Ark

Thank you CAPT Ellen M. Chang for the opportunity for Ark Managing Director, Michael C., to brief BMNT Ventures portfolio companies on the #NDAA process. Now more than ever, #Congress needs to hear from early-stage investor-backed companies about the importance of a robust #DefenseInnovation ecosystem. And early stage companies need to better understand the who, what, why, when, and where of how major decisions get made in Congress. Get in touch! [email protected]

Between the United States Congress and the National Security Council, The White House -- BMNT had a busy day! It's one thing to advocate for a company or a new capability. It's another to advocate for college students you'll never meet, at universities you'll never attend, who will one day solve a #military problem no one yet sees, and start a new #defenseinnovation company that doesn't yet exist and where you'll never work. Hacking for Defense? (H4D) is America's seedcorn.

#FY25 Continuing Resolution (#CR) ?? ?? New starts? or ?? ?? No new starts? There's too much #disinformation floating around Federal sales teams on what the full-year #FY25CR does or doesn't do with regard to "#NewStarts." ?? Let's go straight to the bill text: https://lnkd.in/eprhW9fZ #FEDCIV (pg 9) "SEC. 1104. No appropriation or funds made available or authority granted pursuant to section 1101 shall be used to initiate or resume any project or activity for which appropriations, funds, or other authority were specifically prohibited during fiscal year 2024." ?? This section does NOT prohibit new starts in Federal civilian agencies. ?? Normally, a CR might read, "No appropriations shall be used to initiate or resume any project or activity for which appropriations, funds, or other authority *were not available*...[in the prior FY]." ??THIS DOESN'T SAY THAT.?? ?? Your program zero'd out in FY24? Sorry--it's still zero'd out. ?? Does it give risk-averse civil servants the warm & fuzzy affirmative authorization for which they crave? Well, no--your sales teams will need to educate their customers. #DoD (pp 31-32) "SEC. 1409. No appropriation or funds made available or authority granted pursuant to section 1101(3) for the Department of Defense shall be used to initiate or resume any project or activity **unless** provided for in H.R. 8774 (as engrossed in the House of Representatives on June 28, 2024) or S. 4921 (as reported by the Senate Committee on Appropriations on August 1, 2024)." ?? This section says NO NEW STARTS AT DOD **unless** (?) provided for in the funding tables in the Committee Reports that accompanied HR 8774 and S. 4921. (These were the House & Senate draft FY25 spending bills that were never enacted into law). ?? House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense (HAC-D) Report accompanying HR 8774, FY25 Defense Appropriations Act: https://lnkd.in/eJititW2 ?? Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense (SAC-D) Report accompanying S 4921, FY25 Defense Appropriations Act: https://lnkd.in/eaWV4Rbf Crystal clear? Email us with your questions! [email protected] (h/t Walter & Ross)

Thank you CAPT Ellen M. Chang and Team BMNT! Looking forward to this March 20th open webinar and helping early/growth-stage investor-backed dual-use companies navigate both the #NDAA and #appropriations process. Knowledge is power!

Yesterday we put the "#Strategy" into Ark Strategy! Great joint planning session with two of Ark's earliest clients: ?? SailPoint -- "Who's on the network?" ?? Forescout Technologies Inc. -- "What's on the network?" Like peas & carrots! ?? ?? We love that our clients trust us enough to bring us inside to help them think deeply and critically about the role of #publicpolicy and #governmentaffairs in their Federal GTM strategy. (And no--we couldn't think of any better way to spend time in Fort Lauderdale, Florida during #SpringBreak than planning in a windowless conference room, could you?) ?? ?? ?? ??

To make President #Trump's vision of an #IronDome for America a reality, the United States must lead in #hypersonics. https://lnkd.in/ey-FUzHU Phenomenal day on #CapitolHill with Canopy Aerospace's Chief Commercial Officer, William Dickson, evangelizing the hypersonics supply chain. <www. canopyaerospace .com> Thank you to the #Colorado and #NewMexico delegations for their sustained support! A special shout-out to Canopy's hometown Congresswoman, Rep. Lauren #Boebert (R-CO)! Canopy Aerospace's "Smart" heat shield for hypersonics features embedded sensors in advanced ceramics for thermal protection of the weapons, while yielding real-time data, increasing strength, and decreasing cost. This is how we win. ?? ? ?? ???

?? Ark Alert! ?? #SECDEF Pete Hegseth signs memo directing all United States Department of Defense components to use Software Acquisition Pathway (#SWP) as preferred pathway for all software development components for business & weapons systems at the #DoD. If you don't know, now you know. Federal IT vendors should plan on facing a "Shark Tank" environment for selling #software to the military via the newly required Commercial Solutions Opening (#CSO). Heard it here first, folks. <www.ark.ga> ?? ? ?? ???

One tried and true tactic for #emergingtech companies to break into to #DoDSales is to start by getting a foothold at Headquarters, US Special Operations Command. ?? #SOCOM has unique acquisition authorities and can move faster than the Military Departments. The Special Operations Association of America advocates for Special Operations on @CapitolHill. They're a great organization supporting the tippy tip of the spear. Thank you to David Cook for the invite. Great to see friends last night including Amit Elazari, Dr. J.S.D, Dana W. Hudson, Erin Scanlon, MPM, Clarke Cooper, and more.

Don't mess with Texas. ?? ...or Austin, TX-HQ'd #IdentityGovernance leaders, like SailPoint. ?? Evangelizing the #GoodWord of #IGA on Capitol Hill with Jim Russell! Great to hang-out again with the #Texas delegation!

A big #ThankYou to Michael Shrader, VP for Intelligence & Innovation at Carahsoft for hosting Ark's Founder & Managing Director, Michael C., for a webinar helping #Carahsoft portfolio companies better understand how to navigate the United States Congress on #IT and #defense priorities in the National Defense Authorization Act (#NDAA) and fiscal year #appropriations. Full recording here: https://lnkd.in/gMM3dvQv Short Snippet here: https://lnkd.in/grNVh3xk If #America is going to win, we're going to need the best and brightest of American #tech in the US government. ?? ? ?? ???