About Lieutenant General (ret) Ross Coffman
Ross Coffman represents a rare breed in defense innovation - a senior military leader who transitioned directly from the Pentagon to startup leadership. During his final seven years in the Army, Lt Gen Coffman was deep in technology, serving as director of the next generation combat vehicle cross-functional team before becoming deputy commanding general for combat development at Army Futures Command from 2022 to 2024.
His portfolio at Army Futures Command spanned satellite payloads to vaccines for monkeypox - giving him a unique perspective on how the military evaluates and adopts new technology. After 35 years of military service, Lt Gen Coffman joined Forward Edge-AI as president, a company building cybersecurity products for the quantum age.
About Colonel Dan Cormier
Colonel Cormier brings the operational perspective as both a seasoned warfighter and current educator at the Naval Leadership and Ethics Center in Newport. His focus on senior leader development provides crucial insight into how bureaucratic processes shape military thinking, particularly the tension between compliance-based junior leadership and the dynamic thinking required at senior levels.
About Forward Edge AI
Forward Edge AI is an early-stage startup focused on cybersecurity for the quantum age. The company's core values align with national defense, public safety, and national security - a mission alignment that drew Coffman from his military career to startup leadership.
Key Takeaways
1. Replace rigid requirements with "characteristics of need"
Traditional acquisition sets detailed specifications too early, locking in yesterday's solutions. Coffman wants to see DoD give industry broad capability documents and iterate until the last possible moment. Instead of specifying exact weight, define the outcome: "cross 85% of Eastern European bridges." This allows engineers to innovate on track width, length, or other variables while meeting the real operational need.
2. What got you here won’t get you there
Military systems excel at creating junior officers who follow orders flawlessly without supervision - a compliance-based approach. But senior leaders need entirely different skills: balancing risk, mission, resources, time, and people to make dynamic decisions. The bureaucratic processes that create perfect lieutenants actively work against developing the strategic thinking needed at higher levels.
3. Programs of record become innovation death traps
Once locked into a program of record, military organizations continue reissuing subpar equipment while technology advances rapidly outside. The solution requires leadership courage - the new Army chief of staff and secretary ended a failed drone program, moving to rapid procurement cycles of 20,000 units at a time with no long sustainment tails.
4. Understand SBIR as learning infrastructure, not delivery mechanism
Too many founders approach SBIR as a way to deliver finished products to government customers. But its real purpose is to broaden America's innovation base across the entire country. Failure is not just acceptable but expected. Use SBIR funding to hire talent, learn about applications, and develop products for broader commercialization - most technology is dual-use by nature.
5. Think systems-level about defense applications
Most founders pigeonhole their technology into single applications when multiple government use cases exist. The military operates like a group of small cities, requiring everything from utilities software to personnel management tools. Seek external counsel to understand the full scope of applications rather than limiting yourself to obvious defense-specific uses. The key is understanding context through proactive conversations with military professionals who can relate civilian innovations to warfighter needs.
Bottom Line: We're experiencing the best moment for defense startups in half a century. The artificial barriers that existed since the Cold War are breaking down, creating unprecedented opportunities for mission-driven entrepreneurs to reach warfighters with innovative solutions.
For more on Ross Coffman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-coffman
For more on Daniel Cormier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-j-cormier
For more Crossing the Valley: www.valleycrossers.com
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