My first conversation with Bryon Hargis (@hargsb), Cofounder and CEO of @Castelion. This is a special edition of our show recorded at @reindsummit. Since then, Castelion has announced a $1 billion Series C funding valuing the company at $13 billion making it one of the most valuable defense technology companies in the ecosystem. What we cover: - Why Bryon sold his SpaceX stock to bootstrap Castelion and bet two-thirds of his savings on the mission. - Why affordable, mass-produced hypersonic missiles are central to his vision of American deterrence. - Building Blackbeard, winning the first Navy order, and scaling production to thousands of missiles a year. - The SpaceX lessons behind faster hardware development: rapid testing, questioning convention, and knowing when to change course. - Hiring for mission over money and why company culture is built one person at a time. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 01:00 Bootstrapping with SpaceX stock and crypto mining 07:00 Why Bryon started a defense company 11:00 Building deterrence and landing the first Navy order 14:00 Scaling missile manufacturing in New Mexico 18:00 Meet Blackbeard: Castelion’s hypersonic missile 20:00 Hypersonic vs. ballistic vs. cruise missiles 23:00 Golden Dome and the future of missile defense 25:00 How SpaceX enables America’s national security 27:00 Elon Musk, ambitious deadlines, and moving faster 30:00 Why rapid testing beats over-engineering 33:00 Lessons from SpaceX: Question convention, follow the data 38:00 Hiring for the mission and building company culture 45:00 Growing as a founder and being willing to be wrong Congrats to friends of the show @a16z @davidu @TheAmbitionCap @lacostejonathan and others including @lightspeedvp @AltimeterCap @generalcatalyst Special thanks to @falondonohue @austinbishop @aphysicist for hosting @WeThe_Builders in Detroit

BOLSTERING THE DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE: @BretBaier examines efforts to overhaul the defense industrial base through stable, multi-year funding frameworks and a growing reliance on agile commercial startups. As Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey notes, multi-billion-dollar deals with prime contractors like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are locking in production for critical systems like Tomahawk, THAAD, and Patriot interceptors. Meanwhile, the Defense Innovation Unit and next-gen tech firms like Castelion and Rocket Lab are utilizing rapid commercial manufacturing practices to scale up hypersonic capabilities and outpace modern threats.

Blackbeard Hypersonic Missile Seen Flying On F/A-18 Super Hornet For The First Time The Navy is pushing to get Blackbeard, a lower-cost and fast-to-produce standoff weapon, into operational service by 2028 at the latest.

TIME's new cover: Admiral Samuel Paparo is preparing for a war he hopes never to fight. His mission: prevent conflict with China. “If I do my job right, history will never know my name,” he tells TIME in an exclusive interview

U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle, member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, met with our leadership team at Castelion's headquarters and saw our production line firsthand. Thanks for making the trip, @RepJoeMorelle.

Blackbeard is going into production. The U.S. Navy has awarded Castelion a production order valued at up to $200 million for an initial lot of Blackbeard Hypersonic Weapons, following the 50 EOC rounds ordered in June. Engineered from day one for the production line. Grateful to PAE(A) for the trust and the urgency.

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we honor those who lost their lives, the heroic first responders, and the strength and resiliency of Americans across the world. We will never forget.

Excited to make this demo happen. Couldn’t agree more on demonstrating capability and working with like-minded companies. We have to hit some priorities on our three platform integration contracts (one to be announced soon), but we’ll make this happen ASAP.

The future of the United States depends on our Navy's ability to design and field a force that stays ahead of any future problem set and adversary. Castelion was grateful to host the @FutureNavyComm at our headquarters and contribute to their plans for the future of naval power.

Congressman @RobWittman, Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, recently visited our Torrance headquarters to discuss American innovation in affordable strike weapons.

Private investment in defense tech gives America a strong advantage over our adversaries. Our investors believe in the future of the United States as much as Castelion does. Thank you to @nasdaq for featuring Castelion in Times Square!