback. With the encouragement of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, the $600M fund was founded around 2020 to invest in companies that support the national interest: aerospace, defense, public safety, education, housing, supply chain, industrials, and manufacturing.

David shares how American Dynamism evolved from a meme to a movement within a16z, inspired by Marc and Ben’s early conviction at Netscape that the next wave of great technology companies would serve the national interest.

From early investments like Anduril, Flock Safety, and Hadrian, to a16z’s growing policy arm in Washington D.C., David reveals how the firm is bridging the gap between Silicon Valley and the national mission, and why he believes private capital must lead the next American resurgence.

We discuss:

The story behind American Dynamism’s rise
The private capital boom powering national resilience
JP Morgan’s $1.5T “Security & Resiliency” initiative
AI’s role across defense, logistics, and manufacturing
Why venture capital must “fund freedom like our lives depend on it.”

Key Points

Why Marc & Ben backed David & Katherine for a national mission. American Dynamism was born from the belief that Silicon Valley’s greatest founders should again build for the public good, across defense, energy, manufacturing, & more.
From meme to $600M fund. What began as a thesis between David Ulevitch and Katherine Boyle became a $600M dedicated fund and a defining pillar of a16z’s vision for national resilience.
Private capital is America’s new resource. a16z’s model funds R&D independently while enabling the government to buy finished products, accelerating innovation & cutting red tape.
AI is reshaping the foundations. From Anduril’s Eagle Eye headset to swarm drones and AI-powered logistics, technology is redefining how America powers, protects, and scales.
The reindustrialization flywheel is spinning. With JP Morgan’s $1.5T initiative and growing investor conviction, national resilience is no longer niche, it’s a generational investment frontier.

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

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

Sourcery: ⁠https://x.com/sourceryvc

𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐒

Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, & travel. https://brex.com/sourcery

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

Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!

https://www.sourcery.vc/

𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒

(00:00) David Ulevitch

(01:54) The origin story of American Dynamism

(05:23) Why Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz backed the idea early

(03:30) Partnering with Katherine Boyle, from rivals to co-leads

(06:14) From meme to movement

(07:00) Why venture returns exist in defense, energy, & infrastructure

(07:11) The new supply-and-demand moment for American industry

(11:00) Building a policy bridge between D.C. & Silicon Valley

(15:29) Fixing defense procurement, the “bake-off” model