Mission Matters Podcast
Episodes
Armada: Building American Edge AI Dominance
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Shield Capital's Maggie and Akhil sit down with Dan Wright (Co-Founder & CEO) and Pradeep Nair (Founding CTO) of Armada — t...
Techquisition: SBIR Reauthorization Explained — What the New Bill Means for Startups
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After a 6 month lapse, the SBIR program is officially back following Congressional reauthorization.In this episode of the Mission Matters podcast, we ...
Geopolitical Briefing: U.S-Israel Military Strikes on Iran w/Gen. David Goldfein and Norm Roule
07 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen David Goldfein (Ret.) and former CIA Middle East expert Norm Roule break down recent U.S.-Israeli military operati...
Vector Defense: Building American Drone Dominance
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drones are re-defining modern warfare – and the U.S. is behind. On the latest Mission Matters episode (link in comments), we sat down with Andy Yaku...
Starfish Space: Building Autonomous Satellite Servicing in a Contested Space Domain
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Space is a contested domain. Russian and Chinese satellites are conducting proximity operations near American satellites. Critical U.S. and allied inf...
Techquisition: The $839B FY26 Defense Appropriations Explained — What the New Budget Means for Startups
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After a brief government shutdown, Congress finally passed the $839B Defense Appropriations bill! What does this new budget mean for startups? In our ...
The War Department's New AI Strategy and Innovation Ecosystem Reform
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
🚨EMERGENCY POD! The DoW has officially released a new AI strategy, and along with it a whole slew of new reforms to the Defense Innovation Ecosyste...
Geopolitical Briefing: Venezuela with LTG. H.R. McMaster (ret.)
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of the Mission Matters podcast features a conversation between Shield Capital Managing Partner Philip Bilden and Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (...
HawkEye 360: How to Build a Profitable Space Startup in National Security
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to build a serious profitable, sustainable, scaled defense tech startup? In the newest episode of the Mission Matters podcast David ...
Techquisition: What the 2026 NDAA Means for Startups
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) mean for tech startups? Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 2026 NDAA...
L3Harris: Inside the Trusted Disruptor Strategy with CTO Andrew Puryear
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Mission Matters podcast, Akhil and Maggie sit down with Andrew Puryear, the CTO of L3Harris, the 6th largest U.S. defense prime...
The New Dawn of Defense Acquisition
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth released a memo outlining a series of reforms to the defense acquisition system. In this episode of the Missi...
How Missile Defense Actually Works
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a lot of buzz these days around missile defense, but not much discussion around how missile defense actually works. In this episode of the M...
Rangeview: Manufacturing in the Cyber Foundry
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What will it take to actually bring manufacturing back to America? In this episode of the Mission Matters podcast, Akhil and I sit down with Cameron S...
Seasats: Scaling Persistent Maritime Autonomy
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we speak with Mike Flanigan, the CEO of Seasats, a startup building the future of maritime autonomy.
Building the Software Defined Navy
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month on the Mission Matters podcast, we sat down with Justin Fanelli, the CTO of the U.S. Department of the Navy, and Artem Sherbinin, the CTO o...
Breaking Down the Defense Budget
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does this new trillion-dollar defense budget and "Big Beautiful Bill" mean for national security startups?This week on the Mission Matt...
Geopolitical Briefing: The Israel–Iran Conflict with VADM Kevin “Kid” Donegan (Ret.)
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of the Mission Matters podcast features a conversation between Shield Capital Managing Partner Philip Bilden and Vice Admiral Kevin “Ki...
Obviant: Building the Decision Edge for Defense Acquisition
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Mission Matters podcast, David and I speak with Brendan Karp, the CEO of Obviant, a startup building a government market intell...
Unstructured: Building the Infrastructure to Win the AI Race
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Mission Matters podcast, Akhil and Maggie speak with Brian Raymond, the CEO of Unstructured, a startup building the future of d...
Autonomous Cyber: Building the AI Platform for Offensive Cybersecurity
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Patrick O'Brien and Bohdan Volyanyuk, the founders of Autonomous Cyber discuss the evolution of cyber operations, the integration of ...
Distributed Spectrum: Building the Future of AI and Electronic Warfare
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Wulff, Ben Harpe, and Isaac Struhl are the founders of Distributed Spectrum, a New York City based startup using machine learning, edge processin...