Fundraising, Focus, and Failure: Hard Truths About Defense Startups | Kirsten Bartok Touw

Kirsten Bartok Touw is the co-founder and Managing Partner of New Vista Capital, a venture firm focused exclusively on aerospace, space, and defense.

In this episode, Kirsten joins to talk about investing in dual-use tech, startup momentum, and how capital is becoming a competitive moat in defense.

We discuss what founders get wrong about working with the DOD, the talent shift from Silicon Valley to DC and Austin, and why so few hardware companies reach TRL 9.

From the future of hypersonics to the realities of raising defense venture capital, this is a sharp, wide-ranging conversation about building and backing serious defense tech.

Links to the show:https://www.youtube.com/@thedroneultimatumhttps://open.spotify.com/show/3F1sc8yzQIF9WcdHQ3w7kf?si=3af8082184104062https://thedroneultimatum.substack.com/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-drone-ultimatum/id1770994541https://www.instagram.com/thedroneultimatum/https://x.com/droneultimatumhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/the-drone-ultimatum?trk=public_post_feed-actor-nameFollow Steve:⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevensimoni/https://x.com/StevenSimoni⁠https://www.allencontrolsystems.com/