AFWERX and SpaceWERX Overview

Philip Hahn and Lt. Col. Rock McMillan provide an overview on AFWERX and SpaceWERX, its Space Force affiliated arm, as well as what these new approaches mean for the nation’s economy, for its defense, and for you.

What you’ll find out

• History of AFWERX (01:19)
• Why SpaceWERX (04:06)
• The role investors can play in the success of AFWERX and SpaceWERX initiatives (10:41)
• Working with and maintaining a relationship with the operators (15:15)
• Some of the successes and lessons learned from Agility Prime (20:59)
• The future of collaboration with other innovation groups like DIU and NavalX (28:10)
• Where the most opportunity is for AFWERX and SpaceWERX (32:12)
• How you can bring DoD end users to the table to help connect them with solutions (34:09)
• Brief overview of what a Spark Cell is (36:57)

Key quotes

• “Imagine doing a startup inside the Air Force inside the government — it’s not easy. And then you add multiple startups, which is really what we’ve been able to kind of combine together.” — Philip Hahn, AFWERX (08:50)
• “It’s events like these — again thank you to all of you that are here — these conversations, that really was the genesis of what started AFWERX, you know having something where people can just walk in off the street and that openness to have a conversation. THAT’s what unlocks a lot of the innovation, that’s what unlocks the transition of these technologies. It’s taking that first step.” — Philip Hahn, AFWERX (13:37)
• “If we’re fighting in a dynamic environment, I think we should have a dynamic, more agile acquisition system that will allow us to onboard capabilities like that in fast order.” — Lt. Col. Rock McMillan (16:06)

Who you’ll hear from

Lt. Col. Rock McMillan

Philip Hahn

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