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Artwork for Crossing the Valley

Crossing the Valley

Frontdoor Defense
Department Of Defense
Defense Technology
National Security
Artificial Intelligence
U.S. Department Of Defense
Wirescreen
Arcane Thunder
Defense Industrial Base
Spacex
US Department Of Defense
SOF Week
VANTOR
Ukraine
China
Onshore Manufacturing
Military Logistics
Hypersonic Technology
UAS
Manufacturing
NATO

Few companies make it from pilot to production in the defense market. Those who do often change the industry in the process. How do they do it? What lessons can startups take from their trials, successes, and failures? Crossing the Valley tells the stories of the trailblazers who are forging a new path for America's defense. www.valleycrossers.com

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes96Founded3 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
TechnologyGovernment

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Artwork for Crossing the Valley

Latest Episodes

Building Replicator: What it Took, and What it Meant

Nobody in Washington gets promoted for grading their own homework in public.

Dr. Kathleen Hicks and Aaron Sherman did it anyway. Three years after Replicator launched, they sat down and wrote an ... more

YouTube

How Chariot Defense Replaced Product Market Fit With a Weight Test

Adam Warmoth took this interview from Fort Carson. A division commander had called him the Friday before and asked him to be in Colorado on Monday, so he was in Colorado, sitting in ... more

YouTube

Conductor AI: Building the Layer Between Law and Decision

About Zach Long and Eric Schwartz

Zachary Long and Eric Schwartz are the co-founders of Conductor AI. Both spent seven years at Palantir, where they met on a Department of Justice project su... more

YouTube

Overview

They were four people. They had ~$150,000 in the bank. And John Conafay wrote a check to an accreditation partner. That check was easily a double-digit percentage of the company’s value at that moment. And he risked it all on the conviction... more

YouTube

Josh Giegel has spent his career on what he calls “the wrong side” of the software-hardware divide. He built rocket engines at SpaceX. He built supercritical CO2 power cycles in Ohio. He built a hyperloop and then climbed inside it.

So when he tells... more

YouTube

How Lux Aeterna Is Building a Market the Pentagon Didn’t Ask For

About Brian

Brian Taylor spent about fifteen years as a mechanical engineer before he ever sat in the founder’s chair. He came up through aviation and aerospace, then landed at SpaceX... more

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Background

Cyber operations have always lived in the shadows of the national security conversation. In the wake of the Department of War suspending CMMC Level 2 guidance, this episode unpacks the essential, high-stakes, and rarely understood world o... more

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About Ryan Westerdahl

Before starting Turion, Ryan spent nine years as an engineer at SpaceX, joining not long after the company’s sixth flight and working under Kevin Wu — an engineering leader Ryan credits as one of the best of his generation (now... more

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Key Facts

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Recent Guests

Adam Warmoth
CEO and founder of Chariot Defense
Chariot Defense
Episode: Ep. 93: Building Minimum Useful Products
Ross Fubini
Founder, investor, managing director of XYZ Capital
XYZ Capital
Episode: Ep. 93: Building Minimum Useful Products
John Conafay
CEO, founder of Integrate
Integrate
Episode: Ep. 91 - John Conafay, CEO of Integrate
Josh Giegel
CEO, founder of Gambit AI
Gambit AI
Episode: Ep. 90: Friends Don't Let Friends Start Drone Companies
Brian Taylor
CEO and founder of Lux Aeterna
Lux Aeterna
Episode: Ep. 89: Lux Aeterna
Sam Jones
CEO, co-founder of Method Security
Method Security
Episode: Ep. 88 - Method Security
Ryan Westerdahl
CEO, Co-Founder of Turion Space
Turion Space
Episode: Ep. 87 - How Turion Space is Turning a Trillion-Dollar Vision Into a Fundable Company
Jackie Barbieri
CEO, founder of Whitespace
Whitespace
Episode: Ep. 86: In the Whitespace
Paige Craig
Founder and general partner of Outlander VC
Outlander VC
Episode: Ep. 85 - Building a first check partnership

Host

Noah Sheinbaum
Host with deep involvement in defense-tech storytelling and startup-focused conversations.

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Ep. 88 - Method Security
Q: How did you approach fundraising and early investor validation to maintain momentum?
We focused on building momentum in the market before formal fundraising, leveraged direct connections with strategic angels and Palantir alumni, and demonstrated early, functional prototypes. This approach reduced the typical fundraising drag and helped us secure a strong seed round quickly with a clear, credible business plan.
Ep. 88 - Method Security
Q: What drove the rapid decision to start the company after GPT-4 arrived, and how did you align the team?
The spark came from realizing a concrete way to apply self-directed autonomy to complex cybersecurity workflows, coupled with a shared conviction among the three co-founders. We acted quickly—within six hours—to bring Sean and Dan on board and formalize the startup with a seed round, leveraging our Palantir pedigree to accelerate trust and market entry.
Ep. 88 - Method Security
Q: Where did your interest in cyber come from, and how did your early experiences shape your path into the government market?
I grew up as a software-focused person with formal government exposure through internships and a clear entry point in Air Force cyber operations, which over time aligned with my passion for building software that protects national infrastructure, leading me to Palantir and later to founding Method Security.
Ep. 79 - Inside GrayMatter Robotics
Q: What does your delivery team look like to ensure rapid, reliable adoption across complex facilities?
We use eight layers of engineering—from industrial and solution engineering to digital twin sustainment—supported by forward deployed engineers and domain agents to tailor recipes, cell design, and orchestration for each site, ensuring high uptime and rapid issue resolution.
Ep. 79 - Inside GrayMatter Robotics
Q: How do you think of the human component of this equation when deploying autonomous systems in manufacturing?
The human element is about augmentation, not replacement. We aim to compose optimal teams of humans, robots, and AI to drive productivity on the same factory footprint, with ongoing updates that continuously improve outcomes.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Crossing the Valley

What is Crossing the Valley about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This show focuses on how defense tech startups move from pilots to production and scale impact in government markets. Across episodes, the conversations highlight practical challenges like navigating SBIR timelines, procurement hurdles, and the shift from point solutions to integrated data and platform playbooks. Guests include founders and executives from Nominal, Machina Labs, GrayMatter Robotics, Havoc AI, SkyFi, Whoop, Overland AI, Forterra, GoTenna, and other defense-technology pioneers, offering real-world insights into fielding, partnerships with primes, and navigating regulatory and customer adoption dynamics. A standout theme is the emphasis on field readiness, dual-use strategies, and the importance of customer champions within go... more

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Which podcasts are similar to Crossing the Valley?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Crossing the Valley:

1. TBPN
2. All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
3. The a16z Show
4. This Week in Startups
5. GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History & Geopolitics

How many episodes of Crossing the Valley are there?

Crossing the Valley launched 3 years ago and published 96 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Crossing the Valley?

Recent guests on Crossing the Valley include:

1. Adam Warmoth
2. Ross Fubini
3. John Conafay
4. Josh Giegel
5. Brian Taylor
6. Sam Jones
7. Ryan Westerdahl
8. Jackie Barbieri

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