The Briefing Room

Colonel Enrique Oti was employee number one at the Defense Innovation Unit - and he watched it nearly fail before it found its footing. In this episode, Sean Singleton and Peta Ellis sit down with Enrique, now Chief Strategy Officer at Second Front Systems, to trace a 23-year Air Force career that took him from special operations in Honduras and Afghanistan to two years as an Olmsted Scholar insid...

Rob Castaneda grew up in Toongabie in Western Sydney, snuck into UTS to do computer science, and landed a help desk internship at a Silicon Valley company when he was 17. From that first role he never stopped moving forward. In 2001 he founded ServiceRocket in Sydney. In 2008, when everyone told him he was crazy, he moved the company to Palo Alto during the global financial crisis. Today ServiceRo...

Ross Osborne is the Chief Engineer and Technical Director at SYPAQ Systems, a Melbourne-based company founded in 1992 that has grown from professional services and consulting in defence and government into one of Australia's most capable autonomous systems developers and manufacturers. Ross has been with SYPAQ for 16 years, joining after a graduate engineering program at BAE Systems where his focu...

Judd McCann, supply chain and defence tech specialist, joins The Briefing Room to share what it really takes to break into U.S. and UK defence markets as an Australian founder. Judd's career spans British MOD contracts in conflict zones, autonomous maritime platform development, and hands-on U.S. federal contracting, including 72-hour bid windows for U.S. Navy programs. He explains why your networ...

Robin Levison, investor, former ASX-listed CEO, and one of Beaten Zone's earliest Limited Partners, joins The Briefing Room for a candid conversation on high-risk investing, sovereign capability, and why he sees Australian defence as low-hanging fruit. We trace Robin's career from KPMG auditor to Merrill Lynch investment banker to CEO of an ASX-listed technology company, culminating in a $700 mill...

In this episode of The Briefing Room, Peta Ellis sits down with Wayne Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of xReality Group (ASX: XRG) and its subsidiary Operator XR.  Wayne served 21 years in the Australian Defence Force, spending the last 15 in the Special Air Service Regiment with deployments across Rwanda, East Timor, and Afghanistan. After leaving the ADF, he co-founded Indoor Skydive Australia (iFly),...

In this episode of The Briefing Room, Peta Ellis sits down with James Palmer, CEO and Co-Founder of Silentium Defence, the Adelaide-based company redefining what it means to see without being seen.  James shares the full story: from meeting his co-founder at the Defence Science and Technology Group in 2006, to a decade of experimental research, to the decision in 2017 to leave the public service a...

Martin Shaw, President & CEO of Wounded Heroes Australia, joins us in The Briefing Room with frontline stories from supporting veterans and Defence families facing crisis. We discuss the hidden challenge of veteran homelessness, programs like Exercise Stone Pillow and Horses 4 Heroes, and how Wounded Heroes built national trust without government funding. Martin reflects on balancing business...

Rob Nioa shares the remarkable story of how his parents started the family business in the 1960s selling produce from a roadside trailer, before eventually building one of Australia's most important defence manufacturing companies. Today, Nioa Group is Australia's largest privately owned supplier of weapons and munitions, operating across Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Z...

Kelly Hopkins leads Defence recruitment within one of the world's largest recruitment firms and works across the full spectrum of the industry, from global primes like Boeing and Northrop Grumman to fast-growing Australian defence SMEs. Finding talent in defence is unlike any other industry. Much of the work is classified, the technology is highly specialised, and the people with the right skills...

In this episode of The Briefing Room, Sean Singleton, US Venture Partner at Beaten Zone Venture Partners, breaks down what Australian founders really face when entering the United States Defense market.  Sean’s role is simple but hard: to help portfolio companies open doors in the US and 'get on contract'. That means handling the nuance of how the US Department of Defense actually buys technology,...

In this episode of The Briefing Room, Dr Will Crowe, Co‐Founder and CEO of HEO, walks through a non‐linear founder journey that ends in orbit. Will started as a researcher in astrodynamics, completed a PhD at UNSW, explored asteroid mining, and realised his work had immediate, practical value. That insight led to HEO. Today, HEO enables commercial, resolved non‐Earth imaging by acquiring and analy...

Veteran and entrepreneur Warwick Penrose reflects on a career spanning CIED and CBRN Army specialisation through to founding EPE, a company trusted to protect soldiers and first responders. We cover capability delivery in counter‑IED, counter‑drone, ISR, and ECM, the pitfalls of selling to Defence, and lessons from building businesses across Asia Pacific and the U.S. Warwick shares candid thoughts...

Reservist officer and founder Ben Dullroy shares leadership lessons from leading 21 soldiers at 21, reflections from Iraq, and what end‑users actually need from startups. We discuss how to earn trust inside Defence, common mistakes founders make when pitching to the Army, and practical first steps for working with procurement pathways. Ben closes with candid thoughts on service, family, and the pe...

Strategist, author, and former Commander of the Australian Defence College, Mick Ryan distils 35 years of service into sharp lessons on leadership, modern warfare, and innovation. We examine the realities of Ukraine, where technology truly changes war — and where it doesn’t — and the cultural work required to connect founders with end‑users. A wide‑angle conversation on sovereign capability, Austr...

Q‑Branch founder Marc Cervantes dives into the realities of building dual‑use companies that sell to the government. We cover the origin story, the craft of becoming an ‘acquisition ninja,’ and lessons from engagements spanning DIU to state and federal partners. For founders, Marc maps the path past innovation theatre toward programs with budget, users, and urgency — and shares straight talk on en...

Policy veteran John Thomas outlines Station D.C.’s vision and how legal, regulatory, and policy strategies intersect with defence innovation. We explore advising dual‑use companies, collaborating with DIU and IQT, and what Australians often misunderstand about entering the Find out more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmarkthomas04/   Website: https://beatenzone.vc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com...

Army veteran and social innovator Dylan Conway reveals how a simple idea — ‘just one book can change a life’ — became one of Australia’s largest book communities. We discuss the mission of bibliotherapy in strengthening mental resilience for serving members and veterans, building a movement of 20,000+ readers, and why the World’s Coolest Readathon resonates. For innovators and transitioning vetera...

Former Director of the Defense Digital Service and co‑founder of Rebellion Defence, Chris Lynch shares a rare end‑to‑end view of software, procurement, and venture in national security. We revisit why DDS was created, the enduring lessons from Rebellion, and how Arsenal evaluates dual‑use founders today. Practical guidance includes avoiding theatre, engaging the right PEOs and budget owners, and t...

Venrock investor and U.S. Navy Reservist, Morgan Hitzig, breaks down the U.S. defence‑tech landscape from a top‑tier VC perspective. We cover re‑industrialisation, public safety tech, and a survivability‑first lens for dual‑use capability. Morgan shares operator lessons from Dataminr, practical guidance on selling into government, and red flags for ‘innovation theatre.’ Founders will take away a p...