Are United States shipyards in trouble?
Here are some points from an interesting article, US Shipyards – Record Revenue At Firesale Valuations. Yesterday Bollinger Shipyards, the largest privately-owned and operated shipbuilder […]
defense
Podcast: Commercial space, venture, and DoD with Jordan Noone and Jenna Bryant
I was pleased to have Jordan Noone and Jenna Bryant on the Acquisition Talk podcast to talk about how commercial companies in space and deep […]
Commercial tech, “fast follower” strategies, and a framework for rapid acquisition
Here’s a flash talk with DIU’s Mike Brown at the Aspen Security Forum: There are so many innovations in the commercial sector that could be […]
Peter Theil talks defense industry consolidation
Robert O’Brien: One of the things we’ve seen that’s happened faster than the experts thought — particularly over the last decade — is that the […]
Podcast: What’s the price of an AI/ML product?
As firms are finding out, the unit economics of AI/ML is not exactly like software. It requires more manual manipulation of data than one might […]
GMU Releases Draft Acquisition Playbook, Invites Your Feedback
George Mason University is developing a playbook to help government work with innovative industry partners. After more than 70 interviews with expert practitioners, the Center […]
How formal relational contracts can improve defense outcomes
When Dell originally selected FedEx, in 2005, to handle all aspects of its hardware return-and-repair process, the companies drew up a traditional supplier contract. The 100-page-plus […]
Revolutionizing manufacturing in the aerospace industry
This entire industry of aerospace and defense, especially the area in manufacturing parts, is dependent on this large and fragmented supply chain. Basically, mom and […]
Event: Measuring R&D productivity
R&D is an easy target for cuts when firms face pressure from quarterly earnings. One problem is that firms don’t have a metric to benchmark […]
Seeing like a state, institutional legibility, and the collapse of defense innovation
The book begins with an early example, “scientific” forestry (illustrated in the picture above). The early modern state, Germany in this case, was only interested […]
Podcast: OTAs and everything else with Ben McMartin
In a special webinar event of the Acquisition Talk podcast, I spoke with the excellent Ben McMartin. He is a managing partner at the Public […]