Mike and Jake chat with Chris Moran, VP and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures, for an inside look into why the world’s largest defense company invests hundreds of millions of dollars into tech startup companies. ----Links* Sign up for our amazing newsletter https://www.themerge.co * Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/the_merge * Lockheed Martin Ventures https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/lockheed-martin-ventures.html * Machina Labs https://www.machinalabs.ai/* Norm Augustine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_R._Augustine* Augustine’s laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine%27s_laws----Follow us on...* Instagram https://www.instagram.com/merge_newsletter * Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themergenews * Twitter https://twitter.com/MergeNewsletter * LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/themerge * Website https://www.themerge.co ----Show Notes(01:03) intro(03:08) icebreaker(04:59) how Chris got into defense(07:35) how Chris got into defense finance(11:52) VC 101 (12:21) Lockheed’s investment track record(14:32) how to exit an investment(19:10) quantum use-cases(20:30) Machina Labs(23:02) investment tension(25:11) times have changed(32:20) dual-use hedge(38:15) Lockheed Martin CEOs(41:46) Kelly Johnson(48:16) magic wand(49:51) what everyone gets wrong about innovation(52:17) graveyard of eVTOL companies(55:13) lightning round(58:45) outro

Mike and Tim chat with Andrew “Scar” Van Timmeren from Blue Force Technologies to hear about their experience in the defense tech sector and how they are trying to punch above their weight class—by building an unmanned fighter jet drone.----Links* Sign up for our amazing newsletter https://www.themerge.co* Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/the_merge* Blue Force Technologies https://blueforcetech.com/ * Scar’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvt/----Follow us on...* Instagram https://www.instagram.com/merge_newsletter* Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themergenews* Twitter https://twitter.com/MergeNewsletter* LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/themerge* Website https://www.themerge.co----Show Notes(01:05) intro(03:03) Scar intro(05:52) BFT(13:01) spicy take on digital engineering(15:28) BFT's SBIR experience(24:56) funding gaps(25:47) valley of death(34:47) end user vs. customer are not the same(36:18) Fury(37:35) practice squads(43:27) mission-specific vs multi-role engineering(46:30) autonomy and atrophy(48:28) speed of business vs govt(50:10) the ask – security and over-classification(52:03) Mike's spicy take(52:55) outro

Mike, Jake, and Tim reunite to catch up on three tech topics: the SVB bank run, national security concerns with TikTok, and the latest with generative AI.----Links* Sign up for our amazing newsletter https://www.themerge.co * Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/the_merge * Ask Sage (GPT for US govt CUI data) https://www.asksage.ai * Creating a task-driven autonomous agent using GPT4 https://yoheinakajima.com/task-driven-autonomous-agent-utilizing-gpt-4-pinecone-and-langchain-for-diverse-applications* Jake’s AI book recommendation (Daemon, by Daniel Suarez): https://www.amazon.com/DAEMON-Daemon-Daniel-Suarez/dp/0451228731  ----Follow us on...* Instagram https://www.instagram.com/merge_newsletter* Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themergenews* Twitter https://twitter.com/MergeNewsletter* LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/themerge* Website https://www.themerge.co----Show Notes(00:31) intro(1:25) Jake’s SVB steak dinner (2:00) SVB bank run(4:51) SVB and national security(16:57) TikTok(19:46) the upside of TikTok(23:56) TikTok's algorithm after the hearing(27:18) TikTok's big China problem(34:08) The Restrict Act(39:33) Generative AI(41:08) BingAI vs ChatGPT(43:53) AI story time(44:55) Ask Sage(49:18) ChatGPT for legal help(58:42) outro

Mike joins forces with The Afterburn Podcast’s John “Rain” Waters to co-host an epic interview with the Commander of the Air Force Thunderbirds AND the Executive Officer of the Navy Blue Angels. We go behind the scenes with both teams to learn about leadership, flying, teamwork in a way you’ve never heard before.----Links* Sign up for our amazing newsletter https://www.themerge.co* Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/the_merge* The Afterburn Podcast https://www.theafterburnpodcast.com/----Follow us on...* Instagram https://www.instagram.com/merge_newsletter* Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themergenews* Twitter https://twitter.com/MergeNewsletter* LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/themerge* Website https://www.themerge.co----Show Notes(01:20) intro(2:45) icebreaker(10:06) sitting in the same room(12:53) learning from each other(13:55) T-birds rough period(14:47) sometimes you can see culture(15:40) cultural waves in the two teams(16:36) the T-birds T-38 cultural era(19:02) President Carter’s Crisis of Confidence(26:02) Blue’s “glad to be here” culture(27:59) how tough is the flying?(29:44) there is no off-season(33:37) team dynamics of an exemplar squadron(35:08) The T-birds’ hangar(36:27) contagious culture of excellence(36:42) Agile Combat Employment(37:27) Blue Angels' hangar(39:57) how they travel(43:28) authority and trust are key(45:19) Fat Albert(46:12) Van Halen M&Ms(47:15) they’ve never canceled due to maintenance(48:47) Angels on arrival(50:01) debrief culture(50:52) Fat Albert JATO(52:18) Top Gun Maverick(54:10) new Super Hornets(57:30) T-Birds’ tricks to flying that good(1:03:00) Angels’ tricks to flying that good(1:04:43) counting feathers(1:06:17) aiming to crash(1:07:57) most memorable experience on the teams(1:08:59) Chris Darnell(1:14:12) outro

Mike “Starbaby” Pietrucha joins Mike and Jake to talk about Ukraine on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. Hear about how it all happened, where the war stands today, what matters now, and what the future looks like for peace.----Links* Sign up for our amazing newsletter https://www.themerge.co * Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/the_merge * NAFO https://nafo-ofan.org/* Saint Javelin https://www.saintjavelin.com/* Sign My Rocket https://signmyrocket.com/* Amateur Hour Part II: https://warontherocks.com/2022/08/amateur-hour-part-ii-failing-the-air-campaign/----Follow us on...* Instagram https://www.instagram.com/merge_newsletter * Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themergenews * Twitter https://twitter.com/MergeNewsletter * LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/themerge * Website https://www.themerge.co ----Show Notes(00:50) intro(2:28) Starbaby becomes an expert(3:51) the real invasion start(9:03) why did Putin invade?(12:14) Nazis?(15:20) torture(17:07) weather stalemate(18:42) climate change?(20:26) NAFO and the internet campaigns(22:26) sponsor suicide boats(23:05) foreign aid(25:17) a lab to observe(29:25) ground-launched SDB(31:12) ATACMS(31:44) Kerch Bridge(33:22) logistics(34:15) Russia’s inability to fight a war(36:26) China is watching(37:23) what does peace look like?(41:23) Ukrainian’s take on peace(44:25) outro