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Hosted by Callye Keen · 🇺🇸 US · EN · 73 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
The Startup Defense explores the intersection of commercial technology and defense innovation. Callye Keen (Kform) talks with expert guests about the latest needs and trends in the defense industry and how startup companies are driving innovation and change. From concept to field, The Startup Defense covers artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, mission computing, autonomous systems, and the manufacturing necessary to make technology real.
Callye Keen hosts The Startup Defense, a business show with 73 episodes published.
Why good companies drift from their founding purpose and how leaders can build organizations that resist corruption Guest: Eric Ries - Author of Incorruptible, creator of The Lean Startup, and founder of the Long-Term St
How operator-led startups, rapid acquisition pathways, and relationship-driven execution are reshaping defense innovation Guest: Noam Oz - Co-Founder & Managing Partner, MIM Ventures; Former Director for Innovation Opera
How robotic manufacturing, AI, and flexible factories could reshape American industrial power Guest: Edward Mehr - Machina Labs Edward Mehr joins The Startup Defense to discuss why America does not have a design problem,
Why accelerating decision-making—not just building models—is the real frontier of defense AI Guest: Mack Ohlinger – CEO, Dunedain Most AI conversations in defense focus on models, data, or compute. This one does not. Mac
How operator trust, patient capital, and integrated platforms turn defense technology into fielded capability Guest: Justin MacLaurin - Founder & CEO, Digital Force Technologies Justin MacLaurin has built, sold, bought b
Why defense innovation still stalls, how to fix the operating model, and what it takes to get commercial technology into warfighters’ hands at mission speed Guest: Meagan Metzger – Founder + Chief Executive Officer, Dcod
How government teams can buy, trust, and operationalize commercial data faster for mission-critical decisions Guest: Jen Obernier | CEO, Grist Mill Exchange What does it take to get the exact commercial data a mission te
From warfighter need to fielded effect: building a partner-led “ordnance nexus” that collapses the munition lifecycle (materials → manufacturing → security → delivery) into a faster, more survivable path to the fight. Gu
Stopping threats before shots are fired: how ZeroEyes pairs computer vision with a 24/7 human verification layer to deliver actionable intelligence to responders in seconds. Guest: Sam Alaimo – Co-Founder & Chief Revenue
Startups can’t afford to be wrong on an 18-month cycle—and neither can the services or the acquisition system that supports them. Callye and Noah deconstruct the so-called “valley of death,” separating structural reality
Will Hurd – Chief Strategy Officer, Chaos Industries - former CIA officer, Member of Congress, and cybersecurity founder Chaos Industries is quietly shipping modern radar and autonomy tools into some of the hardest envir
Bringing modern compute, edge AI, and hard-tech investing into orbit Guest: Edward Ge – Founder & CEO, Aether Most spacecraft still fly computers comparable to late-1990s desktops while our phones race ahead with Moore’s
Callye Keen and Bret Boyd discuss the challenges and opportunities in the manufacturing sector, particularly in relation to supply chain management and defense manufacturing. They explore the importance of connecting sma
Andy Markoff joins Callye to unpack why he left uniformed service to build Smack Technologies—and how his team is pursuing “decision dominance”: fusing multi‑modal data and using reinforcement learning to turn analysis i
Callye Keen interviews Robert Fehlen about his work with Mission Cultivate and Dark Corner Solutions. They discuss the importance of community and networking in the defense innovation space, the challenges of duplication
Andre Wegner believes the biggest choke-point in defense manufacturing isn’t hardware—it’s the months (or years) lost inside data-starved black boxes. He and host Callye Keen unpack how capturing every shred of context a
Callye Keen and Steve Simone discuss the evolving landscape of defense technology, particularly in countering unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Steve shares his passion for building businesses in this sector, the challenges
Callye Keen interviews Noam Oz, a former director of innovation operations at Naval X, discussing his extensive background in defense and technology innovation. They explore the challenges of navigating the defense acqui
Callye Keen sits down with community-builder Jesse Levin to explore why people, not hardware, are the decisive edge in modern defense. From grassroots networks in Ukraine to DEF’s “virtuous insurgency,” the conversation
Callye Keen and Chelsea Roberts (Meggitt) discuss the evolving landscape of the defense industry, particularly for small businesses. Chelsea shares insights on recent changes in government contracting, the importance of
Jon Williams
retired Marine Sergeant · Diamond Music Management, LLC
1 appearance on this show
Matt Hawkins
Executive Vice President of the IRF Secretariat · South Australian Playwrights Theatre
1 appearance on this show
Nick Adams
co-founder and Managing Partner · Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness (FLAG)
1 appearance on this show
Eric Ries
Long-Term Stock Exchange
1 appearance on this show
Mack Ohlinger
Dunedain
1 appearance on this show
Justin MacLaurin
Digital Force Technologies
1 appearance on this show
Meagan Metzger
Dcode
1 appearance on this show
Jen Obernier
Grist Mill Exchange
1 appearance on this show
Sam Alaimo
ZeroEyes
1 appearance on this show
Will Hurd
Chaos Industries
1 appearance on this show
Edward Ge
Aether
1 appearance on this show
Bret Boyd
Sustainment
1 appearance on this show
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The Startup Defense is hosted by Callye Keen. The show is categorised under business (entrepreneurship) and has published 73 episodes.
The Startup Defense has published 73 episodes.
The Startup Defense regularly covers business, entrepreneurship, technology. It sits in the business category, with a entrepreneurship focus.
The Startup Defense is accessible for guests with genuine business expertise. A personalised, episode-aware pitch will still outperform a generic one every time.
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Episodes of The Startup Defense average 28 minutes. a focused format where a clear narrative arc and tight preparation matter most.
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