The Graham Plaster Podcast

Tyler Sweatt, a former Army officer and CEO of Second Front Systems, discusses his journey from West Point to becoming a CEO in the defense innovation space. He shares insights on career flexibility, educational evolution, and networking for effective leadership. Second Front Systems fast-tracks government access to disruptive SaaS applications for national security missions.

Jade Baranski, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, Mobilize Having led multiple successful SBIR awards, Jade is passionate about connecting and growing the community of small businesses that make up our nation’s competitive advantage.‍ They have personally created, purchased, and sold multiple companies in their career, ranging from full-service marketing to data collection and analytics platforms. Jerry Ramey, TECHNICAL CO-FOUNDER, Mobilize Jerry is the resident problem solver, and most notably, a connoisseur of Kentucky bourbon. ‍As a first-generation college graduate, he created the bioinformatics program at Transylvania University in Kentucky. Jerry then went on to his PhD candidacy at the School of Mines before launching his first development company. ‍A few of his most notable achievements include analyzing, iterating, and building an advanced data collaboration model for the DOD innovation ecosystem and creating and researching an algorithm to analyze genetic sequences for HIV resistance. For more, subscribe to the SILICON NATION (www.TheSiliconNation.com) newsletter.

Rocky Herron spent 31 years as a DEA Special Agent investigating drug trafficking at the local, national, and international levels. Upon retiring from DEA in 2021, he accepted a position as “Alcohol and Other Drug Ambassador” for the San Diego County Office of Education and supports the Enrique S. Camarena Educational Foundation as the Director of Outreach. He frequently represents the World Boxing Council (WBC) and WBC University by providing presentations and training resources to boxing communities in the USA and Mexico. He is on the advisory board for The Song For Charlie Foundation. More info: www.rockyherron.com www.sdcoe.net/ichoose https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2023-12-02/rocky-herron-dea-drug-prevention-san-diego-schools  p.s. you may have noticed we have added a new subscriber level for the SILICON NATION newsletter called “private party” - We just hosted our first invite-only event for this group with over 200 attendees at a private residence. From one senior executive who attended, “The event was amazing. I got to meet so many interesting individuals and some in fields that I would never have thought would be so different, interesting *and yet* applicable! The venue, the people, and the planning were all spectacular.” www.TheSiliconNation.com

Born in the 80s with both parents serving under the equivalent of the Mexican CIA (Direccion Federal de Seguridad - DFS) and Policia Judicial Federal (Federal Judicial Police), Guidel was thrust into a traumatic and challenging path from an early age. Abducted as a child, Guidel was trafficked and then later rescued by his father and his father’s fellow agents. Guidel began his career in the US Navy and then went into federal law enforcement with a cumulative distinguished career spanning over 25+ years. As a passionate advocate, Guidel has dedicated himself to supporting non-governmental organizations around the globe, working tirelessly to counter human trafficking, combat child exploitation, and eradicate the scourge of CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) and ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children). The Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII) combats global human trafficking by promoting corporate social responsibility through increasing awareness, facilitating intelligence integration and technology advancement, and encouraging strategic data collaboration. More conversations at... www.TheSiliconNation.com

Art Trevethan, with a 30-year career as an entrepreneurial pioneer, has significantly influenced the startup and innovation landscape, particularly in his role within the U.S. Army's Army Futures Command and as Entrepreneur in Residence at the Army Applications Laboratory. His work has bridged the gap between traditional and unconventional Army suppliers, fostering growth and collaboration. Art's diverse experience spans various sectors like AITech, MedTech, and SocialTech, where he has played key roles in founding, financing, and leading businesses. Currently, as a Partner at RIIS Technologies, he continues to leverage his technical know-how and entrepreneurial spirit to promote innovation. His deep understanding of industry needs and trends aids RIIS in navigating the wider community's demands and avoiding pitfalls, thereby supporting warfighters and enhancing the government's ties with non-traditional companies.

Erin has worked inside the financial crimes and compliance industry in a variety of roles as the Senior Manager for the Cyber Intelligence Unit at Western Union, identifying risk on the TOR network (dark web markets). Before that spent five years with Bank of America serving as a fraud intelligence analyst and then as an anti-money laundering investigator within the terrorist financing group of Bank of America. While at BofA she closed over 2,000 suspected money laundering cases and worked closely with law enforcement to service grand jury subpoenas and special law enforcement requests. Prior to entering the private sector, Erin served in the Central Intelligence Agency for ten years, specializing in Counter Terrorism, conflict resolution, mediation, and due diligence, serving in multiple active war zones.

Gabe Mounce directs the Space Force Accelerator Program for the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in New Mexico. In this capacity, he oversees startup accelerators in Albuquerque (Hyperspace Accelerator) and Colorado Springs (Catalyst Accelerator) focused on connecting the entrepreneurial startup community to the US Space Force enterprise. He is also the Technology Commercialization Lead for AFRL in New Mexico where he oversees all aspects of technology transfer, community engagement and outreach, congressional interactions, and marketing and publicity for Directed Energy and Space Vehicle technology. He recently assumed the role as the Deputy Director of the new US Space Force SpaceWERX Innovation Hub and co-leads the Space Prime initiative.  Read Gabe's Blog  View Gabe's Profile on Twitter

​Merritt is Field CISO at Lacework, a cloud security unicorn. She served for over 5 years at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the Office of the CISO, serving as Deputy CISO to AWS. She has deep operational and strategic security experience in all three branches of government. She has a strong publication record and is frequently cited and interviewed in the press. She also advises young companies and sits on corporate boards, bringing her expertise in business risk, cybersecurity, legal considerations of technology, and entrepreneurialism.

Dan McCoy is the Head of Business Development for BMNT, an innovation consultancy and  early-stage technology incubator that helps solve some of the hardest problems facing  governments and partners. Prior to joining BMNT, Dan served as the Chief Innovation Officer for the Transportation  Security Administration (TSA), where he established the TSA Innovation team, published a first in-government “TSA Innovation Doctrine'' to create lasting guidance on how to think and act to  enable broad transformative thinking. To enable ecosystem-wide, democratized innovation and  establish organizational ambidexterity, Dan’s team announced four distinct capabilities under  the Innovation group to support projects through the Innovation Pipeline. One such group, LIFT,  set airport-based, trained innovators which source, curate, and discover solutions based on  localized problem statements in partnership with local vendors, partners, and solution  providers. Dan’s experience and expertise at TSA was shaped by his prior roles at Deloitte Consulting’s  Government and Public Services group. In 2018, Dan and others created Deloitte Catalyst, the  firm's newest innovation function. Leading the Catalyst GPS function, Dan worked with pre IPO startups in AI, predictive maintenance, deep-fake detection, and other domains to create  MVPs for government missions. Dan has the distinction of having created the first-in-government innovation doctrine at the agency. More about that effort here and here.

Justin is the CEO and Founder of Executive Presence, providing a fully managed LinkedIn presence for CEOs & top executives. He is also a Podcast Founder and Host of ‘Beyond the Uniform’- the #1 iTunes rated podcast for military career transition advice with over 400 episodes and running. Previously he was the CEO of Storybox, a Silicon Valley marketing technology. He raised $3M in Venture Capital from Google’s Chairman, Eric Schmidt, sourced and sold $5M+ in contracts to 35+ Fortune 500 companies, and was profiled in Facebook case study for marketing technology excellence.www.ExecutivePresence.iojustin@ExecutivePresence.io