Dual-Use Manufacturing: It’s Not That We Can’t Build — We Just Don’t Know Who Should!

snap gauges for inside diameters

The backbone of dual-use manufacturing in the US is broken, an echo of Eisenhower-era infrastructure warnings, but for deep tech. As you might know, I've been working full-time in a sub $50M annual revenue CNC machine shop in a seedy part of town in Berkeley, CA, since I left the NATO Innovation Fund. Half our … Continue reading Dual-Use Manufacturing: It’s Not That We Can’t Build — We Just Don’t Know Who Should! →

Reinventing Value: Why AI Can’t Replace All Our Real Jobs

automotive valves

[The title should've been "Can't or Shouldn't" -- but that was too long, so there.] Noah Berkson posted on LinkedIn If AI takes your job, it wasn’t your job.It was a task you were temporarily doing.Your real job is staying valuable.Your real job is reinvention. I wouldn't call it a meme, but it's been around … Continue reading Reinventing Value: Why AI Can’t Replace All Our Real Jobs →

Tactical Notes: Institutional is Personal

research lab for defense, security, resilience

[This is one of the first 'Tactical Notes' - short-format observations that I jotted down some time ago, where I feel that this snippet is enough and no long format essay is necessary] Exceptional managers demonstrate process discipline and high-touch relationship crafting. The myth of institutional vs. personal is a false binary. Sophistication in process … Continue reading Tactical Notes: Institutional is Personal →

Who’s on the Other Side of That Trade?

emergency stop button and input panel on a Hwacheon Vesta 1500 CNC machine

I am befuddled why "Defense Investing" is treated differently from "Investing". As if the rules of behavioral economics don't apply anymore when national security is at stake. You are still offering an investment product to investors. You still have to acknowledge all realities of Conviction, Cognitive Bias, and the subtle zero-sum of early-stage investing. The … Continue reading Who’s on the Other Side of That Trade? →

Beyond ‘Founder-First’: Designing what Actually Serves

historic race car dashboard with gauges, buttons, switches

Venture Capital Funds are a two-sided service business: You connect startups one one side with money from investors (Limited Partners = "LPs") on the other side. Strictly speaking, "investing" is more of a catch-all phrase of three things the local financial regulator [1] wants you to do: Direction of capital deployment, Stewardship of capital and … Continue reading Beyond ‘Founder-First’: Designing what Actually Serves →

Tactical Notes: LPs Are Not a Line Item

research lab for defense, security, resilience

[This is one of the first 'Tactical Notes' - short-format observations that I jotted down some time ago, where I feel that this snippet is enough and no long format essay is necessary] The best LPs are intellectual partners — equal in vision, asymmetric in pressure-testing. LPs are mission-critical partners, not passive capital. Too many … Continue reading Tactical Notes: LPs Are Not a Line Item →

Why Layers Lie: Careful with Overlays in Defense Resilience

gear and ratio table on manual lathe

Complexity masquerades as flexibility— but it often creates the very fragility it claims to prevent. No one likes high fragmentation and complexity. Many small vendors lead to inefficient purchasing decisions, and someone needs to train you on all these new machines and vendors. You could start releasing design documents on usage patterns. Or perhaps there … Continue reading Why Layers Lie: Careful with Overlays in Defense Resilience →

Tactical Notes: Venture’s Distribution Reckoning

research lab for defense, security, resilience

[This is one of the first 'Tactical Notes' - short-format observations that I jotted down some time ago, where I feel that this snippet is enough and no long format essay is necessary] Venture Capital today looks like Private Equity a decade ago. It is entering its own private equity era. Product alone is no … Continue reading Tactical Notes: Venture’s Distribution Reckoning →

Six Innovation Fronts that Matter in Defense Tech

machinist gauge blocks

[Avoiding Hype, Serving the Mission] Sidenote: I had the pleasure of doing a (German) podcast interview with an incredibly smart host and experienced interviewer. It just aired today .. which I was not sure of it ever would, because (A) I don't think I was very succinct; and (B) there was very clear feedback that … Continue reading Six Innovation Fronts that Matter in Defense Tech →