In this episode of Out of Office, Kartik and Jack sit down with John Marmaduke, co-founder of Aurelius Systems, a defense startup building laser turrets that shoot drones out of the sky.

We dive into how John went from Ford engineer to crypto founder to building battlefield-ready AI-powered weapons. He walks us through their early CIA hackathon win, what it’s like working with the Department of Defense, and why lasers (not missiles) are the future of drone defense.

We also talk manufacturing, the defense tech vibe shift in SF, recruiting challenges, and why he might move operations to Detroit.

Follow John: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-marmaduke-77017a202/
Check out Aurelius: https://aureliussystems.us

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Chapters:
00:00 Intro to Aurelius & Laser Drone Defense
13:23 Laser Tech, Innovation & Deployment Challenges
22:12 Drone Warfare & U.S. Defense Readiness
32:19 From Hackathon to Pentagon Backing
41:27 Building a Defense Startup: Funding & Hiring
50:27 Culture, Recruiting & Future of Defense Tech
58:11 Advanced Tech, Manufacturing & What's Next