Heather Ichord, CEO & Founder of Mile37 Tech, LLC, argues that successful defense technology goes far beyond building better hardware — it requires understanding exactly how tactical units will employ these systems, including training pipelines, maintenance requirements, and sustainment logistics in environments where contractors can't provide on-site support. Her framework for evaluating defense technology starts with specific use cases: which unit size will employ this system, how does it integrate with daily operations, and what does the entire sustainment ecosystem look like in distributed environments?

Drawing from her background as a Marine logistics officer, Heather emphasizes that sustainment thinking must drive technology development from day one. She advocates for "hardware as a shell for software" approaches that enable constant iteration and updates, though she acknowledges to Ian that this mindset remains controversial in defense circles accustomed to decades-long asset lifecycles. Her investment thesis focuses on companies that can scale from prototypes to squad-level deployment across thousands of tactical units while maintaining software-like update capabilities.

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