America has lost non-nuclear deterrence. Castelion CEO Bryon Hargis wants to change that. At @CastelionCorp, Bryon is building a new generation of hypersonic missiles designed for speed, survivability, and scalable production. He joined a16z's David Ulevitch for a conversation on Castelion, hypersonic weapons, the state of procurement and more. They cover: - America's lag in hypersonic weapons and why we need to catch up - The critical role of startups in weapons development - How Ukraine changed how we think about the future of warfare - Exciting developments towards procurement reform in Washington - How to build a company culture of urgency 0:00 Introduction 0:27 What are hypersonic missiles? 2:40 The continuum of deterrence 7:37 Breaking into government sales 8:14 Understanding the customer and building trust 14:29 Enterprise sales and government procurement 20:16 Lessons from Ukraine: Production and deterrence 23:15 Reindustrialization and dual use technology 25:00 Building company culture and urgency 26:45 Buy vs build: Supply chain decisions 28:55 Castelion's first launch 30:20 Optimism for American Dynamism @hargsb @davidu(a16z)