Ex-Army Soldier & Defence Investor Steve Baxter on how War has changed forever
About this episode
Steve Baxter discusses his journey from the army to investing in Australian defence startups and the implications of modern warfare.
Steve Baxter is a former Shark Tank investor, ex-Army guided weapons technician, and founder of Beaten Zone Venture Partners, a fund backing Australian defence startups and pushing them into the US market where the real money is. In this conversation, Steve takes us from growing up in outback Queensland and joining the army at 15, through building and selling one of Australia's biggest dial-up internet providers, to why he believes private capital — not government grants — is the key to Australia's sovereign defence capability. We get into cardboard drones that took out Russian aircraft in Kursk, robot dogs armed for the battlefield, a hypersonic aircraft built in Brisbane, and why 83% of Australia's super funds won't touch defence investment because of ESG. Steve also gives his blunt take on the Iran war, why he thinks deterrence beats conflict every time, and what he'd say to anyone about investing in the business of war. Subscribe to the Mentored newsletter here: https://the-mentored-platform-pty-ltd.myklpages.com/l/WWJGc5 Join my exclusive Mentored+ community: https://mentored.com.au/become-a-member/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy…
People in this episode
Guest: Steve Baxter
Topics covered
- defence investment
- private capital
- technology in warfare
- Australian startups
- military experience
- sustainable investment
Keywords
- defence
- investment
- war technology
- private capital
- super funds
- robot dogs
- hypersonic aircraft
- ESG
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Beaten Zone Venture Partners, Shark Tank
Places: Australia, Queensland, Kursk, Brisbane
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