Crossing the Valley

About Vannevar Labs Vannevar Labs is building the next-generation “non-kinetic defense prime.” Today, they're mentioned in the same breath as defense behemoths like Anduril and Palantir. Since founding the company in their Stanford dorm room in 2019, CEO Brett Granberg and President Nini Hamrick have grown the company dramatically. From $3.5 million in annual contract value in 2021, they did $25 m...

In this episode of Crossing the Valley, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jade Baranski, the founder and CEO of Mobilize. Mobilize is a company that connects end users within the federal government to the companies that provide the capabilities they need. Jade shares the story of how VISION came to be, starting with their participation in an Air Force pitch competition, with twists turns and piv...

CTV Subscribers, I’m excited to bring you this timely episode of "Crossing the Valley." I had the opportunity to sit down with Kara Kramer, the Director of Business Development at AeroVironment, and winner of the first Replicator award! In this episode, Kara spills the beans on AeroVironment's recent win, and goes in depth on the Switchblade loitering munition. We dive into the details of the prog...

GoTenna is a great example of a company that built legit tech, found its niche in the federal market, and fought to survive long enough to generate the kind of traction that will allow it to be a smash hit. CEO Ari Schuler joined us to share his candid takes on the company, the journey, and the market. The company supports over 350 agencies in mission-critical operations around the world today. Th...

Michael Grochol is a fascinating example of when a Silicon Valley-raised problem solver-come-national security expert. His approach to starting a company was long, methodical, and principled. And it led him to the helm of one of the nation’s fastest growing defense services companies. Unlike many founders, Michael actually turned down the first opportunity he had to start a company. Why? He felt h...

Overview Marc Frankel is one of the few people on earth to have worked at not one but TWO successful defense tech companies: Palantir, and Expanse. Now he's taking on the problem of software supply chain vulnerabilities with his new venture, Manifest Cyber. In this conversation we dive into what he's applying from past experience, what he's learning fresh for the first time, and what the future ho...

Will Edwards, CEO and Co-founder of Firehawk Aerospace joins us to talk 3D printed rocket propellant, Congressional appropriations, and how the team is revolutionizing the propulsion market.  For more on Firehawk Aerospace, check out: https://firehawkaerospace.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.valleycr...

In this conversation with Second Front Systems CEO Tyler Sweatt, we dive into Tyler's own transition from military to startups, what the Defense Department and startups miss about each other, and what the future holds for defense tech. Timestamps: 2:22 - Tyler's background and the journey to the C-suite 6:30 - The Second Front team and Kessel Run origin story 9:00 - Tyler reacts to the Defense Ven...

Overview CFD Research is a small business founded in 1987 in the Singhal family garage in Huntsville, Alabama. Today it is a $75M business that has received more than $100M in SBIR funding, with one of the highest commercialization rates in the business. We spoke with CEO and President Sameer Singhal about the company's business model, and how they go about delivering for the mission of national d...

Case Study: From Zero to A Billion - the Making of an Identity Verification Unicorn I met Blake Hall in 2020, during COVID, as my nonprofit organization was looking to help surge healthcare professionals into the fight against the pandemic. One of the key challenges was identifying and verifying user credentials. Enter ID.me; Blake and team offered to do it for the healthcare facilities who were v...

“Skipping the Valley” - the ZeroEyes Story ZeroEyes was founded in 2018 by a team of Navy SEALs and technologists: Mike Lahiff, Sam Alaimo, Tim Sulzer, Rob Huberty and Dustin Brooks. The company launched following the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas elementary school to prevent future school shootings. In this episode, we speak with James “JT” Wilkins, a Marine who served fifteen years...

Apogee Research is a small engineering firm that developed one the Defense Department’s latest solution to the age-old challenge of interoperability. Over seven years, Apogee not only engineered a technical solution, but helped build a constituency for the tool chain inside the ecosystem, and equipped warfighters with the know-how to use it. In this episode I spoke with David Gerson, the firm’s Vi...

Welcome to the first episode of Crossing the Valley! I’m excited to bring you Accrete AI’s story of tech transition. It’s a story about a commercial-first bootstrapped company finding its way in the defense market. The interview was super interesting, as our two guests have such different backgrounds: Prashant was a financial trader, while Brian had a 20+ year career inside the government. But the...

Each year, thousands of companies show up to sell their products and services to the Department of Defense. But so few make it across the “Valley of Death” from pilot to production. The ones who do? Their stories are rarely told. Until now. In this show, we go deep into the stories of the companies that have blazed a path in the federal market, to understand the tools, tips, and playbooks to getti...