Emergent: Building the Future The Defense Startup That’s Quietly Disrupting China and Russia
In this episode, we sit down with Brett Granberg, co-founder and CEO of Vannevar Labs, a defense technology company developing advanced software and hardware systems for the U.S. national security community. With a background at In-Q-Tel and McKinsey, Brett shares his path from the corporate world to building one of the most successful emerging defense startups in recent years.
We dive into how Vannevar is bridging the gap between Silicon Valley engineering and national security missions, starting with data collection from adversary nations and scaling to $80M+ in revenue. Brett shares lessons from their earliest failed product attempts, why speed is the key advantage for startups over defense primes, and how they think about non-kinetic warfare, generative AI, and building a multi-product roadmap for the future of U.S. defense.
If you’ve ever wondered what building a defense tech company from scratch really takes, how DOD’s acquisition ecosystem actually works, or what distinguishes Vannevar from Palantir and Anduril, this episode is for you.
Key Takeaways
* Vannevar’s mission is to fill collection gaps in U.S. intelligence by building sensors and software that detect adversary activity in hard-to-access domains
* The company operates on a “sense, decide, act” model—collecting novel data, transforming it into insights, and driving operational outcomes
* Vannevar’s flagship product, Decrypt, started as Arabic OCR but pivoted to open-source Mandarin military data after early customer feedback
* The team discovered early that features don’t matter if you’re solving a problem no one cares about—traction is the true signal
* DOD doesn’t buy features—they buy complete, integrated mission systems. Minimizing integration work is critical to adoption
* To win in defense, companies must self-fund product development, iterate faster than government teams, and own IP to avoid cost-plus traps
* Active data collection is what sets Vannevar apart from Palantir, whose early value was organizing and exploiting existing data.
* Selling to DOD involves mapping funding flows, using OTA contracts, and leveraging unpaid pilots to demonstrate value
* Generative AI is most useful for multi-step agent-based search across complex datasets. Vannevar uses LLMs for summarization and recall, not just chat
* Brett stresses building new product bets from direct contact with users—every successful product came from sitting with operators, not brainstorming in a room
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In this episode, we cover:
* Introduction (00:00:42)
* Vannevar Labs’ founding thesis and approach to building defense technology (00:04:41)
* The intelligence collection gap and how Vannevar closes it (00:06:46)
* Non-kinetic warfare and its rising strategic importance (00:08:45)
* Why the U.S. government needs vendors to move faster than primes (00:13:11)
* Brett’s path from McKinsey to In-Q-Tel and founding Vannevar at Stanford (00:16:42)
* Early product failures and the pivot that led to Decrypt (00:22:09)
* Crossing the classified divide with forward-deployed engineers (00:35:01)
* Scaling from a $15K pilot to over $80M in revenue (00:39:28)
* Securing DIU contracts and funding through unfunded requirements (00:43:13)
* Integrating LLM agents to enhance search and product usability (01:02:25)
* Where to find Brett and Vannevar Labs (01:08:13)
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You can connect with Brett Granberg through the following platforms:
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-granberg/
* Website: https://www.vannevarlabs.com/
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You can connect with Adam through the following platforms:
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-judelson/
* Substack: https://www.emergentproduct.com
* X: https://twitter.com/Ajuggles
* Website: www.firstprinciples.la
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For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast or becoming a guest, email adam@firstprinciples.la.
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