Inspired with Alexa von Tobel
00:35:52 · Alexa von Tobel, Steven Simoni
[00:35:52] S0: as being part of warfare. [00:35:55] S1: Yeah. Mean, it's... Cyber warfare is a huge part of warfare. I though it's a very boutique part. I don't think it's like a... Necessarily a venture backable part of the warfare apparatus. Like, there's hundreds of red team offensive cyber firms that sell to the government and have for the last twenty, twenty, thirty years. It's like a very bespoke industry because it's like, you know, niche. It's like it's like the... Yeah. One of the agencies will be like, I have a mission. Like, I need you guys to hack into this, like, foreign embassy and do this thing for me. And it's like a... Like, it's very bespoke. It's like mission based. It's not like there's no like... Yeah. It's like... It's not like... At least from my perspective now, have some sort of like scalable products there. You know, it's very mission based and that's why the government pays a lot of money to these firms to do missions like that. And I think we're gonna continue to see more and more of that. I think that market will grow, like the CAGR or whatever the term is. I'm not an investor, whatever. But that market grows, but it grows proportionally across all the firms.
00:35:55 · Steven Simoni, Alexa von Tobel
[00:35:55] S1: Yeah. Mean, it's... Cyber warfare is a huge part of warfare. I though it's a very boutique part. I don't think it's like a... Necessarily a venture backable part of the warfare apparatus. Like, there's hundreds of red team offensive cyber firms that sell to the government and have for the last twenty, twenty, thirty years. It's like a very bespoke industry because it's like, you know, niche. It's like it's like the... Yeah. One of the agencies will be like, I have a mission. Like, I need you guys to hack into this, like, foreign embassy and do this thing for me. And it's like a... Like, it's very bespoke. It's like mission based. It's not like there's no like... Yeah. It's like... It's not like... At least from my perspective now, have some sort of like scalable products there. You know, it's very mission based and that's why the government pays a lot of money to these firms to do missions like that. And I think we're gonna continue to see more and more of that. I think that market will grow, like the CAGR or whatever the term is. I'm not an investor, whatever. But that market grows, but it grows proportionally across all the firms. [00:36:56] S0: Gotcha. Let's quickly talk about the category you're in, where seriousness and credibility matter a lot. These are not just pieces of technology, they are dangerous pieces of And so how do you think about that as you guys are building the brand of ACS? And you've obviously had incredible interest from investors almost perpetually since day one. How do you think about the responsibility that you have at the business?
00:36:56 · Alexa von Tobel, Steven Simoni
[00:36:56] S0: Gotcha. Let's quickly talk about the category you're in, where seriousness and credibility matter a lot. These are not just pieces of technology, they are dangerous pieces of And so how do you think about that as you guys are building the brand of ACS? And you've obviously had incredible interest from investors almost perpetually since day one. How do you think about the responsibility that you have at the business? [00:37:29] S1: Honestly, I tend to, like, joke around a lot because I'm trying... I... Because I I think it's a very... I think it's dark. Like, I think this is a pretty dark industry. Like, I know people say, oh, it's actually for just deterrence. Like, we need to become... We need to be the superpower. We need to keep peace abroad. And I get all the arguments of why someone in our country would say this is not dark. This is just patriotic. But, like, it's still people dying and stuff. Like, that's for for me. So, like, when I'm joking, it's really just hiding sadness sometimes. I I think it is a very... It's a tough topic. You know? I think that I... You know, at the end of the day, though, obviously, Luke and I started this in 2022. We started it because we thought the drone threat was going to be very serious, which it is serious, and it still is. And we're still unprepared, and we're still not procuring stuff at the right rate. And so, like, I don't know. Sometimes I get a little sad because, you know, I just don't think we're we're really doing it right. And I think that we're in a very precarious position as the world's superpower.
00:37:29 · Steven Simoni, Alexa von Tobel
[00:37:29] S1: Honestly, I tend to, like, joke around a lot because I'm trying... I... Because I I think it's a very... I think it's dark. Like, I think this is a pretty dark industry. Like, I know people say, oh, it's actually for just deterrence. Like, we need to become... We need to be the superpower. We need to keep peace abroad. And I get all the arguments of why someone in our country would say this is not dark. This is just patriotic. But, like, it's still people dying and stuff. Like, that's for for me. So, like, when I'm joking, it's really just hiding sadness sometimes. I I think it is a very... It's a tough topic. You know? I think that I... You know, at the end of the day, though, obviously, Luke and I started this in 2022. We started it because we thought the drone threat was going to be very serious, which it is serious, and it still is. And we're still unprepared, and we're still not procuring stuff at the right rate. And so, like, I don't know. Sometimes I get a little sad because, you know, I just don't think we're we're really doing it right. And I think that we're in a very precarious position as the world's superpower. [00:38:26] S0: I appreciate your point, which is that sometimes you're... And keep in mind, we've gotten to know you really well, so we know how extremely responsible you are. But that it's not just a normal tech startup. It's heavy. It's heavy. I mean
00:38:26 · Alexa von Tobel, Steven Simoni, Charlotte Ross
[00:38:26] S0: I appreciate your point, which is that sometimes you're... And keep in mind, we've gotten to know you really well, so we know how extremely responsible you are. But that it's not just a normal tech startup. It's heavy. It's heavy. I mean [00:38:41] S1: Yeah. And, like, that's why I gotta delete Twitter because, like, there's so many, like, obviously, founders and VCs that just, like, constantly warm, humming and shit, and it just, like, drives me nuts. [00:38:50] S0: I I I appreciate that as, like, an extra lens of foundership, which has been your founder in the space of defense tech. You're literally talking about lives. And so the weight of what you carry every day isn't just being able to pay your employees and make sure your product and revenue grows. It's different. I so appreciate that. And then obviously in this category, it is probably one of the most hyped categories in DC right now. You talked a little bit about [00:39:20] S2: some opportunities that you see, I guess, namely like, space and [00:39:24] S1: Yeah. In this air to air Yeah. Space or jet powered interceptor. [00:39:27] S0: Yeah. And... But then tell us a little bit about things that you're just like, this is overhyped. And and, like, we don't need what happened up there. [00:39:35] S1: I mean... [00:39:37] S0: I don't I don't mean names.
00:39:37 · Alexa von Tobel, Steven Simoni, Charlotte Ross
[00:39:37] S0: I don't I don't mean names. [00:39:38] S1: I think the hyper... Think hypersonics are a bit over hyped. I don't I don't think that necessarily they're the right weapon for the Chinese threat. In general, though, I don't in general, I don't think defense is overhyped because unlike pure AI companies that are all just selling to themselves like you'd see in the SaaS bubbles, defense is a little different in that I fundamentally believe we're headed to war. So it doesn't matter. Not enough money is in defense right now. Got it. Like, I think we... Way... Like, I don't know about the returns profile, but I'm just saying as a general block of category, like, it's just, I would say, one of the safest places to put your money. [00:40:17] S0: Interesting. [00:40:18] S1: Because, I mean, just look what's happening in the world. [00:40:21] S0: And I'm curious, obviously, you guys have a world class technology team. I know, is a phenomenal engineer, and so you have some really proprietary technology. I know you spent a ton of time in [00:40:32] S2: the hill building relationships and all that. I'm curious, even though you guys have both, I'm curious what you felt has been more. The relationships matter more than the tech, how tech sophisticated is the government?