Epirus Outperforms Drone Defense
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Joe Lonsdale shares a story about how his defense company Epirus won a major competition against established defense contractors.
"We were able to put together money and a prototype. With less than $30 million in the second round, we fought our way into a contest against the other prime contractors. The primes don't want contests - they're better at playing golf with senators. But if you can get into a contest, we can win.
The other guys had spent billions of dollars on this electromagnetic pulse technology. They didn't really take us seriously - what could these kids do? That was the old mindset in the US from the 1950s-60s that innovation is expensive and outsiders can't do it.
Long story short, we ended up shooting down the hardened drones 9.5 times further away than the other guys. They actually had to use binoculars to watch us shooting them down really far away. People were just flabbergasted. Their people were totally shocked.
We named the company Epirus after the bow of Theseus from legend - Theseus started Athens and his bow had infinite arrows. It's kind of like a bow with infinite arrows because you can keep firing the pulses."
Joe Lonsdale
Co-founded 8VC, a venture capital firm focused on building sustainable businesses. Helped launch Resilience to address vulnerabilities in medical supply chains.
Serial entrepreneur with a track record of founding and guiding companies in various sectors. Instrumental in the success of Epirus, which secured significant contracts and funding.