Continuing Resolutions stifle Military Innovation
Building our Defense wouldn’t exist were it not for the Defense Ventures Program.
I owe much of my success in DefenseTech to that program.
So, I was quite upset when I received some bad news about the program from the CEO of the company that runs it.
Background:
Several years ago, I was preparing for my retirement from military service.
I knew I wanted to work in tech / VC. So, I began reaching out to founders and investors and doing informational interviews to learn about their work.
These calls all encouraged me that I was on the right path.
Then, I had a call with Jake Chapman. He was trying to reenergize the Army Venture Capital Corporation.
Jake asked me if I had heard of the “Defense Ventures Program.”
I hadn’t and mentally poo-pooed it as a “cute little program for the military but clearly not for someone serious about working their way into VC.”
I could not have been more wrong!
Eventually, I went to the website, to which Jake had referred me.
“Okay,” I thought, “this is a legit program with some really cool opportunities.”
If you’re not familiar with the Defense Ventures Program, it’s an AFWERX-funded program, run by Shift, that provides opportunities for military servicemembers and DoD Civilians to embed for 8 weeks - 12 months within tech companies, startups, accelerators, or VC firms. Fellows learn and return to the DoD with best practices related to innovation.
It also improves civil-military relationships and connectivity between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley.
And, I was fortunate enough to be admitted into the program.
Origins of Building our Defense:
That brings us back to this newsletter and the bad news about the program.
Every fellow in my cohort had a requirement to publish our own “innovation manifesto.”
The program facilitators left the requirement very open to interpretation.
I had worked with Lightspeed Venture Partners to build out a Defense Investment Program, and decided that I wanted to capture some of the most salient parts of that in some form.
I originally had hoped that I could publish on Lightspeed’s blog, but a pivot brought me to Substack and Building our Defense was born.
What I’m trying to say is that Building our Defense wouldn’t exist without the Defense Ventures Program. I wouldn’t have (hopefully) interesting thing to say about DefenseTech without the Defense Ventures Program. Heck, much of the renaissance in DefenseTech might not exist without the Defense Ventures Program.
So, I was crushed when Mike Slagh, the CEO of Shift and a good friend and mentor emailed me twice on Thursday with his bad news.
Bad News:
After 24 cohorts of the Defense Ventures Program, AFWERX has not exercised a renewal option in the contract.
It turns out that Congress’ reliance on continuing resolutions hinders the military’s innovation efforts including AFWERX’s ability to continue funding this critical program.
Further, since this was a core business line for Shift, Mike has made the incredibly difficult and responsible decision to wind-up the company, return what he can to his investors, and close the doors.
First off, kudos to Mike for the respectful, responsible, graceful, and integrity-focused way he’s handling this.
Second, this is a massive blow to the DefenseTech ecosystem and will deal significant damage to the work done by so many to bridge Silicon Valley and the tech industries with D.C.
I’m frustrated. I’m angry. I’m sad. I’m concerned about the future and whether our forces will receive access to the tech they actually need.
Call to Action:
I’m pretty sure that for my writing to qualify as “good” or “effective” in marketing terms, I’m supposed to include calls to action. Here they are.
1/ Consider supporting the fantastic team at Shift. As they go through the wind-up, this team will be looking for new positions with other companies. Each of them would be an incredible asset to any team. Ryan Blake , Patty Hill, Alyssa Hope , Kate Moon , JR Mullis , Mike Slagh, Will Tyndall
2/ Remind your friends and representatives in Congress that their inability to pass budgets hurts our warfighters and prevents getting the right skills and tech into their hands.
3/ Keep building.
Seriously,
Keep building,
Andrew