Crossing the Valley

Mar 05 2025 36 ep. 43 mins 10
Crossing the Valley Podcast artwork

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

  Technology  Government
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Ep 35: Sending LOTS of Satellites to Space, Fast

Mar 05 2025 43 mins  
As Apex Space commemorates one year on orbit for its Aries satellite, CEO and co-founder Ian Cinnamon joins us to talk about all things space.A serial entrepreneur, Ian's journey began right after college when he worked as a technology advisor to Mark Pincus at Zynga, later starting a gaming company that was acquired by Zynga. He went on to found Synapse Technology (acquired by Pal

Ep. 34: Reinventing Maxar: From Earth Observation to Decision Intelligence

Feb 26 2025 45 mins  
About PeterPeter is the Chief Product Officer of Maxar Intelligence, bringing his passion for maps and 12 years at Palantir Technologies to this renaissance story. At Palantir, Peter developed the famed “ontology” and mapping technologies, helping transition the company's defense business from intelligence operations to real-time operational support. His background in theoretic

Ep. 33: Why the F-22 Is Vulnerable...and what this founder is doing to fix it

Feb 19 2025 38 mins  
About JoshJosh Lospinoso isn’t your average hacker. Most hackers aren’t Rhodes Scholars. As a kid growing up in New Jersey during 9/11, Josh was drawn to service - but he had no idea he’d soon be hacking military weapon systems. As an Army Cyber Officer, he discovered critical vulnerabilities in mission essential platforms that revealed a sobering reality: these sophisticated

Ep 32: How Domino Data Lab Used ML to Find Mines for the Navy

Feb 12 2025 37 mins  
About Our GuestsWhen Thomas "T-Rob" Robinson joined Domino Data Lab eight and a half years ago, the company was focused on helping pharmaceutical companies and financial institutions build better AI models. With a background in math, computer science, and enterprise finance technology, he understood that the hardest problems in AI weren't about algorithms - they were about enabling

Ep 31: How Palantir Builds New Products

Feb 05 2025 43 mins  
Today’s guest is Shannon Clark, a long-tenured early team member of Palantir, the world’s most valuable defense company, and last year’s best performing stock in the S&P 500 (up 340%!).Often discussed but rarely understood, Palantir has emerged as a defining company in defense technology. With just 4,000 employees, they've built a business that surpasses traditional defense p

Ep 30: Hypersonic Test Beds and In-Space Manufacturing

Jan 29 2025 33 mins  
About VardaFounded in November 2020, Varda Space is revolutionizing manufacturing by taking it off-planet. Their thesis is remarkably straightforward: microgravity enables the creation of materials impossible to make on Earth, and pharmaceuticals—the most expensive chemicals per kilogram—are the perfect starting point. In less than three years, they've designed, built, and land

Ep 29: Finding a Needle in the Haystack

Jan 15 2025 46 mins  
About Overwatch ImagingFounded in Hood River, Oregon, Overwatch Imaging is changing how the industry processes aerial sensor data through automation. Rather than building another drone company, they're creating technology that makes every aerial platform smarter. Their automated sensor operator software tackles a critical challenge: helping small teams process massive amounts of ae

Ep 28: Doing Customer Discovery in Defense

Jan 08 2025 39 mins  
About ForterraFormerly known as RRAI, Forterra is revolutionizing ground autonomy for both defense and commercial applications. Their mission is simple but ambitious: get humans out of harm's way. While many startups chase flashy features, Forterra focuses on building autonomous systems that work "nearly every time" in the most demanding environments. Their approach is working: the

Ep. 27: Building (Many) Defense Startups

Dec 11 2024 35 mins  
Kyle Olson's path to defense tech started in a firefight. As a Marine Raider Team Commander in Iraq in 2020, he found himself coordinating airstrikes with a broken military radio. The solution? A forbidden Iraqi cell phone and Signal messaging app. That moment crystallized something he'd long suspected: commercial technology had outpaced military equipment in many areas. Instead of

Ep 26: Using Hardware to Sell Software

Dec 04 2024 44 mins  
About Datashapes AIFounded with technology developed at Stanford, Datashapes brings a unique approach to electronic warfare and signals intelligence. Their platform processes spectrum data at the tactical edge, enabling operators to make real-time decisions. With 21 patents and deployments spanning special operations to commercial venues, they're proving that signal processing inno