dany

ceo @mara_defense | vibe pilot | drone coder | SR004 @speedrun alum | co-founder: @h4x0r1ng

[dany @efectual]

we built SHORAD on preseed with 4 people

[mara @mara_defense]

introducing spike: low-cost autonomous air defense

[prototype field test 0]

[dany @efectual]

out here asking b2b ai saas founders what their TRL is

[dany @efectual]

@turbofakesmile lfg

[dany @efectual]

TRL 6-7

[dany @efectual]

@rcanedesignwrks oh? one can never have too much. bird data

[dany @efectual]

(a defense focused VC)

[dany @efectual]

"I just don't see the defense budget doing a 180 towards drone or cuas procurement. I agree they should move fast, but I think it'll take maybe a decade to get to $10.0B."

-- someone with hahaWRONGism I spoke with in 2025

[Vital Trades @VitalTrades]

The buried number: the Defense Autonomous Working Group goes from $226M this year to $54.6B next year.

That is a 242x increase for one office.

The Pentagon just quietly admitted that the Iran war exposed a capability gap that requires a Manhattan Project-sized response.

$54B doesn't get absorbed by AVAV, KTOS, and Anduril alone. This is a new tier of defense primes forming in real time.

The counter-drone market is about to mint its first $100B company.

[dany @efectual]

@jamoses92 @ycombinator @bosmeny @mara_defense we on that high SNR shit 😎

[dany @efectual]

RIP "I just don't see how counter-UAS could ever be a massive market. And what happens when the War in Ukraine ends next month?" (2022-2025)

[dany @efectual]

@jamoses92 @ycombinator @bosmeny they passed on @mara_defense in 2024😂

[dany @efectual]

@83dollaroring brutal

[dany @efectual]

yea

[Vital Trades @VitalTrades]

The buried number: the Defense Autonomous Working Group goes from $226M this year to $54.6B next year.

That is a 242x increase for one office.

The Pentagon just quietly admitted that the Iran war exposed a capability gap that requires a Manhattan Project-sized response.

$54B doesn't get absorbed by AVAV, KTOS, and Anduril alone. This is a new tier of defense primes forming in real time.

The counter-drone market is about to mint its first $100B company.

[dany @efectual]

u can call me a pirate the way I got that ARR

[dany @efectual]

@nicochristie @tkexpress11 THATS RIGHT 🚀

[dany @efectual]

want an intro to the SR team? DM me

[andrew chen @andrewchen]

ok - dropping big dates/news for a16z speedrun:

- starting TODAY, founders can apply for the 2026 program that runs July 27 to Oct 11 in SF

here's the link: https://t.co/opkX4cIaCF

- we will be investing up to $1M and funding 70+ companies over the next few weeks

- But there's also $5M in credits/tokens/etc from AWS/GCP/Open AI/Azure/NVIDIA/Deel/Stripe/etc. You'll also work with our amazing operating team (GTM, talent, brand, people, and more), and join our community of elite founders

- we offer a Global Founders Program for international founders, to help with visas, banking support, relo recommendations

- yes you can be solo (but better if you're further along, and have built a team). No you don't have to have an idea yet. Yes you have to know how to build (even if you're not technical)

- Also, in other news: speedun is officially moving full-time to SF. (prev it alternated SF/LA) this is for all the obv reasons

- we've continued to have an insane lineup of speakers, including the founders of Carta / DoorDash / Twilio / Figma / Zynga / Airtable / Twitch / and of course, lunch/dinners with Marc/Ben alongside a16z team - and much more

- the deadline for applying is May 17!

[dany @efectual]

if ur girl can’t deep strip and fully maintain a 1911 thats not your girl that’s a commie

[dany @efectual]

@punished_teno use @optivolt

[dany @efectual]

red and yellow kill a fellow BUT NOT ME 😤

[dany @efectual]

what if we kissed in the jumpscare empty police car at the entrance to SFO

[dany @efectual]

i’m a proud ukrainian housewife