Best Vannevar Labs Podcasts (2025)

1
Why Reasoning Agents Change Everything in Defense | In The Arena 43:05

Play Pause

26d ago43:05

43:05

Reasoning agents have quietly crossed a threshold. In just the past few months, models gained the ability to choose and chain tools, turning them from text summarizers into systems that can actually reason, act, and adapt. For defense missions, that shift is enormous. Vannevar CEO Brett Granberg explains why the o1 –> o3 leap changed everything, ho…

1
Dropping Out, Raising Capital, and Starting a $1.5B Defense Tech Company | In The Arena 26:32

1M ago26:32

26:32

Vannevar CEO Brett Granberg walks through his founder journey, from the first days to a $1.5B valuation. We cover his lessons learned and key decisions he made along the way: why Vannevar is not dual-use, how to think about defense TAM, why you should reference-check your investors, and building credibility in the early days. Finally, Brett explain…

1
Leave Your Ego at the Door | In the Arena 35:14

1M ago35:14

35:14

Vannevar CEO Brett Granberg explains the ideology behind one of our core operating principles: “Leave your ego at the door." Brett breaks down the difference between confidence and ego, and why “nice guys don’t close big deals” is lazy thinking that hurts mission outcomes. We get practical: how to hire high-agency people, how to spot toxic ego in i…

1
How to Make Strategic Product Bets | In The Arena 22:38

2M ago22:38

22:38

How do companies know which products to build? What are traits of a 10X product leader? Should national security startups pursue a portfolio of bets or take a couple concentrated big swings? What does it look like to balance buyer vs. customer demand in defense? In this episode, CEO Brett Granberg shares how Vannevar has navigated these questions w…

1
Building Winning BD-Engineering Partnerships in Defense | In The Arena 22:57

2M ago22:57

22:57

In this episode, learn how defense companies can close deals faster and build better products by getting business development and engineering on the same page. Vannevar CEO Brett Granberg explains why engineers should be in the room early, how forward deployed engineers shape both products and customer trust, and why time on-site with users drives …

1
Hardware vs. Software and Building Complete Systems | In The Arena 25:19

2M ago25:19

25:19

In this episode of In the Arena, Vannevar CEO Brett Granberg breaks down the shift from building software-only tools to integrated hardware-software systems. He shares why defense startups need to deliver complete systems (as opposed to just components), how hardware forces a different pace of iteration, and why real-world deployments – failures an…

1
The Case for Working in Defense Tech | In the Arena 22:17

2M ago22:17

22:17

In the first episode of In the Arena, Vannevar CEO Brett Granberg discusses what it really means to build technology for the national security mission. They discuss Brett’s personal path from consulting into defense, what led him to co-found Vannevar, and why working in public service can be both meaningful and urgent. The conversation explores: Wh…