Hear investor Elad Gil break down how he spots breakout startups early and what he’s betting on next—live at TC Disrupt 2025 in SF https://t.co/oYfGbheziD ...

Lord Mayor of London Alistair King tells @flacqua how UK can encourage startups to list in London over the United States https://t.co/9XIv9H9qiE https://t.co/5oWr3f0dwT ...

Starting a company, startup in a new market with new technology, never been their hardware, competing with the big players. Sounds pretty awesome, doesn't it? But also, once you're in there, it's really, really scary. Still, pretty much 10 years ago from now, three of my co-founders and I made exactly this decision. We saw one of the first marketing videos of Microsoft Hollowlands at that time. And tech nerds, which we were, it seemed all our dreams were coming true, working with holograms, the lives out of ...

Defense Industry Trends - Increased venture funding for defense startups driven by ongoing conflicts, potentially leading to further innovation [1] - Expectation of a durable trend of increased spending in the defense sector, possibly a continuation of the Cold War or the beginning of World War II [2][3] - NATO member countries are committing to spending 5% of their GDP on defense [3] - Cultural aversion in Silicon Valley towards supporting American defense is diminishing, making the sector more attractive for investment [4] - Market pull for the entire defense supply chain, including startups, is increasing [4][5] Procurement Challenges & Solutions - Both increased overall defense spending and a reallocation towards more efficient, higher-tech defense companies are anticipated [6] - Lengthy procurement cycles (NATO: ~17 years, US DoD: ~7+ years) pose a significant challenge for startups [7] - Efforts are underway to reduce and rationalize procurement cycles to enable startups to participate effectively [8] - Bureaucratic processes and a lack of financial incentives in the military hinder the adoption of innovative solutions from startups [11][12][13][14] Venture Capital & Private Equity Concerns - Illiquidity and lack of distributed capital (DPI) are major crises facing VC and private equity [17][18] - The concept of "private forever" is alarming because the industry depends on long-term liquidity to pay back distributions [20] - Extension of fund lifecycles (from 8 years to 12-15 years) and compression of fees are indicators of the liquidity crisis [21]