#34. From Cockpit to Cap Table: Inside Nordic Defense Tech

Max Villman, former Swedish fighter pilot and now defense tech investor at Gungnir, joins the Nordic Hardtech Podcast for a grounded conversation on what really matters in modern defense innovation.

With first-hand experience from the cockpit and deep exposure to today’s European and Ukrainian defense tech ecosystems, Max shares what founders often get wrong, how procurement actually works, and why situational awareness matters just as much in startups as it does in combat aviation.

In this episode:

✅ How Sweden selects and trains fighter pilots

✅ Why defense tech must be validated by real end users

✅ What makes military deep tech fundamentally different

✅ Why hustle still beats formal entry points

✅ Situational awareness, feedback loops, and debriefing

✅ What Gungnir is investing in next — and why now

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