029: Global Resilience with Paul Kwan, Managing Director at General Catalyst
Jan 6, 2024
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Paul Kwan, Managing Director at General Catalyst, leading the Global Resilience team, discusses modernizing critical societal systems like defense, intelligence, industrial, and energy. Topics include admiration for individuals choosing difficult paths, global resiliency as an approach, radical collaboration in entrepreneurship, responsible innovation in defense technology, and potential innovation centers and distributed operations.
Modernizing crucial societal systems through innovative approaches and collaboration with government and incumbents is key to global resiliency.
Building category-defining defense tech companies requires diverse skill sets, strong mission understanding, and strategic capital and collaboration.
Deep dives
Importance of Global Resiliency and Defense Base
The podcast episode explores the importance of global resiliency and the defense base. The guest, Paul Kwan, highlights his personal connection to the defense sector and his passion for critical infrastructure, technology, and the future of global resiliency. He emphasizes the need to modernize crucial societal systems, such as defense, industrial, and energy sectors, through innovative approaches and collaboration with the government and incumbent ecosystem, with a focus on trust and humility. The goal is to make a meaningful impact and create category-defining companies in the defense and technology space.
Challenges and Opportunities in Defense Tech
Paul Kwan discusses the unique challenges and opportunities in the defense tech industry. He highlights the changing geopolitical landscape and the need for modernization in critical systems. He also emphasizes the need to think beyond traditional boundaries and engage in radical collaboration with primes, incumbents, and government entities. By leveraging the expertise and mission knowledge of various stakeholders, entrepreneurs in the defense sector can drive innovation and create valuable solutions. Paul also highlights the importance of responsible innovation and ensuring the ethical use of technologies in the defense space.
Building Category-Defining Companies
Paul Kwan explores the idea of building category-defining companies in the defense industry. Drawing from his experience in technology and investments, he explains that category-defining companies are not just about creating new markets, but also about differentiating in terms of product, sales model, business model, culture, and data. Paul emphasizes the importance of identifying founders and teams with a diverse skill set and strong understanding of the mission and customer. He also highlights the crucial role of capital, collaboration, and creativity in building and scaling category-defining defense tech companies.
Navigating the Procurement Process and Global Expansion
Paul Kwan shares insights on navigating the procurement process and expanding globally in the defense sector. He acknowledges the complexities and inefficiencies in the procurement cycle and the need for radical collaboration and patience. He also highlights different strategies, including partnering with primes, leveraging training exercise dollars, and finding creative ways to generate revenues. Paul emphasizes the importance of understanding different markets, ensuring responsible innovation, and being adaptable to the unique dynamics of each geography.
Paul is a managing director at General Catalyst. He leads the Global Resilience team, focused on modernizing critical societal systems including defense, intelligence, industrial and energy.
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