Ellen Chang, a deep-tech investor and former U.S. Navy intelligence officer, dives into pressing geopolitical issues surrounding Taiwan and China. She discusses how the Ukraine War serves as a preview for future drone warfare, emphasizing decentralized approaches versus bureaucratic barriers. Ellen reflects on Taiwan's rapid development of its domestic drone industry, driven by lessons learned from Ukraine and a resilient national identity. Her insights on reshoring manufacturing and the generational divide in Taiwanese identity add depth to this critical conversation.
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insights INSIGHT
Ukraine As A Real-Time Tech Laboratory
The war in Ukraine functions as a live technology and tactics laboratory showing how future wars may be fought.
Ellen Chang says this “precursor” dynamic forces us to rethink procurement and rapid adaptation models.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Hire Lobbyists Early
Startups in defense should hire lobbyists early to navigate budgeting and procurement complexity.
Ellen Chang stresses playing the lobbying and education game to get programs funded and adopted.
insights INSIGHT
Budget Fragmentation Slows Response
U.S. defense budgets are broken into many small pooled lines, creating overhead and inflexibility.
Ellen Chang notes this structure limits rapid reallocation of funds for emergent needs like drones.
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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.
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