Diary of a (Non-Tech) Tech Scout

Excited to post my first blog on LinkedIn! Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend!

I've titled this blog thread Diary of a (Non-Tech) Tech Scout as a throwback to a book series my little brother read, "A Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney which follows the protagonist, Greg Heffley, and his day to day life trying to make his way through high school. I figured this was the perfect tongue in cheek representation of my transition post active duty Army (two days into terminal leave); as I wade the waters of transitioning out of the military, working in my capacity as a fellow for Air Force Research Lab, as a reservist with the 75th Innovation Command, and as I start the job search/start-up development process.

I was fortunate enough to be adopted into the Space Force and Air Force innovation ecosystem through the SPECTRE fellowship under the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) with the hopes of bridging innovation efforts between the Army, Air Force, and Space Force below the headquarters level. Part of my role in this fellowship and in the 75th Innovation Command is to serve as a technology scout to support Space Force (SPACEWERX), Air Force, and Army modernization efforts. Throughout the course of my six months I'll use this blog thread as an opportunity to capture and impart my lessons learned for start-up and nascent companies looking to break into the complex, murky, and the seemingly uninviting world of federal acquisitions and research.

To set the stage... after returning from a year long deployment in the Middle East as a targeting officer, and later as a squadron intelligence officer in the storied 3d Cavalry Regiment (Brave Rifles!); I recognized we... the most powerful military in the world... were drastically losing our technological superiority over not only peer/near-peer threats, but even ISIS! Nothing is more frustrating than waiting ten years for the "best tech military money can buy" not be able to influence something that costs $20 on Amazon.

I came back from the deployment and set after to influence innovative change at the ground level... a Captain on the outskirts of the massive Army modernization efforts. To make a long story short, I was fortunate to work on multiple projects attempting to bring start-ups into the Army; some which worked.. and others that didn't. The "failures" and road blocks I experienced fueled me to continue fighting to bring change to the Army in support of the warfighter. B ringing me to writing this blog today and wanting to capture my lessons learned.

Everything to follow is purely my opinion and does not reflect the opinions of the U.S. Army, 75th Innovation Command, U.S. Air Force, Air Force Research Lab, or the U.S. Space Force.

July lessons learned:

1). True or False... The government is there to help? Believe it or not... TRUE! There are ample opportunities provided throughout the government to jump start nascent markets, support the development of young companies, or people with ideas, with critical capabilities, and even provide free lab resources to companies. Listed below are a few programs and opportunities for companies, or frankly people with good ideas, to tap into the array of federal resources (money, resources, coaching, etc.) available.

Air Force/Space Force Hyperspace Challenge: https://hyperspacechallenge.com

Air Force/Space Force Catalyst Accelerator: https://catalystaccelerator.space

Hacking for Defense: https://www.h4d.us

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA): https://federallabs.org/media/publication-library/air-force-crada-brochure

National Security Innovation Network: https://www.nsin.us

Army Applications Lab: https://aal.army

Space Force Pitch Day: https://spaceforcepitchday.com

SOFXWERX: https://www.sofwerx.org

AFWERX: https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/afwerx-usaf/

DEFENSEWERX: https://defensewerx.org

2). Pitches are just as important as your technology!!! Far too often critical, game changing concepts, start-ups, and companies are missed out on because the pitch just didn't "hit the mark". Below are my common observations up to this point:

• Observation #1: You're too smart! Many government tech scouts do not have a tech background. For my country music fans out there... imagine government tech scouts embodying their best Shania Twain impersonation "so you're a rocket scientist... that don't impress me much." The pitch, especially if its under ten minutes, needs to hit the point... What will your idea or capability do for the warfighter? What problem are you solving and for who? Don't go into the weeds on formulas, the science behind the idea, or how much work went into putting the concept together. We care.... but we don't care at the same time... Tell me why you're better, cheaper, faster, than everyone else on the market. No matter how hard you try to explain, I'll never fully understand how you have done what you've done! How will you help our warfighters win the next big fight?
• Observation #2: If you're not good at pitching, DONT! Hire someone who can. Pitches are how you gain placement and access into the government... without getting your point across in a short time span you'll miss all of the resources previously discussed. Far too often I see the chief technology officer (CTO) or chief programmer/scientist behind the company/idea be the one to pitch, even if they're not the right person to. Spend a little money on someone who can concisely get the point across to get access to far more resources!
• Observation #3: Know and adapt to your audience. While we all speak English... every branch and organization in the federal government speaks a different "language". You may be saying right now... Ian.. What the hell does that mean? Well, how you pitch to one organization in the government may (probably) won't work for another. Take the time to research and understand how that organization speaks, what they care about, and most importantly... how they receive information! Far too often I have seen companies pitch to the Air/Space Force and use the same brief for the Army... Army doesn't care about the thing you're going to put in space, they care about the data that system provides. Adapt to your customer!
• Observation #4: Your tech/capability is more capable and impressive than you thought! It amazed me how many companies and people I talked to in June/July who pigeon-holed themselves into only one or two customers! No really... they designed beautiful products and concepts and said "well there is some commercial value but really this is for the Air Force or Space Force." After deeper conversations we were able to widen their aperture and saw use cases in the Army, Marine Corps, and even Coast Guard; enabling a wider customer discovery opportunity. Companies also created products which inadvertently had different or smaller use cases. For example... a company developed a concept for 3D printing portions of satellites in space; during their demonstration developed a means to 3D print distributed antennas which could be folded into any shape you needed. While their pitch was designed towards the Air Force and Space Force, inadvertently, with some support from an advisor at Catalyst Accelerator, they were able to find a larger market in the Army and Marine Corps. At the end of the day... don't forget to drive innovation and bring unique thoughts to your organization internally to assist in customer and end user discovery! Understand ALL the problems you could possibly answer, I want you all to dramatically succeed!

3). Network, network some more, and when you think you did enough.... do more! Networking has been absolutely critical in shortening my massive learning curve. I am routinely amazed by all of the brilliant ideas and concepts that are teased out over a cup of coffee, or a beer at happy hour. I've found young start-ups have a much higher chance of success if they've heavily developed their network; and as a friend put it today "build your personal brand". These networks provide critical feedback early (even if you don't want to hear it), lessons learned, outside perspectives, and more importantly.... they expand your growing network! I aim to talk to at minimum to three new people a week... equating to 12 a month, or 144 a year. Thats 144 new people a year who can expand your knowledge base and can dramatically increase your network.

Thanks for sticking around for my first entry, I hope this is and will continue to be helpful! If this is useful, do my a favor and leave a comment or forward along to your network! I'll aim to post biweekly and include a future section for frequently asked questions, networking opportunities, and common resources I am using to expand my knowledge base. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend and I'll see you in a couple weeks!