About this episode

In this episode, Craig Picken interviews Gemo Yesil about the evolving landscape of defense acquisition and strategies for success in the current market.

Today’s defense landscape is chaotic and fast-moving. Drones, AI, autonomy, and cyber threats are reshaping how wars are fought…and how the Pentagon spends. For companies and CEOs, the barrier to entry has never been lower. Any startup with a pitch deck and some funding can say they're in “defense.” But actually succeeding in this market? That’s never been harder. Small businesses get lost in red tape, big businesses lose their edge chasing shiny objects. Most companies looking to break into the defense space still pitch like it’s 2005, leading with tech specs, chasing every shiny RFP, and assuming that great engineering sells itself. It doesn’t…not in today’s environment. So what’s the right strategy in this market? How do companies set themselves up to win? In this episode, I sit down with Gemo Yesil, founder and managing partner of Bastion Atlas, to unpack why so many well-funded startups, savvy CEOs, and legacy contractors are falling flat, and what it really takes to win in today’s high-stakes, high-complexity market. Gemo knows the DoD world inside and out. An MIT-trained aerospace engineer, Air Force veteran, and founder of a fast-scaling fractional BD firm, he’s seen…

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