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"Building the Base" - an in-depth series of conversations with top entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders from tech, financial, industrial, and public sectors.
Our special guests provide their unique perspectives on a broad selection of topics such as: shaping our future national security industrial base, the impact of disruptive technologies, how new startups can increasingly contribute to national security, and practical tips on leadership and personal development whether in government or the private sector.
Building the Base is hosted by Lauren Bedula, is Managing Director and National Security Technology Practice Lead at Beacon Global Strategies, and the Honorable Jim "Hondo" Geurts who retired from performing the duties of the Under Secretary of the Navy and was the former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition and Acquisition Executive at United States Special Operations Command.
Lauren Bedula 0:01
Welcome back to Building the Base. Lauren Bedula and Hondo Geurts here, and it's that time of year again. We're recording live from Simi Valley at the Reagan National Defense forum, and we were so thrilled to be starting off our conversations here today with the honorable Mike Dodd. The Honorable Dodd is serving as Assistant Secretary of War for Critical Technologies in the Office of the Secretary of War for Research and Engineering. We've got so much to talk about today. We know you're a busy man, sir. Thanks for joining us.
Hon. Mike Dodd 0:27
No thank you, Lauren. Appreciate you having me well.
Hondo Geurts 0:29
Secretary Dodd, it's good to say, Secretary Dodd, congratulations. We've been we've been around the block a few times together. But for those who don't know you, what's a little your background. I know you got a time in service, and what brought you all the way then to the Pentagon.
Hon. Mike Dodd 0:46
Yeah, so kind of interesting pathway. Prior enlisted Marine spent the better part of my enlisted career down at Camp Lejeune. Was an amtracker. Then got into the commissioning program, was an infantry officer in the Marine Corps. And I spent 11 years the Marine Corps as a infantry officer and then ended up as the opposite of first force. So after 11 years, unfortunately, I did get medically retired, and then kind of got pulled into private equity. There's no real pathway in, like educational pathway. You know, this is 20 something years ago, but was fortunate enough to get out, found, run and then sell a company to a fund who I then stayed with for about 15 years, and then I managed all their national security and U.S. government contracts. And over my time, there grew that to over 2 billion assets under management man operating in seven different countries and 1300 employees. So really nice footprint. Interesting pathway into this position, to come back into the Department and getting recognized by a couple of the Indiana delegation and recommended for the position as one of those things. Maybe you'll appreciate. You think, all right, I'll come back. I'll take a shift on the ice. There's no way I'll get through the process. It's too much all the background stuff and but fortunate, you know, you get into the process. And you know, eight months through nomination to confirmation, finally, finally got through a couple months ago. So it's been tremendous to get back in the stuff going on inside the Department is just absolutely fantastic.
Lauren Bedula 2:29
Well, you've hit the ground running, and I know we have a lot to talk about on that front, but before we do, it's fun to hear about your career. There's a real theme of national security and defense throughout. What was your calling? Was it like a family of service?
Hon. Mike Dodd 2:43
Just to really, just give you what may sound like a cliche answer, like I knew when I was 18 I wanted to be a Marine some and my parents, at the time, believe it or not, were actually dead set against it. Made me go tour, schools, universities, all the stuff, everything, to try and not have me do it. So my compromise with my dad was I got into Norwich University, kind of a citadel VMI University, and I got there, and was there for like three weeks, and I went and listed in the Marine Corps anyway, wow. And then that was when Iraq invaded Kuwait. So I got activated. I signed a reserve contract and then went active duty for the next four years as an enlisted Marine. But yeah, I mean, it was, it was my calling, and I knew that early on, just as a young guy.
Lauren Bedula 3:31
Wow. And you mentioned, obviously, you took time to spend in the private sector as well, and sounds like both dealing with technology and the financial sector, world investment side, what surprised you, pivoting from DOD out to the private sector?
Hon. Mike Dodd 3:46
Well, I think in a, in a good, you know, surprise, high class problem, ways, on the other side, in private equity, you actually have a pretty significant ability to impact the technologies that actually deploy, right? And then, you know, coming from the department, recognizing the different you know, whether it's services, PEOs now, Paes, and the technologies that could or should have impact for the department, and by bringing a lot of capital to bear, giving those things an actual, legitimate shot of getting through. So that was probably my biggest surprise. But coupled with, when you really pair significant capital with the right technologies, how quickly those companies can scale and actually have impact downrange. Yeah.
Hondo Geurts 4:37
I mean, we often said in the SOCOM world, don't measure your value by proximity to the final objective. And so, you know, there's lots of ways to contribute, some in uniform, some on some out, some in venture, whatever it is. So, so now you're back in, you're in the building. It's been a, you know, the administration's got off to a running start, to say the least. Recently announced kind of necking down the critical technologies of which you're kind of responsible. So maybe Mike, a little bit of, kind of what your day job is now, and then maybe we can get into the critical technologies that you see going forward that we need to really focus on.
Hon. Mike Dodd 5:14
Yeah, absolutely. So we recently released a new six critical technology areas, or CTS, coming from 14 down to six. And really, kind of the thesis, there is a couple things, but one is, you know, if everything's critical, nothing is and recognizing with this administration and just the geopolitical state of affairs, you know, where are we peer to peer? Where are we near peer? Where, where should the department really place its emphasis and resources to one either catch up in some of these technology domains where we may be behind or are behind, so we gain parity and or deter major conflict by gaining a technological supremacy. And you know, it's more of this kind of continuous offset model where parity is not acceptable. So it's continuing to fund those technical, technological areas, to continue to maintain supremacy. So that was kind of the thesis coming in. And again, that's a DEP SEC Fineberg and Honorable Michael kind of thesis. But exactly what's needed at this time for the department.
Lauren Bedula 6:19
We have a lot of listeners that are patriotic entrepreneurs that are eager to support mission with this announcement. I know there's a lot of interest, and it helps inform everything from product roadmaps to messaging and talking points. Do you have anything for those listeners who are trying to partner with you, any kind of industry best practices or call to action?
Hon. Mike Dodd 6:39
Yeah, I guess a couple things. Thank you, Lauren for that, because really, and it's events like this, and I maintain a pretty aggressive road show, and that's by design, right? We're trying to get out to where the technologists are and engage them where they are. We don't want them to be concerned of really well, trying to do business with the department is this big, super complex pathway, and it is, to some extent, all right, so we're trying to create this front door atmosphere where I could sit with a technologist, and I do this all the time, and we receive performers, not traditional performers, into the building all the time, to give them An opportunity to actually present capability. And I'm also a big advocate of getting to a no as quickly as possible, right? So these a lot of times, you'll hear this all the time, or from performers Well, you know, general so and so thought we've got the best thing ever, and, man, we just couldn't see it go anywhere after that. So I want performers to get to a no, or maybe recommend some teaming opportunities, or, Hey, you actually have something that's pretty compelling. Let me bring some contracting pathways by which I can get to you and have you iterate or prototype a product for us, and then get you the real technology experts or our senior officials to engage with, iterate with and see if that technology can actually impact our mission set and the technology sprints that we're doing. So the recommendation is, engage, come and go to every event where you have an opportunity to meet folks from the department who have requirements, where you get a chance to meet with the services, understand the resource sponsors, the folks with the money, and get a chance to actually present your capability. And you know, you've got to be, you've got to be fairly dogged. You got to be able to accept all the no's along the way. And maybe you need to iterate your product that you're trying to, you know, have the have the department acquire, but you got to stay after it.
Lauren Bedula 8:44
Love it. And you know from your time in the private sector, getting to a no in an efficient way means a lot, right? And so I think that's music to a lot of our listeners ears. We also have a lot of folks from the investment community, yeah, is there any of the Are there any of those six areas that you see as we need to drive more private capital towards or prioritize?
Hon. Mike Dodd 9:03
Well, yeah, I smile, but all of them, yeah, one of the single biggest barriers to entry for the scaling, non traditionals. So they often will come, certainly with their qualifications, their past performance, and they got to be able to do what they say they can do. But oftentimes the longest leg in the stool is their financial capacity to perform. And I fortunately learned that early on when I sold my company and won a large contract. And then you turn around and go, How am I going to actually afford the carry cost of that contract? So the department, I meet a lot of technologists, and we're like, listen, you're a $5 million company here today. What you do is super compelling, but if you can't demonstrate that financial capacity to perform, I can only award you a contract to that level. And that's often the single most difficult thing these non traditionals run into, is having access to capital.
Hondo Geurts 9:57
You know, one I think Lauren mentioned it. You know, our key partnerships, right, whether it's on the industry side, whether it's, you know, R and E working with the acquisition folks. Are you sensing better partnership both kind of on the industry side and then within government to figure out kind of pathway all the way through, from technology to then getting into an acquisition program and sustainment, and are there things areas we need to keep working on in that regime.
Hon. Mike Dodd 10:24
No great Hondo. And actually, I stole some of this from your playbook, and I say this with a little bit in jest, but like, it doesn't have to be this complex, right? If you, if you get the resource sponsor and the service who have the money, and you get the PEOs or the PAEs in alignment. And now you have our service leads in alignment from the onset. And now we're doing a pull function in that, in that construct, to go and grab the capabilities and technologies that align to that and then pull them through. And it's just the inverse of us trying to push all these technologies and prototype and fun, hundreds and hundreds of prototypes that go on the shelf but do not have that alignment. Then the service goes, well, I don't need that. I don't want that. And then, of course, those non traditionals get super frustrated because their technologies go nowhere. So we create that alignment from the onset. And I've even gone so far as to meet with just in the last four weeks, with the Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of the Army, to say, hey, we have a project that we think meets these metrics. But if we, if I give my funding and for this period of performance and I hit these performance milestones, are you going to catch it out the other side? Are you going to palm for it and pull it out the other side. And when you get that level of commitment, we have things moving at the speed of business, and our probability of actual transition is crazy high, you know, of course, the inverse of the other construct. So there's certainly, there's certainly that and, and of course, you know the unique authorities, and, you know, the OTs, which are much more widely known now and much more widely utilized. Of course, you've got the acquisition reform kind of well underway, but it allows for the actual acquisition at the speed of business.
Hondo Geurts 12:16
And then how about on the operational side. Because, you know, at SOCOM, we acquired things fast. But if you don't also align the operational force to absorb it fast, right? You just hit another. Are you with the COCOMs? I know they're getting much more involved. Are you seeing good alignment out of them into the process?
Hon. Mike Dodd 12:32
Absolutely. And again, this is as we were kind of chatting before coming on air like it. That's not a quick ship to turn however is it's got that momentum now where these things are actually starting to happen. And when you get that level of engagement from the services or the service chiefs, it starts to turn that much more quickly, right? And recognizing, you know that the actual war fighters, you know that our service members are men and women, they are our customers, so getting their input on all these capabilities that we intend to bear, we're getting their input and feedback and again, in complete alignment with the with the services, and again, that whole construct of ensuring we get the highest probability of transition.
Lauren Bedula 13:19
That's awesome. And I want to go back to something you said, just the importance of engaging. So come see you. Come see your team. Now your time is very limited and valuable same time. So what advice do you have to those who do want to come see you? What's the best use of a conversation? What should they come prepared with, or what resonates with you most?
Hon. Mike Dodd 13:38
That's a fantastic question as well. So important is ensuring that you're you're coming and you have some idea of who that transition partner or off taker is, how interesting or compelling is your technology. Do some market research, understand the competitive landscape of who you are and what you do, or what you think you do, and how interesting that may be to the department. You know, we again, I like to get to know quickly. We get a lot of performers who come in and they say, Well, I've got this. I got that. I've got 14 of those already on contract for the last three plus years performing. Do you know about any of them? We should and or teaming opportunities for you and your company, so to the extent that they can know the Know Your Customer, know their interest, at least topically, and how you may align so and then you've got to also get meet that third leg in the stool. Where have you thought about how you may want to achieve the financial capacity to perform. Do you have any both, either private equity or venture capital or even family office who's prepared to allow you to use their balance sheet if you win a sizeable contract, to actually scale? So you got to do some homework. There's a, you know, we meet some unicorns along the way who are. Or, you know, the two or three person in the garage kind of thing with, you know, IP and, you know, 12 patents and all that, but you got to do some homework before you come in.
Hondo Geurts 15:11
Yeah, I think also, knowing that maybe the department doesn't normally buy technology, it buys solution pieces, so your technology may need to be paired up, right? Having a little humility that pairing it up. Now, I'm going to shift gears a little bit more kind of on the personal side, right? I mean, you've you grinded as enlisted Marine, grinded as Officer. You grinded and running a company, selling company. Now you're in the Pentagon, grinding what keeps you fired up? And you're fired up guy, you're enthusiastic and and, you know, for everybody out there, grinding, how do you any tips on resilience and staying energetic and in the face of, you know, challenges that we're all going to face in our lives?
Lauren Bedula 15:52
You came here from Israel, is that right? You look fresh.
Hon. Mike Dodd 15:55
We're at we were in Israel for a few days. I did sleep a little bit last night, so I feel reasonable, although I still can't hear it on my left ear. But no Hondo. I think, honestly, this just goes back to what I opened with, like, recognizing like, this is my calling and love America. Love our service, men and women and like, I want to make sure that to the extent that I can, I deliver an unfair fight for our folks. So when I had the opportunity to come in and actually impact that, it was, get your ass in there and make that stuff happen.
Lauren Bedula 16:27
Yeah, love it. And to that end, I know we have a lot of folks, as I said, listening, who are eager to serve. What's your take on where we stand with talent right now? Or what's your advice to them, if someone's looking to make a career change, how can they navigate this ecosystem? Or what do you need talent wise?
Hon. Mike Dodd 16:45
No, and this is a unique question, because we meet a ton of people like you don't need to be in uniform to serve your country. And I love to emphasize that, because they, you know, often folks will have this calling similar that they want to serve. Well, if you, if you are a super bright individual, and you have technology that aligns to the national securities of our country, get involved, and to the extent that you're either a founder or a funder, but trying to bring that technology to market, into the department, first and foremost, that would be my biggest ask, is is get connected, get a look and see what kind of impact you may be able to have.
Lauren Bedula 17:26
Awesome, well, the CTAs, I think, are loud and clear to industry, like I said, to inform how entrepreneurs are building their technologies, or even talking about what they're doing, and to hear you today say, hey, come see us. Get engaged. We want, we want to have dialog and conversation so sir, we know how busy you are, and are so grateful you took the time to come chat with us today. Thank you.
Unknown Speaker 17:47
No thank you, Hondo. Thank you Lauren, and I sincerely appreciate it, and absolutely I'll close with this, which is, come find us and get a meeting and let's see what your technology can do.
Lauren Bedula 17:58
Awesome. Thanks again.
Hon. Mike Dodd 18:00
Thank you guys.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai