Crossing the Valley

LeoLabs is Building the "Living Map" of Space ActivityAbout Tony FrazierTony Frazier joined LeoLabs as CEO after a distinguished career scaling technology companies in complex government markets. At Maxar Technologies, he served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Earth Intelligence, overseeing partnerships with over 60 allies worldwide and supporting critical missions from humanitarian assistance to the Ukraine conflict. His earlier experience includes leadership roles at Cisco Systems and Infor, plus startup experience during the late 90s internet boom. Tony's unique combination of product expertise, P&L management, and deep government market knowledge made him the ideal leader to scale LeoLabs from innovative technology to mission-critical infrastructure.About LeoLabsFounded in 2016, LeoLabs commercialized radar technology from Stanford Research Institute to create the world's most comprehensive space domain awareness platform. The company operates a globally distributed network of 11 radars across 7 countries, tracking over 24,000 space objects daily and providing persistent monitoring services to government and commercial customers. LeoLabs has raised over $140 million through Series B funding and serves a diversified customer base spanning US government (33% of revenue), international governments (60%), and commercial space operators (7%). With recent wins including a $60 million STRATFI award and $4 million TACFI award, the company is positioned to scale its next-generation "seeker" class radar technology as space activity explodes toward 100,000+ trackable objects in the coming decade.For more about LeoLabs: https://leolabs.space/For more Crossing the Valley: www.valleycrossers.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.valleycrossers.com

About Lieutenant General (ret) Ross CoffmanRoss Coffman represents a rare breed in defense innovation - a senior military leader who transitioned directly from the Pentagon to startup leadership. During his final seven years in the Army, Lt Gen Coffman was deep in technology, serving as director of the next generation combat vehicle cross-functional team before becoming deputy commanding general for combat development at Army Futures Command from 2022 to 2024.His portfolio at Army Futures Command spanned satellite payloads to vaccines for monkeypox - giving him a unique perspective on how the military evaluates and adopts new technology. After 35 years of military service, Lt Gen Coffman joined Forward Edge-AI as president, a company building cybersecurity products for the quantum age.About Colonel Dan CormierColonel Cormier brings the operational perspective as both a seasoned warfighter and current educator at the Naval Leadership and Ethics Center in Newport. His focus on senior leader development provides crucial insight into how bureaucratic processes shape military thinking, particularly the tension between compliance-based junior leadership and the dynamic thinking required at senior levels.About Forward Edge AIForward Edge AI is an early-stage startup focused on cybersecurity for the quantum age. The company's core values align with national defense, public safety, and national security - a mission alignment that drew Coffman from his military career to startup leadership.For more on Ross Coffman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-coffmanFor more on Daniel Cormier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-j-cormierFor more Crossing the Valley: www.valleycrossers.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.valleycrossers.com

Becca Wasser and Phil Sheers, experts from the Center for New American Security, discuss the urgent need to strengthen America's defense industrial base amid global competition. They analyze the growing gap between defense strategies and industrial capabilities, proposing innovative solutions like modular munitions and additive manufacturing. The conversation highlights challenges in procurement, particularly bureaucratic hurdles for smaller companies, and the impact of Congressional resistance on modernization efforts. Discover how collaboration between strategists and industry can revitalize U.S. defense.

Alex Miller, the Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Army, dives into the transformative Army Transformation Initiative. He highlights the unique collaboration between tech companies and the military through Detachment 201, aiming to modernize operations and enhance readiness. Miller discusses real soldier testing, emphasizing a fresh approach to integrating advanced technologies like unmanned systems and missile defense. The role of high-tech talent in tackling systemic challenges is also explored, showcasing a new optimism in military leadership and innovation.

Guests Brian Drake, Federal CTO at Accrete AI, and Bill Wall, who leads federal operations, share insights from their journey in dual-use AI. They discuss the challenges of transitioning from commercial focus to securing government contracts, including a recent $15 million agreement with the Air Force. The conversation covers the necessity of real-time AI demonstrations, the shift toward outcome-driven queries, and the synergy between commercial success and government needs, emphasizing effective storytelling in marketing strategies.

About Brian StreemBrian Streem is the founder and CEO of Vermeer, a company building vision-based navigation systems for GPS-denied environments. His unconventional path began at NYU film school, where a screenwriting teacher taught him that good stories are "both unpredictable and inevitable" – a principle that would define his entrepreneurial journey. Streem became one of the first legal drone cinematographers in America, working on Fast & Furious movies and Steven Spielberg films before pivoting to defense tech.About VermeerVermeer develops hardware-software systems that enable drones to navigate without GPS by using computer vision and locally stored terrain databases. Their solution combines cameras, NVIDIA chips, and neural networks to match real-time imagery with pre-loaded 3D maps, creating jam-proof navigation for military applications. The company has secured millions in product sales and works with tier-one defense contractors across the US, Europe, and Asia.Key Takeaways1. Customer Discovery at Scale Beats Perfect Pedigree: The story that defines Brian’s hustler ethos takes place in a cabin on a lake during COVID. Brian scraped 50,000 .mil emails for DoD personnel, emailed every one, and conducted over 2,000 individual conversations to understand the market before he started his business. This aggressive customer discovery revealed that GPS-denied navigation was the #1 problem across multiple military branches. Customer discovery is the way. In his own words: "Don't build a goddamn thing. Speak to a thousand people who have a lot of money in your market and ask them what their biggest problem is." 2. Naivety Can Be Your Greatest Weapon: Brian’s lack of defense experience became an advantage. While experts said solutions already existed, he asked simple questions: "If it exists, where is it? Why do they tell me it's still a problem?" His outsider perspective led him to pursue solutions that insiders had dismissed, ultimately winning five Phase II SBIRs in his first year.3. Test in Real Conditions or Risk Building Fantasy Products: Instead of raising venture capital, Streem moved to Ukraine for 14 months to test his product in actual combat conditions. "There's no point of wartime technology if you don't fight in a war," he argues. This real-world testing revealed critical issues – like the challenge of testing $30,000 systems on one-way drones – that he simply wouldn’t have learned as quickly back home in the comforts of the United States. 4. Services Revenue Can Fund Product Development: Vermeer is not Brian’s first startup. He previously funded software development by running a drone cinematography service company, which generated millions in revenue. But like many founders who start with services and aim to pivot to products, he hit a wall — he captured most of the Hollywood market, and realized that he couldn’t scale himself as fast as he wanted to grow his business. At the same time, he saw that "investors would rather fund your product from zero" than hear about “distracting services revenue.” They wanted him to focus. 5. Solve the Hardest Version of the Problem First: Brian discovered that in some ways, "Hollywood drone cinematography is actually harder than military drone missions" because of their highly specific aesthetic requirements and demands around precision. Learning to fly for Hollywood actually made it easier to handle the military applications. Just like Tesla started with the high-end car, and SpaceX started with bespoke missions, solving the complex use case first created competitive advantages that have proven sticky.Brian is a star in the making — honestly, listen to this on 1.5x if you have to, but don’t delete this email. You can thank me later.For more on Vermeer: getvermeer.com For more on Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianstreem/For more Crossing the Valley: Valleycrossers.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.valleycrossers.com

Building Multi-Domain Capabilities Through Iterative ExperimentationAbout our GuestsRepeat guests from Episode 43, Lt Colonel Tommy Burns and Lt Colonel Aaron Ritzema are completing their tours with the 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany, where they've spearheaded some of the Army's most innovative experimentation efforts. Both officers bring operational experience to the challenge of transitioning emerging technologies from concept to battlefield capability.As they prepare to transition to new roles, they re-joined Crossing the Valley to share their experience leading the Arcane Thunder exercise, and to give a candid look into what worked, and what didn’t, as we look toward the future.Key Takeaways1. Network Architecture Enables All Other CapabilitiesThe exercise's biggest breakthrough was achieving real-time data sharing between operations in Poland and Arizona. This network integration became the foundation for every other success, enabling live video feeds across continents and coordinated multi-domain operations. Without robust network architecture, individual technologies remain isolated capabilities rather than integrated systems.2. Honest Assessment Accelerates Innovation CyclesDespite multiple drone crashes and weather setbacks, the team gave themselves a "passing grade" because they proved the core digital signal flow concept. This honest evaluation—celebrating successes while acknowledging failures—enabled rapid iteration and course correction. Organizations that hide failures slow their own progress.3. Training Systems Must Evolve With TechnologyThe unit broke Army records by launching 10 micro-HABs in one day (previous record was 5) because they developed deliberate training progressions from individual to collective tasks. Their success came from building human proficiency alongside technological capability.4. Performance Standards Need Development for New CapabilitiesUnlike traditional military capabilities with established time and accuracy standards, multi-domain operations lack comparative benchmarks. "We still don't even really know what good looks like yet," Burns explained. Building evaluation criteria and collecting baseline performance data must happen in parallel with capability development.5. Human Judgment Remains Critical in Automated SystemsEven with sensors automatically connecting to shooters across domains, empowered junior leaders remain essential. The exercise reinforced that technology should enhance human decision-making rather than replace it. "There's absolutely room for empowered junior leaders to execute within commander's intent," Ritzema emphasized, highlighting the enduring importance of the "humans over hardware" philosophy.For more on Arcane Thunder 25: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/496977/exercise-arcane-thunder-25-press-releaseFor more Crossing the Valley: www.valleycrossers.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.valleycrossers.com

Case Study: How ULA CEO Tory Bruno Stewarded a Legacy Giant Through Existential ThreatsAbout Tory BrunoTory joined United Launch Alliance as CEO in August 2014, bringing four decades of aerospace experience and a track record of over 400 rocket launches. Previously at Lockheed Martin, he led programs in hypersonics, directed energy, and missile defense while running one of the company's largest and most profitable business units. Bruno initially resisted the ULA opportunity, preferring to work on critical national security technologies, until his wife (also a rocket scientist) convinced him that taking on the ULA mission would be too important for the nation’s space capabilities to pass up.Bruno is known for his technical depth, strategic foresight, and unconventional approach to business challenges. He is a steady hand in stormy waters. The contrast to his fellow space executives at SpaceX and Blue Origin is quickly apparent.About United Launch AllianceUnited Launch Alliance was formed in 2006 as a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, combining their Delta and Atlas rocket programs. Created to solve a national security crisis when both companies threatened to exit unprofitable space launch, ULA became a "monopoly of service" focused on mission success over commercial competition.When Bruno arrived in 2014, ULA faced existential threats: Senator McCain had outlawed their primary Atlas rocket by 2017, SpaceX was emerging as serious competition, and the company culture was unprepared for competitive markets. The 50-50 ownership structure prevented traditional equity financing, requiring creative approaches to fund development of the new Vulcan rocket.Today, ULA maintains a 100% mission success rate, has achieved National Security Space Launch certification for Vulcan, and holds major contracts including a multi-billion dollar government award and 47 launches for Amazon's Kuiper constellation.For more on the United Launch Alliance, visit their website at https://www.ulalaunch.com/Tory recently launched the Burn Sequence Podcast - you can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2XFxZO6iLoPlease subscribe and share with friends — we’d love to keep doing this sort of in-depth, on-site work if you enjoy it! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.valleycrossers.com

About JoshJoshua Steinman brings a unique combination of operational military experience, senior policy leadership, and entrepreneurial drive to the challenge of securing America's industrial infrastructure. A retired naval officer, Josh was one of the original "10 heretics" tasked by the Chief of Naval Operations to find asymmetric opportunities for the Navy - an effort that helped catalyze today's defense tech ecosystem.During the first Trump administration, Steinman served as Senior Director for Cybersecurity on the National Security Council staff, where he was responsible for all cyber, telecom, crypto, and supply chain policy. This role gave him intimate knowledge of the vulnerabilities in America's critical infrastructure and the sophisticated threats targeting these systems.After leaving government service, Josh co-founded Galvanick with Brandon Park (former Amazon global OT cybersecurity lead) and Feliks Pleszczynski (hedge fund trader). The team brings together expertise from military operations, large-scale industrial cybersecurity, and zero-failure financial environments.About GalvanickFounded just over three years ago, Galvanick focuses on securing operational technology (OT) - the industrial control systems that manage physical processes in manufacturing facilities, power plants, and other critical infrastructure. Unlike traditional IT cybersecurity, OT security requires deep understanding of industrial processes and the unique constraints of manufacturing environments.The company has developed a platform that provides real-time visibility and automated threat detection for industrial control systems. Rather than requiring defenders to manually correlate data across multiple systems - a process that can take hours, days, or weeks - Galvanick automatically generates comprehensive investigations in real-time.With a lean team of 14 people, Galvanick already protects manufacturing facilities for some of the world's largest companies. Their platform can be deployed in as little as 2.5 hours and operates with the passive monitoring approach required in zero-failure industrial environments.The company represents a commercial-first approach to a fundamentally dual-use problem. While their current customers are primarily large manufacturers, the same vulnerabilities exist across defense industrial base companies and military installations.For more on Galvanick: https://www.galvanick.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.valleycrossers.com

SOF Week Part II: How Early Stage Companies’ Strategies Played OutLast week, we connected with the founders of EdgeRunner AI, Aurum Systems, and Distributed Spectrum before they made their way to Tampa for SOF Week.In this follow-up episode, we hear how they performed.Edgerunner AI: From Education to ValidationOriginal Objective: Meet "shot callers" (decision-makers at multiple levels) and educate the market about edge AI capabilities that operate without internet connectivity.Results Achieved:* Secured high-level meetings with SOCOM J3* Generated immediate follow-up meetings scheduled in Tampa* Validated that operators were "blown away" by internet-free AI capabilities* Announced Series A funding during the event* Demonstrated product at both their own booth and through Second Front Systems partnershipKey Learning: "Try to line up as many meetings as you can. Let people know you're going to be there and ask them to set aside time." The educational component worked—operators immediately wanted the technology once they understood it was possible.Evolution: The company is moving from "zero to one" in their market presence and aspires to use conference presence as a yard stick as they scale up (“we want to be on the big stage right next to Anduril.”)Aurum Systems: Discovery Through Direct EngagementOriginal Objective: Achieve a "public launch," validate technology with operators, and receive initial feedback from acquisition professionals.Results Achieved:* Received validation that they were "20 to 30% ahead of anything else we've seen" from acquisition professionals* Discovered entirely new use cases for their 3D reconstruction technology through direct operator conversations* Successfully demonstrated their Atlas platform for UAV autonomy* Participated in pitch competitions and secured good booth traffic in Accelerator AlleyKey Learning: The value of unexpected discovery—Jason noted that "everyone sees [our products] in a different light" based on their specific problem sets. This led to previously unconsidered applications of their technology.Resource Constraint: Myles identified a critical limitation: "We had us and one of our coworkers helping us. That was still not enough." They plan to bring more team members next year to maximize event value.Distributed Spectrum: Operational Efficiency at ScaleOriginal Objective: Connect with three stakeholder groups—acquisition teams, operators, and potential partners—while maintaining operational flexibility.Results Achieved:* Conducted real-time product demonstrations that led to immediate UI improvements* Received specific technical feedback that refined their user interface presentation* Maintained strategic flexibility without booth commitments* Successfully navigated the event solo due to last-minute team constraintsKey Learning: Alex Wulff's approach of finding "good places to sit down with people to actually have a real conversation" proved more effective than previous years' ad hoc lobby meetings.Strategic Evolution: As a more mature company (third SOF Week attendance), they're considering booth space once they have "enough resources beyond just me and my co-founders."For more on the companies:* Aurum Systems: https://aurum.systems/* Distributed Spectrum: https://www.distributedspectrum.com/* EdgeRunner AI: https://www.edgerunnerai.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.valleycrossers.com