Goat Rodeo

The Pentagon wants to move faster. Silicon Valley has billions riding on it. Now somebody has to figure out how to make the two actually work together.

This week on the Goat Rodeo Podcast, Garrett Smith, Dave Caudle and Simon Coon are back for a crew-only episode tackling one of the biggest proposed shakeups inside the Department of Defense: a new four-star Autonomous Warfare Command—better known as AutoWarCom.

Or, as Simon would prefer: Robocom.

The premise is straightforward. Drones, robotics and autonomous systems are becoming too important to remain scattered across disconnected programs, services and acquisition pathways. The Pentagon wants to centralize authority, accelerate procurement and start fielding autonomous systems at real scale.

But there’s an obvious contradiction:

Does fixing Pentagon bureaucracy really require creating more Pentagon bureaucracy?

The crew debates whether AutoWarCom could do for autonomy what Cyber Command did for cyber, why the military has struggled to turn experimentation into scaled procurement, and whether giving a new command acquisition authority could finally break through the institutional logjam.

Then comes the money. Defense tech is attracting unprecedented private capital. Garrett cites investment in non-traditional defense and military startups rising from roughly $1.6 billion in 2020 to $9.6 billion in 2025—and $14.6 billion already in 2026.

Eventually, those investors need returns. And eventually, companies building the next generation of defense technology need the Pentagon to actually buy what they’re building.

The crew gets into the possibility of another defense-industry “Last Supper,” whether startups ultimately get swallowed by traditional primes, and what happens when ambitious plans for autonomy collide with personnel costs, munitions replenishment, legacy programs and a defense budget that may not grow nearly as much as Silicon Valley expects.

From there: Project Meridian.

Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich are part of an effort examining the future of warfare, with MITRE doing the heavy lifting and a roster of advisers drawn from across defense, technology and national security. The crew asks what the project will actually produce—and whether it will help determine where future investment goes, or simply validate decisions already being made.

There’s also a tour through the defense-tech deal book: Stoke Space, Mach Industries, Tekever and Armadin; the continuing appetite for space, cyber and robotics; and the larger question hanging over the entire defense-tech renaissance:

Can the Pentagon turn all this private capital into actual military capability before investors lose patience?

Plus: Neros and 14,000 drones, DIU, Palantir, Saronic, Chris Isaak, supper clubs, Pete’s speech, Robocom, the Project Meridian logo, Newt Gingrich’s Wikipedia page, warrior mustaches and Simon’s unexpected identification with the bourgeoisie.

It’s a Goat Rodeo.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone interested in defense technology, national security, geopolitics, or the future of warfare.

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

The kill chain is getting faster. The battlefield is getting harder to stay connected to.

This week on the Goat Rodeo Podcast, Garrett Smith, Simon Coon and Dave Caudle are joined by friend of the pod and fourth-wheel co-host Ben Rosen, Reveal Technology’s VP of Geospatial, for a conversation that starts at the tactical edge and somehow ends up in space.

Ben brings experience from both sides of the defense-tech equation. Before joining Reveal, he served as an Army officer and later worked at DEVCOM C5ISR, where he was the sensor-to-shooter SME on the early Project Kill Web effort that eventually grew into Project Convergence. He also worked on advanced sensors and tactical AI before making the jump to Reveal. 

The crew starts with the future of targeting.

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As drones, sensors and strike capabilities move down to smaller units, targeting workflows may have to move with them. But accelerating the kill chain creates its own tension: how do you decentralize decisions without decentralizing the mission itself?

Ben argues that technology and authority can move down the chain, but intent still has to remain coherent. Garrett takes it a step further: on a battlefield saturated with electronic warfare and jamming, highly networked systems can't be the only answer. Units at the tactical edge need the ability to operate when the network doesn't. 

From there, the conversation moves rapidly up the kill chain.

The crew debates Anduril's Fury and the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, where the promise of venture-backed defense manufacturing ends and government procurement has to begin, and whether maintaining multiple vendors actually survives contact with defense budgets. 

Then comes Golden Dome. Simon makes the case that the full vision may collide with political and fiscal reality, while Garrett and Dave explore what pieces could survive—including ground- and space-based sensing, interceptors and the increasingly public reality of military capabilities in orbit. 

And finally: who controls the AI? A recent court fight involving Anthropic and the Pentagon kicks off a larger argument about whether technology companies should retain control over how their products are used after selling them to the military—and what responsibility defense-tech companies have to anticipate how warfighters will actually use the tools they build. 

Plus: Resident Evil, zombie survival strategy, D-Day, space weapons, Skynet, AI-induced psychosis and the future of drone-delivered e-bikes.

It's a Goat Rodeo.

00:00 Who controls defense technology after it's sold?

00:27 Welcome to Goat Rodeo: Ben Rosen joins the crew

00:59 Simon's zombie apocalypse survival strategy

02:19 Meet Ben Rosen

03:23 From the Army to Project Kill Web

05:08 Joining Reveal and leading Geospatial

05:42 How targeting is changing

08:04 Technology, effects and the actual objective

11:07 The connected kill chain vs. the tactical edge

12:33 Decentralizing decisions without losing intent

13:52 Fighting when the network goes down

14:59 D-Day and decentralized warfare

16:16 From Band of Brothers to autonomous aircraft

17:20 Anduril, Fury and the CCA program

21:55 Should defense tech rally Congress?

22:59 Where venture capital ends and procurement begins

27:35 Will CCA funding actually arrive?

28:19 Competition, vendor lock and defense acquisition

31:45 Is Golden Dome in trouble?

34:14 The problem with space-based interceptors

36:10 Who actually wins from Golden Dome?

37:08 America acknowledges weapons in space

38:06 What could space weapons actually look like?

41:35 Space as the highest echelon of targeting

44:04 A new space race

45:14 Anthropic vs. the Pentagon

46:06 Should tech companies control how the military uses their products?

48:10 Can defense technology really be “defensive only”?

50:01 The product-builder's dilemma

52:42 What happens when warfighters use technology in unintended ways

53:41 AI isn't always the right tool

54:41 From Skynet back to the infantry

54:51 Ukraine's drone-delivered e-bike

57:07 Ben signs off from Belfast

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone interested in defense technology, national security, geopolitics, or the future of warfare.

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone interested in defense technology, national security, geopolitics, or the future of warfare.

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

Drones are changing warfare. They aren't replacing the warfighter.

This week on the Goat Rodeo Podcast, Garrett Smith sits down with Ethan Nagel, host of Into the Breach, filmmaker, Marine veteran and former Scout Sniper, for a conversation about the warrior ethos, lessons from Ukraine and what actually happens when emerging defense technology collides with infantry.

Ethan traces his path from a kid obsessed with Saving Private Ryan and Die Hard to joining the Marine Corps during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What began as a desire to test himself became something much harder to leave behind: a lifelong connection to the warfighter community that eventually took him from the Marine Corps to contracting, filmmaking and documenting the evolution of modern warfare.

That includes his work directing Reveal's Battle Lab series with Vet TV, where experienced operators and soldiers test drones, robotics and other emerging technologies in force-on-force scenarios. The takeaway isn't that technology wins. In fact, the opposite can happen. A drone that won't connect, launch or survive the environment can become dead weight—and aggressive infantry tactics can quickly erase a technological advantage.

Ukraine has made the stakes much clearer. Drones have transformed surveillance, strike and battlefield awareness, but electronic warfare, contested airspace and brutal logistics are also forcing soldiers back toward some very old fundamentals. Garrett and Ethan argue that the future battlefield won't eliminate infantry, tanks or human decision-making. It will demand that warfighters learn to integrate new technology without becoming dependent on it.

That leads to the larger question: Can America adopt a wartime mindset without actually going to war?

Garrett argues that deterrence requires something closer to a new Cold War mentality—developing, testing and deploying capabilities with the urgency of a country that may someday have to use them. Ethan sees enormous potential in the next generation of warfighters, who can buy drones, use 3D printers, write code with AI and experiment with capabilities that would have been unimaginable at the squad level twenty years ago.

The technology will change.

The tribe won't.

It's Goat Rodeo.

00:00 Cold open: The warrior class & preparing for war

00:22 Welcome to Goat Rodeo: Ethan Nagel

01:55 A family history in the Marine Corps

03:18 Filmmaking, war movies & the road to enlistment

07:27 The call to adventure

10:25 Choosing the Marines during the Iraq War

13:07 When military service becomes part of your identity

14:41 Iraq, Scout Snipers & unfinished business

18:30 Contracting, Afghanistan & staying in the tribe

20:46 The man in the arena

22:00 Inside Reveal's Battle Lab with Vet TV

24:22 Putting emerging battlefield technology on screen

25:12 What Ukraine is teaching about conventional warfare

28:00 When better technology doesn't win the fight

30:23 Bringing combat experience into the Battle Lab

31:22 Drones versus speed, reliability & infantry tactics

34:27 Why drones still haven't solved the squad-level fight

35:50 Does America need a new Cold War mindset?

37:35 Cheap drones, expensive interceptors & lessons from Iran

41:35 Why robots won't replace the warfighter

43:34 Electronic warfare & getting back to basics

45:36 Fiber-optic drones: old technology becomes new again

46:56 America's NCO corps as a battlefield advantage

48:35 Is the next generation ready for the next war?

50:31 AI, 3D printers & drones in the barracks

56:03 Empowering junior warfighters to solve problems

58:48 Decentralized leadership & the future fight

59:47 What's next for Ethan and Into the Breach

1:04:24 Be useful, burn the boats & get in the arena

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone interested in defense technology, national security, geopolitics, or the future of warfare.

https://www.youtube.com/@INTOTHEBREACHSHOW

https://ethannagelfilms.com/

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

What happens when America spends billions building the next generation of weapons—but soldiers can build some of them themselves?

This week, Garrett Smith and Dave Caudle are joined by Vince “Osh” Olshove, an Air Force and Space Force veteran whose career has taken him from JSOC and intelligence operations to defense venture capital and now the operator side of defense tech at Reveal.

The conversation starts with reports that Iran captured an Anduril Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle in the Strait of Hormuz. What does it mean to accept that America's latest defense tech can always fall into enemy hands—and potentially be reverse engineered? 

From there, Osh brings an investor's perspective to the defense-tech boom and the enormous amount of capital flowing into advanced manufacturing, autonomous systems and battlefield software. The crew digs into Hadrian's push to rebuild American manufacturing, Neros Technologies' $250 million raise and its Archer drone platform, and SMAC Technologies' work in decentralized mission command and battle management. They also get into the investors fueling the defense-tech boom, including Sequoia, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Shield Capital. 

But behind all that money is a harder question: can these companies actually scale fast enough to matter?

Plus: Space Force culture, rose-gold weapons, Rip Its, military retention and the enduring value of shared suffering.

It's Goat Rodeo.

00:00 Cold open

00:09 Rip Its are back

01:45 5,000 sailors and Marines hit Thailand

04:38 Welcome to Goat Rodeo & meet Osh

05:33 Iran captures an American autonomous underwater vehicle

08:00 What does “attritable” really mean?

10:36 Vince “Osh” Olshove joins the Rodeo

11:09 20 years in the Air Force & Space Force

13:34 From uniform to defense venture capital

14:17 What defense investors actually look for

17:23 Inside the defense VC ecosystem

18:35 Advanced manufacturing & the next industrial opportunity

19:14 Is defense tech really venture-backable?

22:23 Hadrian's billion-dollar manufacturing bet

23:17 Neros & the race to mass-produce drones

26:03 Is investing in drone startups “insane”?

27:23 Soldiers are already building their own drones

28:19 Will drone building become a soldier-level task?

28:44 Software cores, modular hardware & expeditionary manufacturing

30:29 SMAC Technologies & battlefield software

32:56 Can special operations technology scale across the force?

33:50 Revisiting America's magazine depth

36:52 America needs cheaper missiles—and thousands of them

37:55 Does crisis create the innovation America needs?

40:18 A warning or an actual munitions crisis?

41:05 The hidden human cost of prolonged conflict

42:35 The “silver lining” of getting real-world reps

45:19 Logistics when the supply chain breaks

46:37 Iran, deterrence & lessons from the current conflict

48:09 Bullfrog: AI-powered counter-UAS at scale

49:27 Turning an M240 into a drone killer

50:14 The rose-gold counter-UAS system

51:28 Inside Space Force culture

54:41 Space Force's Battlestar Galactica uniforms

55:28 Why Space Force has to compete for talent

57:03 The enduring military value of shared suffering

57:54 Closing the Rodeo

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone interested in defense technology, national security, geopolitics, or the future of warfare.

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

Can America still outproduce its adversaries—and are we even building for the right war?

This week, Garrett Smith, Dave Caudle, and Simon Coon are back in the saddle covering the latest in defense technology, geopolitics, and the defense industrial base.

It kicks off with a candid conversation about “vibe patriotism” and a growing tendency to equate working in defense tech with military service. The crew makes the distinction between contributing to national defense and accepting the obligations and risks that come with putting on the uniform—and why collapsing the two does a disservice to both.

From there, they turn to Iran and what the ongoing conflict is revealing about American technology, munitions stockpiles, and the limits of “maximum pressure.” New capabilities are showing up on the battlefield, from autonomous systems to advanced sensing, even as the conflict raises a much older problem: how quickly can America replace the weapons it uses?

That sets up a debate over magazine depth and the Pentagon's push toward cheaper, scalable munitions. The old industrial warfare analogy says a Tiger tank could beat a Sherman—but it couldn't beat Detroit. The question is whether America can still be Detroit, or whether decades of increasingly exquisite weapons have turned the U.S. into the Tiger instead.

The crew also digs into hypersonics, the latest wave of defense venture investment, China's enormous gray-zone capacity, and a larger question hanging over the defense-tech renaissance: are we developing the capabilities needed for the next war, or getting better at solving tactical problems without answering the strategic ones?

Plus, Dolly Parton, Cher, robot boats, quantum sensors, and the eternal promise that Dave's appointment as Secretary of Defense is only days away.

It's Goat Rodeo.

• Remembering Dolly Parton and her legacy of service
• “Vibe patriotism” and whether working in defense tech counts as national service
• Why contributing to national defense isn't the same as serving in uniform
• Iran and the limits of “maximum pressure”
• Emerging technology on the battlefield, from autonomous systems to quantum sensing
• America's magazine depth problem
• The Pentagon's push for cheaper, scalable munitions
• Why a Tiger tank could beat a Sherman—but couldn't beat Detroit
• The counterargument: What if America is the Tiger now?
• Supply chains, industrial capacity, and rebuilding the American arsenal
• Whether tactical innovation can solve strategic problems
• China, Taiwan, and the challenge of gray-zone warfare
• Can America deter a war China may never intend to fight?
• The growing relationship between defense startups and legacy primes
• The latest defense venture investment in space and hypersonics
• Why hypersonics still matter
• Long-range precision fires and the “last hundred miles” of modern warfare
• Whether Cher will be the first human to live forever in a robot body

00:00 Cold open: Detroit, China & vibe patriotism

00:22 Remembering Dolly Parton

04:41 Welcome to Goat Rodeo

05:39 “Vibe patriotism” and defense tech

08:02 Military service, sacrifice & the civilian “exit option”

12:03 When industry really does become national service

14:40 Iran and “even more maximum pressure”

18:13 Robot boats, quantum sensors & emerging battlefield technology

20:01 America's magazine depth problem

22:40 A Tiger can beat a Sherman—but it can't beat Detroit

23:43 Are tactical solutions masking strategic problems?

25:45 What weapons will America need in the next war?

27:26 Can Uncle Sam still outproduce its adversaries?

27:32 “We are the Tiger”

29:07 What are we actually trying to deter?

30:41 Is the Pentagon investing at the scale required?

31:43 Defense startups, legacy primes & the future of the industry

33:18 China, volume & the Seventh Fleet

34:16 China's gray-zone strategy

35:01 What if China never invades Taiwan?

36:29 Building a credible magazine depth

36:59 Defense venture news: space & hypersonics

39:29 Does America really need hypersonics?

41:48 Long-range precision fires and the last hundred miles

43:30 Castelion's Blackbeard & the future of hypersonics

44:29 Cher, immortality & robot bodies

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone interested in defense technology, national security, geopolitics, or the future of warfare.

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

Why is military humor so dark—and why might that actually be a good thing?

This week, Garrett Smith, Dave Caudle, and Simon Coon sit down with John Acevedo—Marine infantry veteran and CEO of Veteran Entertainment Television (Vet Tv)—for a conversation about military culture, dark comedy, veteran community, and what happens when the people who lived the experience get to tell the story themselves.

John traces his path from Vanderbilt ROTC and the Marine Corps infantry to joining Vet Tv in its earliest days, when a Facebook post, a Kickstarter campaign, and a Slack invite helped launch what would become a media platform built around the absurdity, frustration, trauma, and humor of military life.

At the center of Vet Tv's philosophy is a simple idea: humor drops people's guard. John explains why the company's comedy often starts with real frustration or trauma, how laughing about shared experiences can rebuild the sense of community veterans lose after leaving the military, and why dark comedy can open the door to conversations that are anything but funny.

The crew also digs into Vet Tv's expansion beyond scripted comedy—from candid conversations about Afghanistan to filming with Ukrainian troops within sight of Russian lines—and its partnership with Reveal on Battle Lab, where military units and defense technology companies test emerging capabilities in realistic force-on-force environments.

Along the way, they get into drone warfare, what internet commenters get wrong about military training, adapting tactics for the next fight, and an idea whose time may have come: a Silicon Valley-style comedy about the defense tech industry.

Dark humor, serious technology, and absolutely no shortage of Marine-on-Marine abuse. It's Goat Rodeo.

• John Acevedo's path from Vanderbilt ROTC to Marine infantry officer and Vet Tv
• How Vet Tv grew from Donny O'Malley's early writing and viral military comedy
• Why Vet Tv starts with frustration and trauma instead of sanitized military stories
• "Healing through humor" and rebuilding community among veterans
• Why comedy can create an opening for much more serious conversations
• Vet Tv's expansion from scripted comedy into documentaries and unscripted content
• Filming with Ukrainian troops near the front lines
• How veteran credibility creates access traditional media doesn't always have
• Reveal and Vet Tv's partnership on Battle Lab
• Why realistic force-on-force experimentation matters for emerging defense technology
• Drones, counter-UAS training, and preparing troops for a rapidly changing battlefield
• What civilians—and internet commenters—get wrong about military training
• Why changing the way America fights requires practice, not just new technology
• The case for a Silicon Valley-style comedy about defense tech

John Acevedo

• CEO, Veteran Entertainment Television (Vet Tv)
• Marine Corps Veteran
• Former Marine Infantry Officer
• Producer and Entertainment Executive
• Partner on Reveal's Battle Lab series

00:00 Cold open: Why humor drops people's guard

00:12 Welcome to Goat Rodeo & introducing John Acevedo

02:05 From Vanderbilt ROTC to the Marine Corps

05:26 Military culture, boot camp & the Marine Corps melting pot

07:31 Infantry leadership and leaving active duty

09:00 Skipping the MBA and joining the startup that became Vet Tv

11:27 The viral content that helped launch Vet Tv

12:39 Why Vet Tv starts with frustration and trauma

14:13 Healing through humor and rebuilding veteran community

17:15 Vet Tv, Reveal and the origins of Battle Lab

19:55 Moving beyond comedy and talking candidly about war

22:03 Vet Tv goes to Ukraine

24:44 Why Vet Tv creates instant trust with warfighters

25:15 Inside Battle Lab: testing technology against a thinking enemy

27:46 What civilians get wrong about military training

29:28 How Vet Tv handles the internet experts

30:48 Drones, live fire and preparing for the next battlefield

32:36 You can't change the way you fight without training

33:15 Does defense tech need its own Silicon Valley?

35:21 American Nightmare, JFK & Simon defends his shirt

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone interested in military culture, defense technology, national security, or the future of warfare.

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

What does it take to win the next war before it's ever fought?

This week, Garrett Smith, Dave Caudle, and Simon Coon sit down with Aaron Flint—Army combat veteran, longtime radio host, and candidate for Congress—for a wide-ranging conversation on defense technology, military leadership, and the future of American deterrence.

Drawing on his experience serving in Ramadi during the height of the Iraq War and later supporting special operations missions, Aaron reflects on how technology has transformed the battlefield—from sensitive site exploitation to AI-powered tools that put capabilities once carried in backpacks into the hands of individual operators.

The crew also explores the accelerating race for AI, quantum computing, autonomy, and defense innovation, why America's greatest military advantage remains its empowered junior leaders and NCOs, and how veteran-led startups are reshaping the national security ecosystem. Along the way, they unpack defense venture capital trends, the changing relationship between startups and traditional defense primes, and why technological superiority remains the foundation of peace through strength.

Whether you're building defense technology, serving in uniform, or following the future of American national security, this episode explores the people, technology and ideas shaping tomorrow's battlefield.

In this episode

• Aaron Flint's journey from Capitol Hill staffer to Army infantry officer after 9/11
• Combat lessons from Ramadi and the evolution of sensitive site exploitation (SSE)
• Why AI, quantum computing and autonomy represent the next strategic competition
• How companies like Reveal are shrinking battlefield capabilities from backpacks to handheld devices
• Why empowered NCOs remain America's greatest military advantage
• Peace through strength—and why better technology helps prevent wars before they begin
• Defense bureaucracy, acquisition reform and empowering operators instead of organizations
• Veteran entrepreneurship and the growing defense innovation ecosystem
• Defense venture capital, autonomous systems and the rise of next-generation prime contractors
• Boeing, Archer Aviation and what the future relationship between startups and traditional defense companies could look like

Featured Guest

Aaron Flint

• Army Combat Veteran
• Former Special Operations Officer
• Radio Host
• Candidate for U.S. Congress (Montana)
• Former U.S. Senate Staffer

@AaronFlintMT

Chapters

00:00 Cold open: military culture, tattoos & life after 9/11

05:20 Aaron Flint's military background and service in Iraq

12:05 AI, quantum computing and the next space race

18:10 Why America's NCO corps remains a decisive advantage

24:15 Peace through strength and preventing future wars

31:00 Government bureaucracy, empowering operators and getting out of the way

36:40 Defense venture capital, autonomy and the future of military technology

47:40 Congress, veteran leadership and solving national security challenges

54:50 Closing thoughts & Fiddlehead shirt defense

Connect with Goat Rodeo

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone interested in national security, defense technology, or the future of warfare.

Our Podcast

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

What happens when one of the world's leading cybersecurity entrepreneurs argues that we're already in a new Cold War?

This week, Garrett Smith, Dave Caudle, and Simon Coon sit down with Dmitri Alperovitch—CrowdStrike co-founder, Chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, bestselling author of World on the Brink, investor, and host of Geopolitics Decanted.

The conversation explores why Dmitri believes strategic competition with China has already become "Cold War II,"why Taiwan sits at the center of the 21st century geopolitical landscape, and what winning the AI race will require. Along the way, the crew dives into the rapidly evolving defense technology ecosystem, venture capital's growing appetite for national security startups, Pentagon acquisition reform, and the emerging role of AI in cyber conflict.

Whether you're building defense technology, serving in government, or simply trying to understand where global security is headed, this episode offers a wide-ranging discussion on the forces reshaping warfare.

• Why Dmitri believes the U.S. and China are already engaged in Cold War II
• Why Taiwan remains the most consequential strategic flashpoint of the century
• The race for AI leadership—and why compute, semiconductors, and export controls matter
• China's cyber capabilities and the future of digital conflict
• What defense startups get right—and wrong—during today's investment boom
• Lessons from building CrowdStrike into a category-defining cybersecurity company
• Why solving real problems matters more than chasing defense tech hype
• Pentagon procurement reform and how incentives shape acquisition outcomes
• AI agents, autonomous cyber operations, and accountability in the age of intelligent software
• Recent trends in defense venture capital, European investment, and emerging military technologies

Dmitri Alperovitch

• Co-founder, CrowdStrike
• Chairman, Silverado Policy Accelerator
• National bestselling author of World on the Brink
• Host of Geopolitics Decanted
• Investor in defense technology and emerging technologies
• @DAlperovitch

• 00:00 Introduction & Dmitri Alperovitch's background
• 01:15 Why we're already in "Cold War II"
• 13:25 Taiwan, AI and winning strategic competition
• 20:59 Defense tech investment and venture capital trends
• 24:43 Building CrowdStrike and creating a new category
• 31:07 Reforming Pentagon acquisition
• 36:14 AI agents and the future of cyber warfare
• 42:03 Closing thoughts

• World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century — Dmitri Alperovitch
• Geopolitics Decanted (Podcast)

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone interested in national security, defense technology, or the future of warfare.

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett and Simon break down the SpaceX IPO, which debuted at $1.7 trillion and briefly cleared $2.1 trillion in market cap, and what it means for the next generation of capital-intensive defense tech companies.

From there, Garrett walks through four defense VC trend lines: the shift from software toward hardware and heavy industrial capacity, the winner-takes-all dynamic concentrating 90% of capital into the top ten growth-stage plays, VCs now demanding production contracts over Phase 1 SBIRs, and the surge of European defense venture capital building sovereign AI and counter-UAS capabilities on the continent.

The episode closes on the congressional funding landscape. The war supplemental math doesn't add up, the House has left town, and Simon's prognosis is short-term CRs all the way to December.

Our Podcast:

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett, Simon, and Dave open with a victory lap — Garrett called ten days on the Iran ceasefire, and he wasn't wrong. The US has sunk two Iranian boats, the UN is evacuating thousands from the Strait, and the Senate has voted to end the conflict. The crew breaks down why the deadlock has no exit, and why the $35–60 billion war bill is a political grenade nobody wants to hold before the midterms.

From there, a packed week in defense venture — Shield AI closes at $13 billion, Helsing hits $18 billion, UK mine-hunting startup Kraken raises $100 million, and European FPV drone company Stark raises €300 million. Defense VC in 2026 has already surpassed all of 2025.

The episode closes on Anduril winning the Army's Next Generation C2 common data layer — effectively becoming the operating system every other vendor has to plug into.

Our Podcast:

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare. Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.