In this episode, Steve sits down with John "JD" Parkes, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Parry Labs, and Amber Walker, Chief Growth Officer.

(00:00) Intro

(01:34) Building Parry Labs

(02:58) Edge computing and electronic warfare

(07:26) Mapping the defense technology ecosystem

(22:06) Advice for defense startups

(31:01) Ukraine and scalable military systems

(32:30) AI at the edge

(44:20) How defense contracting really works

(45:43) Customer acquisition in defense

(52:24) Software business models in defense

(55:30) The hidden factory behind software

(56:54) Why defense still needs system integrators

(58:45) Open architectures and autonomy marketplaces

(01:02:45) Platform risk in defense acquisition

(01:22:06) Why the best product doesn't always win

Parry Labs develops mission-critical software and digital infrastructure that helps military systems communicate, integrate, and operate more effectively in contested environments.

We discuss the evolution of military software, the push toward open architectures, the realities of defense acquisition, and why integration remains one of the hardest problems in defense.

We also discuss AI at the edge, customer acquisition in the defense market, startup competition, and what it takes to build and scale a company serving the Department of Defense.

John Parkes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-parkes-979738b/

Amber Walker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-walker-8a2245a7/

Parry Labs: https://parrylabs.com/

Follow the show!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3F1sc8yzQIF9WcdHQ3w7kf

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-drone-ultimatum/id1770994541

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