Madeline Renbarger’s Post

Geopolitical conflicts have spurred $108 billion in defense tech investments from 2021 to 2023. This shift is currently driving increased creativity in deal financing and structuring. Defense tech, with its hardware component, is poised to become a major focus for venture capital, reshaping the investment landscape and reflecting a broader trend toward national security. #AssetManagement

The latest Securing Our Future newsletter is here! This edition spotlights incredible writers who are providing deep insights into national security, venture capital, and dual-use defense technology, such as David Jeans, Marc Vartabedian, Heather Somerville, and Aria Alamalhodaei. Don’t miss their expert perspectives on these vital fields! 🚀🔒💡 Jeremy Hitchcock Susan Still Kilrain Rick Waddell Kevin Higgins Stephanie Usry Bellistri Emmanuelle B. Jessica Nelson #NationalSecurity #VentureCapital #DefenseTech #Innovation #FutureTech #Newsletter #IndustryLeaders

On todays episode of AQ2F, Tyler Sweatt is joined by Eric Slesinger, General Partner at 201 Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Madrid, Spain. Eric, originally from Washington D.C., shares his journey from engineering and intelligence to leading 201 Ventures. What’s Happening on the Second Front: • The shift in Europe's defense strategy • The impact of economic and geopolitical instability on security • The role of startups and innovative tech in defense modernization • Navigating the complexities of European defense procurement • The critical need for anticipatory thinking and strategic investment in defense tech Tune in here: https://lnkd.in/efWKfRNN #DefenseInnovation #NationalSecurity

This might become a controversial discussion, but I’m curious to hear your thoughts. 2020: Investing in weapons and defense? 🚫 Big no from an ESG perspective. 2024: Investing in weapons and defense? ✅ Defending democracy. ESG approved. Defense tech is on fire right now, attracting huge interest. Did many change their stance when war became a reality in Europe? Do you see investing in defense tech (including weapons) as "ESG approved"? I’d love to hear your views—would be interesting with perspectives from both VC's, PE's, LP's and startups.  

Keys to building a successful startup: 1) Listen to your customers deeply. 2) Iterate quickly to solve their problems. 3) Raise enough capital to win. Gili Raanan and the Cyberstarts team understood this, put it in a box and productized it for founders. In doing so they built a success factory. Anyone who has sold enterprise software knows that purchasing decisions are made by teams, not individuals, and no honest person believes an enterprise would buy a product they didn't believe they would get value out of. My read of this article is there are a lot of people in this industry who are upset they didn’t think or execute on this model themselves. Proud to work alongside them.

The headline does not explain the topics covered in this article. It is a good read about how start-up disruptors and venture money are helping to prepare the US for future warfare and also seeking to disrupt the traditional players. There are some good questions raised in the article and also some that should be explored. - How can the disruptors thrive when they often rely on the same suppliers? - If the disruptors go public, how will they balance delivering returns to shareholders and continuing to invest? Future topics: - As the “disruptors” recruit more traditional defense industry executives into their companies, how will they avoid starting to mimic their traditional competitors? - Will the legacy companies seek to buy innovation by swallowing up the new entrants? Will be interesting to watch.

How the Besties Think About Defense Investing Last week, David Friedberg, David O. Sacks, and Chamath Palihapitiya discussed investing in defense startups: Both Sacks and Chamath said they would have to think twice about investing in startups that made weapons. But, both have invested in defense companies building tech that is defensive in nature, gathers intelligence, and saves lives, like Saildrone Inc and Allen Control Systems. Sacks: "I don't have a problem with investing in a company like Anduril Industries. America needs defense companies ... and we need startup disruptors. So I'm not morally opposed to it. And in fact, I think it's probably a good thing." "I think my concern would be I don't really want to be part of the military industrial complex. I feel like it might corrupt my views on things. I don't want to feel an incentive to be like these generals who go on CNN and Fox News and justify every single war." Chamath: "That's my biggest fear as well. It's one thing to be investing in a bunch of companies where we're sitting around hoping for cheaper clicks on Facebook and Google. It's an entirely other thing to sit on the board of a company and hope for war. That's a horrible place to be." "If you believe that America should be the most important country in the world, and you have the ability to help it be that, eventually some of those decisions will come in contact with (the choice to invest in defense startups). Friedberg: "I think the fact that both of you highlighted a degree of trepidation, and you guys are fairly outside of the middle bounds of how Silicon Valley would think and make decisions, indicates why so much of Silicon Valley has deep concerns about investing in defense technology..."

Absolutely fascinating chat between Reason Magazine's Nick Gillespie and Palantir Technologies Co-Founder Joe Lonsdale! 🌟 Lonsdale's journey from California to Texas, and his insights on innovation, governance, and the spirit of American entrepreneurship are truly thought-provoking. His commitment to leveraging tech for societal benefits and the stark honesty about the challenges and opportunities in America today really struck a chord. What are your thoughts on using technology to solve complex societal issues? Have you experienced the impact of geographic relocation on business and personal ethos? Let's discuss! #TechnologyForGood #Entrepreneurship #AmericanInnovation #LibertyVsLibertarianism

I recently got asked if I was looking at defence tech. Curious on the reason of the question, I learned that my interlocutor saw a lot of news and interest about defence technologies. We then got into an interesting discussion on the rotating spotlight of the public attention. That brought me to share this graphic, that shows where VC money is going. We can see that the overwhelming majority is in software, who remain the king of the VC world. I hope this help put things in perspectives. Thank you for reading. Thanks to Statistica for the data. Did you appreciate this post? Would you like to see more? Like this post Follow Hugues Hallot 🔔 Ring it on my Profile 🔝 Connect with me #Investissement #VC #Startup #VentureCapital

This investigation has me conflicted. On one hand, what CyberStarts is (allegedly) doing feels unethical and an obvious conflict of interest. However, on the other hand, the cold, calculating, capitalist pig inside me thinks: "I'd buy that for a dollar!" VCs should help their portfolio companies. They should be feeding them leads and connections. Does it matter that they paid them in equity in the fund? Hmmm. What do you think? https://lnkd.in/gt-FNftp