The Defense Tech Underground

On this episode of the Defense Tech Underground, RADM (ret.) Wyman Howard - the former commander of the elite Navy Special Warfare Group and later the entire SEAL community - shares leadership lessons learned from his 32 years as a naval officer. He dives into the changing nature of warfare, crafting the SEAL brand with lessons from Louis Vuitton, and the importance of technical innovation in near-peer competition. 

Wyman Howard is a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral with a distinguished 32-year career in special operations, having commanded critical units including Naval Special Warfare Command and being among the first to deploy to Afghanistan after 9/11. A fourth-generation Naval Officer and graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Howard has extensive experience in leadership roles across joint, intelligence, and interagency operations, earning multiple prestigious unit citations and personal awards. In the private sector, he serves as a senior advisor, public board director, and consultant, with expertise in sustainability, disruptive technologies, and strategic risk assessment. He holds advanced degrees, including an MBA from the TRIUM consortium and a Master of Science in National Security and Resource Strategy, and has completed professional certificates in artificial intelligence from MIT. 

Howard currently serves as a Senior Advisor with McKinsey & Company, sits on the boards of Bridger Aerospace and Invitation Homes, and provides strategic guidance across advanced industries, energy, bioscience, and communications. He is a Council on Foreign Relations member, a Navy Distinguished Service medal and Silver Star medal recipient, and brings deep expertise in geopolitical risks, multi-domain autonomous systems, electronic warfare, and cyber threat mitigation.

This episode is hosted by Jeff Phaneuf and Patrick Nanson.

John Goodson is the co-founder and CEO of Darkhive, an early stage drone startup based in San Antonio, TX. John served from 2007-2016 in the United States Navy, primarily as a combat technician supporting the West coast SEAL Teams. John completed 4 tours of duty in Afghanistan and received multiple awards, including the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V" Valor designator. After separating from active duty, John joined CTI and served in a variety of roles across the business. In 2021, he founded Darkhive with Steve Turner, to address the deficiencies in military tactical drones that he experienced first-hand during combat operations. 

On this episode of the Defense Tech Underground, John shares about his role as a combat technician in the U.S. Navy, operating military drones during combat, which led him to found Darkhive. John discusses the specific products that Darkhive is developing, and the underpinning Red Queen software that enables actionable information for operators. He shares his concern about China’s entrenchment in the drone market through DJI, as well as a call to action for more entrepreneurship within defense.

This episode is hosted by Jeff Phaneuf and Helen Phillips.

Full Bio:

John is a US Special Operations veteran and experienced defense industry executive.  He served from 2007-2016 in the United States Navy, primarily as a combat technician supporting the West coast SEAL Teams where he completed 4 tours of duty in Afghanistan receiving multiple awards including the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V" Valor designator.  After separating from active duty in 2016, he went on to join CTI, a US-based small defense technology company, where he served in a variety of roles including product management, contract strategy, and business development.  In the Fall of 2021, he founded Darkhive with Steve Turner to address the deficiencies in military tactical drones that he experienced first-hand during combat operations.

Raj Shah is a former US Air Force F-16 pilot and was the head of the Defense Innovation Unit, Experimental.  He now leads Shield Capital, an early stage venture capital firm investing in technologies that will secure America’s future.  Raj is the author of Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War. 

In this episode of the Defense Tech Underground, we discuss Raj’s journey from small town Georgia to becoming an Air Force pilot, his experience leading the Defense Innovation Unit, the founding and mission of Shield Capital, and his new book Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Future of War, which explores the evolving nature of the Department of Defense’s acquisition of cutting-edge technology for the warfighter.

This episode is hosted by Jeff Phaneuf and Josh Pickering.

Full Bio: 

Raj Shah is the co-founder and managing partner of Shield Capital, an investment firm focused on technologies applicable to both the commercial and defense markets. He is also the chairman of Resilience, a cyber-security start-up and a commissioner on the Department of Defense’s Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Reform (PPB&E). 

Raj also serves on the Board of Directors to NATO’s Innovation Fund. Most recently he was the managing partner of the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), reporting to the Secretary of Defense. Raj led DIUx in its efforts to strengthen U.S. armed forces through contractual and cultural bridges between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon.

He is the author of the book, Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Future of War. Previously, Raj was senior director of strategy at Palo Alto Networks, which acquired Morta Security, where he was chief executive officer and co-founder. Raj serves as an F-16 pilot in the US Air Force and has completed multiple combat deployments. He holds an AB from Princeton University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Trae Stephens is the co-founder and executive chairman of Anduril, and partner at Founder’s Fund.  After fighting his way into Georgetown University, Trae began his career working in Congressman Rob Portman’s office and at the Embassy of Afghanistan to the United States.  He went on to work at Palantir and then found defense tech juggernaut Anduril, which raised a $1.5B fundraising round at a $14B valuation this month.

In this episode, Trae shares his unconventional journey from rural Ohio to Silicon Valley. Starting with his determination to attend Georgetown, Trae’s career has been defined by a commitment to public service and innovation. While in college, his work at the Afghan embassy during its post-Taliban reopening provided early insights into the challenges of modernizing DOD protocols, discovering the need for a company like Palantir. Trae's move to Palantir marked his entry into tech, where he navigated the complexities of selling software to the government. This experience laid the groundwork for his co-founding of Anduril and his work as a partner at Founder’s Fund.

Trae discusses the importance of mission-driven work, the challenges of navigating government procurement, and his experiences rapidly scaling the new era of defense companies. His story is a testament to the impact of combining technological innovation with a deep sense of purpose.

This episode is hosted by Jeff Phaneuf and Josh Pickering.

Full Bio:

Trae is a Partner at Founders Fund. He is also Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Anduril Industries, a defense technology company focused on autonomous systems, and Co-founder of Sol, a next generation wearable e-reader.

Previously, Trae was an early employee at Palantir Technologies, where he led teams focused on growth in the intelligence/defense space as well as international expansion, helping large organizations solve their hardest data analysis problems. He was also an integral part of the product team, leading the design and strategy for new product offerings. While at Palantir, Trae also served as an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University.

Prior to Palantir, Trae worked as a computational linguist building enterprise solutions to Arabic/Persian name matching and data enrichment within the United States Intelligence community. He began his career working in the office of then Congressman Rob Portman and in the Political Affairs Office at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C. immediately following the installation of Hamid Karzai’s transitional government. Trae graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Nand Mulchandani joined the Central Intelligence Agency as its first-ever Chief Technology officer in 2022, but his career started a long way from Langley.  With degrees from Cornell, Harvard, and Stanford, he spent more than 25 years in tech as a serial entrepreneur and senior executive.  He then served as the Chief Technology Officer and Acting Director of the U.S. Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), before joining the CIA.

In this episode of the Defense Tech Underground, Nand discusses working astride the worlds of Silicon Valley and Washington DC, and what the government can do to better adopt new technology for national security.  Nand discusses the importance of software-defined warfare, the role tech plays in the intelligence community, and why the US needs more technologists in government.

This episode is hosted by Jeff Phaneuf and Kyle Kennedy.

Full Bio: 

Nand Mulchandani joined the CIA as Chief Technology Officer in June 2022. In this role, he focuses on driving CIA’s efforts in leveraging cutting-edge and future innovations to further CIA’s mission. He previously served as the Chief Technology Officer and Acting Director of the U.S. Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). Prior to that, he spent 25+ years in the technology industry as a serial entrepreneur and senior executive in the enterprise infrastructure and security software industry as co- founder & CEO of Oblix (acquired by Oracle), Determina (acquired by VMware), OpenDNS (acquired by Cisco), and ScaleXtreme (acquired by Citrix), and as an EIR at the venture capital firm Accel Partners.

Mulchandani holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Cornell University, a Master of Science in Management from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Michèle Flournoy served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from February 2009 to February 2012 where she was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations. With decades in defense policy, Michèle has led and advised many critical national security innovation entities, including the Center for a New American Security, the Atlantic Council Commission on Defense Innovation Adoption, and the Defense Innovation Unit. 

On this episode of the Defense Tech Underground, Michèle discusses her tenure in the Department of Defense, and the evolution of the United States’ relationship with President Xi’s China. She details the decision making behind the Bin Laden raid and the leadership style of President Obama, Secretary Gates, and Secretary Panetta.  Michèle also talks about the need for the right incentives in the DoD’s acquisitions systems to ensure that acquisitions professionals are rewarded for adopting innovative technology.

Michèle closes by telling our audience: “Your country needs you.”  There has never been a more critical time to build things that protect our nation and our way of life.

This episode is hosted by Jeff Phaneuf and Helen Phillips. 

Full Bio:

Michèle Flournoy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, and a Co-

Founder, former Chief Executive Officer, and now Chair of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).

Michèle served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from February 2009 to February 2012.  She was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations. She led the development of the Department of Defense’s 2012 Strategic Guidance and represented the Department in dozens of foreign engagements, in the media and before Congress. 

Prior to confirmation, Michèle co-led President Obama’s transition team at the Defense Department. In January 2007, Michèle co-founded CNAS, a bipartisan think tank dedicated to developing strong, pragmatic and principled national security policies. She served as CNAS’ President until 2009, and returned as CEO in 2014. In 2017, she co-founded WestExec Advisors, a strategic advisory firm. 

Michèle serves on the boards of CNAS, Booz Allen Hamilton, Amida Technology Solutions, The Mission Continues, and CARE. She is a Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affair, a current member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Strategy Group, and a former member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the CIA Director’s External Advisory Board, and the Defense Policy Board.

Michèle earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree from Balliol College, Oxford University, where she was a Newton-Tatum scholar.

Steve Blank came to Silicon Valley after serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. Over nearly six decades, he witnessed the advent of the internet, built multiple companies, and developed “the scientific method for entrepreneurship” - the lean startup methodology.  Steve then applied all he had learned as an entrepreneur to a new form of service to the country, building the Hacking for Defense program that is now taught at more than 60 universities. 

In this episode, Steve covers his Air Force service, fixing electronic warfare equipment on aircraft during the Vietnam War, and then how he emerged on the nascent tech scene in Silicon Valley. He discusses how elite universities like Stanford, Harvard, and MIT contributed to national defense from World War II through the Cold War, and how that history is often forgotten.  We also hear, for the first time he has ever discussed publicly, how Steve turned off gravity at Keesler Air Force Base.

Steve also talks about the critical need for young, talented people to find ways to serve their country and their community. Given technological advances in AI, access to space, synthetic biology, and autonomy, Steve argues that “this is the most exciting time ever to be an entrepreneur.”

This episode is hosted by Jeff Phaneuf and Josh Pickering. . 

Full bio:

Steve Blank is an adjunct professor at Stanford and a co-founder of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation. Steve consults for the National Security establishment on innovation methods, processes, policies, and doctrine.

His book The Four Steps to the Epiphany is credited with launching the Lean Startup movement. He created the curriculum for the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps. At Stanford he co-created the Department of Defense Hacking for Defense and Department of State Hacking for Diplomacy curriculums.

His book The Four Steps to the Epiphany is credited with launching the Lean Startup movement. He created the curriculum for the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps. At Stanford he co-created the Department of Defense Hacking for Defense and Department of State Hacking for Diplomacy curriculums.

His follow-on book The Startup Owner’s Manual described a process for turning ideas into scale and his Harvard Business Review cover story redefined how large organizations can innovate at speed.