Molly O’Shea
@MollySOShea
892 Following 68.9K Followers
Neros CEO @soren_ma reveals why it's virtually impossible to completely manufacture a drone without relying on China:
"We've gone way further than pretty much every other drone company in America."
"But I would be lying to you if I said nothing in our supply chain relies on China because the truth of the matter is, if you go down far enough, you will find places where China is the main supplier."
"As an example, printed circuit boards, the manufacturing uses precursor materials that is completely dominated by China. So even if you go to one of these board shops in America that specializes in ITAR, exquisite... they could be making the printed circuit boards for the F-35. I would be almost certain they're using precursor chemicals that come from China."
"It's a massive problem."
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The newest version of Neros' Bandit interceptor drone can fly 300 kilometers per hour:
"300 is a pretty good spot for taking out typical Shahed drones."
"To go after jet-powered Shahed drones, we need to be closer to 400 km/h, so that would be the ideal end state."
— @neros_tech CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma)
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FACTORY TOUR: Inside Neros' 250K sqft "Millennium One" Facility
Co-Founder & CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma) walks us through the building sized for 1 million drones a year.
We look at the @neros_tech engineering labs, flight-test operation, assembly lines, & 100% end-of-line flight testing, then out to the open floor reserved for in-house component manufacturing
Everything under one roof.
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Inside Neros' 250,000 sq. ft. Millennium One Factory
(01:23) How Neros pushes its drones to the limit
(02:36) Why 3D printing can't solve the drone supply chain problem
(03:40) How their drones are built different
(06:21) The new 300 km/h Bandit interceptor
(09:09) Inside the drone assembly line: producing 250+ drones a day
(11:18) South Bay's biggest American flag
(11:42) How Neros stress-tests its drones
(15:36) Inside the new product introduction line
(17:02) What roles is Neros hiring for
(19:01) Soren's hot take on defense tech
Show more
Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma) says Neros' Millennium One facility has the largest American flag in the South Bay:
"That was really important to us."
"This one is 30 x 60."
"Next facility needs to have higher ceilings so we can go even bigger."
Show more
FACTORY TOUR: Inside Neros' 250K sqft "Millennium One" Facility
Co-Founder & CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma) walks us through the building sized for 1 million drones a year.
We look at the @neros_tech engineering labs, flight-test operation, assembly lines, & 100% end-of-line flight testing, then out to the open floor reserved for in-house component manufacturing
Everything under one roof.
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Inside Neros' 250,000 sq. ft. Millennium One Factory
(01:23) How Neros pushes its drones to the limit
(02:36) Why 3D printing can't solve the drone supply chain problem
(03:40) How their drones are built different
(06:21) The new 300 km/h Bandit interceptor
(09:09) Inside the drone assembly line: producing 250+ drones a day
(11:18) South Bay's biggest American flag
(11:42) How Neros stress-tests its drones
(15:36) Inside the new product introduction line
(17:02) What roles is Neros hiring for
(19:01) Soren's hot take on defense tech
Show more
Neros CEO @soren_ma says Starlink solved one of the biggest problems for drones operating in contested environments: jamming.
"Another trend in Ukraine is there's a lot more Starlink-controlled drones."
"Starlink is generally really robust against jamming. It's kind of unique because often with space-based comms, your satellite is so far away that your signal strength is relatively low, and it's actually very easy to jam. This is why GPS is so frequently jammed and really hard to do anything against it because the signal you're getting from the satellite is so weak compared to a jammer sitting on the ground."
"Starlink, through a bunch of very, very cool technologies has gotten around that limitation and been a big unlock."
@elonmusk
Show more
BREAKING: Neros Raises $250M Series C at $2.5 Billion Valuation
FULL INTERVIEW
"America should have the capability to have factories that can make millions of drones per year because that's what modern conflict demands."
Co-Founder & CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma) takes us inside the new 250K sq ft Torrance factory. Currently shipping ~1,250 drones a week. Sized for 1 million a year by 2028.
Fresh off a $500M Army IDIQ for 100,000s of drones over 5 years
This round was led by @shaunmmaguire of @sequoia & American Strategic Technology Fund w/ participation from Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, & Mantis
With this capital @neros_tech is now going multi-product with:
› Archer AI — Autonomous strike drone
› Bandit — Counter-drone interceptor
› Marksman — Ruggedized operator handset
› Useful Autonomy — Framework for evaluating autonomy claims
ICYMI: China builds an estimated tens of millions of drones a year & arms both sides in Ukraine. America is way behind, representing just 1% of the world's small drones.
Neros was the first FPV maker to win Blue UAS certification, meaning a fully NDAA-compliant supply chain with no reliance on China.
"You can look at our boards, you can look at all of the chips that go onto our boards. Those will not have ever touched China."
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Soren Monroe-Anderson, Co-Founder & CEO at Neros Technologies
(01:02) $250M Series C at a $2.5B valuation
(03:34) Working with Shawn Maguire
(04:25) Inside the Army's $500M drone contract
(05:38) How the Ukraine war rewrote modern combat
(08:05) The Interceptor drones taking over the battlefield
(10:31) How many drones China really makes in a year
(12:55) Is it even possible to build a drone without China?
(16:09) China is arming both sides of the war
(17:08) What actually separates Neros from every other drone company
(19:55) The biggest BS claims in defense tech right now
(20:51) Why most defense startups never actually deploy?
(22:58) Neros’s growth to over 250 employees
(24:00) Why defense startups need to screen for spies
(25:29) The Talent bottleneck slowing down American manufacturing
(26:51) How AI is quietly reshaping engineers
(29:43) The biggest myth about re-industrializing America
(30:50) Neros's plan to build drones with U.S. allies
(32:53) The brutal tradeoff between speed and scale
(34:51) Why Neros keeps a permanent office in Ukraine?
(35:52) What actually happens on a modern battlefield?
(37:41) How Starlink is changing drone warfare
(39:14) What happens when a drone loses its signal
(40:41) Soren’s learnings from Kelly Johnson
Show more
Neros CEO @soren_ma says Gundo is the new Skunk Works:
"One of my biggest motivators starting Neros was the Skunk Works book and the story of Kelly Johnson and Ben Rich and how they built such an incredible program that had such a huge impact on national security."
"It's a tale of a relatively small group of people who are insanely motivated, that worked extremely hard, and did something that had a huge impact for the country."
"You mentioned the group here in El Segundo or South Bay in LA. That is a big part of it for me."
"To pick one of many, @isaiah_p_taylor from @valaratomics, he has been absolutely crushing it. I don't know anyone who works harder than Isaiah, and I don't know anyone who has had such an incredible journey from where he's come from, and all the people who doubted him when he started Valar to now just crushing all of the competition. It's so inspiring."
"We've benefited from having this crazy density of great companies and great founders that we can bounce ideas off of each other."
"It's competitive too. Like, if you see your buddy going faster, then you're like, 'Okay, I need to step it up.'"
"These guys, they prove that it's possible. So I think historic—maybe Skunk Works, maybe Kelly Johnson. Today, it's this group that exists in this amazing community."
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Neros CEO @soren_ma says there's a lot of drone companies demoing products that fail in real battlefield conditions:
"Companies are building capabilities that demo really well, and fall apart in the battlefield."
"A lot of people like to talk about swarming—100 drones swarming together and hitting a target. It's all happening on ranges with GPS, which is not a real thing in the battlefield."
"A lot of companies are demoing stuff that just does not actually hold up in realistic conditions."
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SPB and @MollySOShea. Full interview coming soon.
This was a great interview w @soren_ma
@neros_tech will be an important company
Extreme alpha in this pod
BREAKING: Neros Raises $250M Series C at $2.5 Billion Valuation
FULL INTERVIEW
"America should have the capability to have factories that can make millions of drones per year because that's what modern conflict demands."
Co-Founder & CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma) takes us inside the new 250K sq ft Torrance factory. Currently shipping ~1,250 drones a week. Sized for 1 million a year by 2028.
Fresh off a $500M Army IDIQ for 100,000s of drones over 5 years
This round was led by @shaunmmaguire of @sequoia & American Strategic Technology Fund w/ participation from Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, & Mantis
With this capital @neros_tech is now going multi-product with:
› Archer AI — Autonomous strike drone
› Bandit — Counter-drone interceptor
› Marksman — Ruggedized operator handset
› Useful Autonomy — Framework for evaluating autonomy claims
ICYMI: China builds an estimated tens of millions of drones a year & arms both sides in Ukraine. America is way behind, representing just 1% of the world's small drones.
Neros was the first FPV maker to win Blue UAS certification, meaning a fully NDAA-compliant supply chain with no reliance on China.
"You can look at our boards, you can look at all of the chips that go onto our boards. Those will not have ever touched China."
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Soren Monroe-Anderson, Co-Founder & CEO at Neros Technologies
(01:02) $250M Series C at a $2.5B valuation
(03:34) Working with Shawn Maguire
(04:25) Inside the Army's $500M drone contract
(05:38) How the Ukraine war rewrote modern combat
(08:05) The Interceptor drones taking over the battlefield
(10:31) How many drones China really makes in a year
(12:55) Is it even possible to build a drone without China?
(16:09) China is arming both sides of the war
(17:08) What actually separates Neros from every other drone company
(19:55) The biggest BS claims in defense tech right now
(20:51) Why most defense startups never actually deploy?
(22:58) Neros’s growth to over 250 employees
(24:00) Why defense startups need to screen for spies
(25:29) The Talent bottleneck slowing down American manufacturing
(26:51) How AI is quietly reshaping engineers
(29:43) The biggest myth about re-industrializing America
(30:50) Neros's plan to build drones with U.S. allies
(32:53) The brutal tradeoff between speed and scale
(34:51) Why Neros keeps a permanent office in Ukraine?
(35:52) What actually happens on a modern battlefield?
(37:41) How Starlink is changing drone warfare
(39:14) What happens when a drone loses its signal
(40:41) Soren’s learnings from Kelly Johnson
Show more
Neros CEO @soren_ma explains how America's industrial base got left behind:
"Today, everyone in the defense startup ecosystem is struggling with suppliers that are not set up for volume, and not set up for scale or lower cost systems."
"China has been the biggest beneficiary because they've been supplying both sides of the war and they're probably making tens of millions of drones per year easily, maybe in the hundreds of millions."
"We have offshored for the last 30 years, and really optimized for short-term profit margin, and let that manufacturing be done somewhere else, and that somewhere else is primarily China. The national security implication of this was not really well understood, especially until drones started becoming an important part of the battlefield and modern arsenal."
Show more
BREAKING: Neros Raises $250M Series C at $2.5 Billion Valuation
FULL INTERVIEW
"America should have the capability to have factories that can make millions of drones per year because that's what modern conflict demands."
Co-Founder & CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma) takes us inside the new 250K sq ft Torrance factory. Currently shipping ~1,250 drones a week. Sized for 1 million a year by 2028.
Fresh off a $500M Army IDIQ for 100,000s of drones over 5 years
This round was led by @shaunmmaguire of @sequoia & American Strategic Technology Fund w/ participation from Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, & Mantis
With this capital @neros_tech is now going multi-product with:
› Archer AI — Autonomous strike drone
› Bandit — Counter-drone interceptor
› Marksman — Ruggedized operator handset
› Useful Autonomy — Framework for evaluating autonomy claims
ICYMI: China builds an estimated tens of millions of drones a year & arms both sides in Ukraine. America is way behind, representing just 1% of the world's small drones.
Neros was the first FPV maker to win Blue UAS certification, meaning a fully NDAA-compliant supply chain with no reliance on China.
"You can look at our boards, you can look at all of the chips that go onto our boards. Those will not have ever touched China."
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Soren Monroe-Anderson, Co-Founder & CEO at Neros Technologies
(01:02) $250M Series C at a $2.5B valuation
(03:34) Working with Shawn Maguire
(04:25) Inside the Army's $500M drone contract
(05:38) How the Ukraine war rewrote modern combat
(08:05) The Interceptor drones taking over the battlefield
(10:31) How many drones China really makes in a year
(12:55) Is it even possible to build a drone without China?
(16:09) China is arming both sides of the war
(17:08) What actually separates Neros from every other drone company
(19:55) The biggest BS claims in defense tech right now
(20:51) Why most defense startups never actually deploy?
(22:58) Neros’s growth to over 250 employees
(24:00) Why defense startups need to screen for spies
(25:29) The Talent bottleneck slowing down American manufacturing
(26:51) How AI is quietly reshaping engineers
(29:43) The biggest myth about re-industrializing America
(30:50) Neros's plan to build drones with U.S. allies
(32:53) The brutal tradeoff between speed and scale
(34:51) Why Neros keeps a permanent office in Ukraine?
(35:52) What actually happens on a modern battlefield?
(37:41) How Starlink is changing drone warfare
(39:14) What happens when a drone loses its signal
(40:41) Soren’s learnings from Kelly Johnson
Show more
ICYMI: This is the year of @shaunmmaguire
› SpaceX IPO ($1.77T)
› The Boring Co (rumored $4B raise at $20B valuation)
› Neros $250M Series C ($2.5B)
› Valar Atomics $1B Series B ($6B)
› Mach Industries $300M Series C ($1.8B)
› Decart $300M Series B (~$4B)
› Factory $150M Series C ($1.5B)
› Glow $180M total funding ($1.2B)
› Corma $60M Seed
› Sable $45M Series A
› Engram $98M funding round ($600M)
"Shaun is amazing. He was so far ahead of the curve on hard tech in general."
"It really is a true passion for him. A lot of VCs have jumped on the hype train recently, but when I met Shaun 3 years ago, even before he invested in Neros, he was explaining to me his thesis of hard tech and why it's so important to invest in manufacturing, and how manufacturing has left America, but we need to bring it back."
"All of these things that are really, really popular ideas now, Shaun was way ahead of the curve on."
— Neros CEO @soren_ma
Show more
BREAKING: Neros Raises $250M Series C at $2.5 Billion Valuation
FULL INTERVIEW
"America should have the capability to have factories that can make millions of drones per year because that's what modern conflict demands."
Co-Founder & CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma) takes us inside the new 250K sq ft Torrance factory. Currently shipping ~1,250 drones a week. Sized for 1 million a year by 2028.
Fresh off a $500M Army IDIQ for 100,000s of drones over 5 years
This round was led by @shaunmmaguire of @sequoia & American Strategic Technology Fund w/ participation from Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, & Mantis
With this capital @neros_tech is now going multi-product with:
› Archer AI — Autonomous strike drone
› Bandit — Counter-drone interceptor
› Marksman — Ruggedized operator handset
› Useful Autonomy — Framework for evaluating autonomy claims
ICYMI: China builds an estimated tens of millions of drones a year & arms both sides in Ukraine. America is way behind, representing just 1% of the world's small drones.
Neros was the first FPV maker to win Blue UAS certification, meaning a fully NDAA-compliant supply chain with no reliance on China.
"You can look at our boards, you can look at all of the chips that go onto our boards. Those will not have ever touched China."
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Soren Monroe-Anderson, Co-Founder & CEO at Neros Technologies
(01:02) $250M Series C at a $2.5B valuation
(03:34) Working with Shawn Maguire
(04:25) Inside the Army's $500M drone contract
(05:38) How the Ukraine war rewrote modern combat
(08:05) The Interceptor drones taking over the battlefield
(10:31) How many drones China really makes in a year
(12:55) Is it even possible to build a drone without China?
(16:09) China is arming both sides of the war
(17:08) What actually separates Neros from every other drone company
(19:55) The biggest BS claims in defense tech right now
(20:51) Why most defense startups never actually deploy?
(22:58) Neros’s growth to over 250 employees
(24:00) Why defense startups need to screen for spies
(25:29) The Talent bottleneck slowing down American manufacturing
(26:51) How AI is quietly reshaping engineers
(29:43) The biggest myth about re-industrializing America
(30:50) Neros's plan to build drones with U.S. allies
(32:53) The brutal tradeoff between speed and scale
(34:51) Why Neros keeps a permanent office in Ukraine?
(35:52) What actually happens on a modern battlefield?
(37:41) How Starlink is changing drone warfare
(39:14) What happens when a drone loses its signal
(40:41) Soren’s learnings from Kelly Johnson
Show more
ICYMI: This is the year of @shaunmmaguire
› SpaceX IPO ($1.77T)
› The Boring Co (rumored $4B raise at $20B valuation)
› Neros $250M Series C ($2.5B)
› Valar Atomics $1B Series B ($6B)
› Mach Industries $300M Series C ($1.8B)
› Decart $300M Series B (~$4B)
› Factory $150M Series C ($1.5B)
› Glow $180M total funding ($1.2B)
› Corma $60M Seed
› Sable $45M Series A
› Engram $98M funding round ($600M)
"Shaun is amazing. He was so far ahead of the curve on hard tech in general."
"It really is a true passion for him. A lot of VCs have jumped on the hype train recently, but when I met Shaun 3 years ago, even before he invested in Neros, he was explaining to me his thesis of hard tech and why it's so important to invest in manufacturing, and how manufacturing has left America, but we need to bring it back."
"All of these things that are really, really popular ideas now, Shaun was way ahead of the curve on."
— Neros CEO @soren_ma
Show more
BREAKING: Neros Raises $250M Series C at $2.5 Billion Valuation
FULL INTERVIEW
"America should have the capability to have factories that can make millions of drones per year because that's what modern conflict demands."
Co-Founder & CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma) takes us inside the new 250K sq ft Torrance factory. Currently shipping ~1,250 drones a week. Sized for 1 million a year by 2028.
Fresh off a $500M Army IDIQ for 100,000s of drones over 5 years
This round was led by @shaunmmaguire of @sequoia & American Strategic Technology Fund w/ participation from Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, & Mantis
With this capital @neros_tech is now going multi-product with:
› Archer AI — Autonomous strike drone
› Bandit — Counter-drone interceptor
› Marksman — Ruggedized operator handset
› Useful Autonomy — Framework for evaluating autonomy claims
ICYMI: China builds an estimated tens of millions of drones a year & arms both sides in Ukraine. America is way behind, representing just 1% of the world's small drones.
Neros was the first FPV maker to win Blue UAS certification, meaning a fully NDAA-compliant supply chain with no reliance on China.
"You can look at our boards, you can look at all of the chips that go onto our boards. Those will not have ever touched China."
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Soren Monroe-Anderson, Co-Founder & CEO at Neros Technologies
(01:02) $250M Series C at a $2.5B valuation
(03:34) Working with Shawn Maguire
(04:25) Inside the Army's $500M drone contract
(05:38) How the Ukraine war rewrote modern combat
(08:05) The Interceptor drones taking over the battlefield
(10:31) How many drones China really makes in a year
(12:55) Is it even possible to build a drone without China?
(16:09) China is arming both sides of the war
(17:08) What actually separates Neros from every other drone company
(19:55) The biggest BS claims in defense tech right now
(20:51) Why most defense startups never actually deploy?
(22:58) Neros’s growth to over 250 employees
(24:00) Why defense startups need to screen for spies
(25:29) The Talent bottleneck slowing down American manufacturing
(26:51) How AI is quietly reshaping engineers
(29:43) The biggest myth about re-industrializing America
(30:50) Neros's plan to build drones with U.S. allies
(32:53) The brutal tradeoff between speed and scale
(34:51) Why Neros keeps a permanent office in Ukraine?
(35:52) What actually happens on a modern battlefield?
(37:41) How Starlink is changing drone warfare
(39:14) What happens when a drone loses its signal
(40:41) Soren’s learnings from Kelly Johnson
Show more
It was great to sit down (and run around) with Molly
More on our Series C here-
Neros CEO @soren_ma says the biggest misconception with reindustrialization is that we're not trying to reindustrialize.
We're trying to industrialize something that never existed before in America:
"Electronics and drones specifically just never existed in America."
"Reindustrialize is applicable to things like forgings or the stuff that America was really good at in these big factories in the Midwest. Sure, we need to bring that back. But there's actually so much new industry that didn't exist in the first place."
"The misconception is not to look back to history, but actually look forward and realize: how do we do this better than what China is doing today?"
"China figured out how to do everything from America and then improved on it. They iterated really quickly, and they made a better system. America needs to take our ingenuity and make a better system for things like drones."
Show more
Neros CEO @soren_ma says Starlink solved one of the biggest problems for drones operating in contested environments: jamming.
"Another trend in Ukraine is there's a lot more Starlink-controlled drones."
"Starlink is generally really robust against jamming. It's kind of unique because often with space-based comms, your satellite is so far away that your signal strength is relatively low, and it's actually very easy to jam. This is why GPS is so frequently jammed and really hard to do anything against it because the signal you're getting from the satellite is so weak compared to a jammer sitting on the ground."
"Starlink, through a bunch of very, very cool technologies has gotten around that limitation and been a big unlock."
@elonmusk
Show more
BREAKING: Neros Raises $250M Series C at $2.5 Billion Valuation
FULL INTERVIEW
"America should have the capability to have factories that can make millions of drones per year because that's what modern conflict demands."
Co-Founder & CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma) takes us inside the new 250K sq ft Torrance factory. Currently shipping ~1,250 drones a week. Sized for 1 million a year by 2028.
Fresh off a $500M Army IDIQ for 100,000s of drones over 5 years
This round was led by @shaunmmaguire of @sequoia & American Strategic Technology Fund w/ participation from Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, & Mantis
With this capital @neros_tech is now going multi-product with:
› Archer AI — Autonomous strike drone
› Bandit — Counter-drone interceptor
› Marksman — Ruggedized operator handset
› Useful Autonomy — Framework for evaluating autonomy claims
ICYMI: China builds an estimated tens of millions of drones a year & arms both sides in Ukraine. America is way behind, representing just 1% of the world's small drones.
Neros was the first FPV maker to win Blue UAS certification, meaning a fully NDAA-compliant supply chain with no reliance on China.
"You can look at our boards, you can look at all of the chips that go onto our boards. Those will not have ever touched China."
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Soren Monroe-Anderson, Co-Founder & CEO at Neros Technologies
(01:02) $250M Series C at a $2.5B valuation
(03:34) Working with Shawn Maguire
(04:25) Inside the Army's $500M drone contract
(05:38) How the Ukraine war rewrote modern combat
(08:05) The Interceptor drones taking over the battlefield
(10:31) How many drones China really makes in a year
(12:55) Is it even possible to build a drone without China?
(16:09) China is arming both sides of the war
(17:08) What actually separates Neros from every other drone company
(19:55) The biggest BS claims in defense tech right now
(20:51) Why most defense startups never actually deploy?
(22:58) Neros’s growth to over 250 employees
(24:00) Why defense startups need to screen for spies
(25:29) The Talent bottleneck slowing down American manufacturing
(26:51) How AI is quietly reshaping engineers
(29:43) The biggest myth about re-industrializing America
(30:50) Neros's plan to build drones with U.S. allies
(32:53) The brutal tradeoff between speed and scale
(34:51) Why Neros keeps a permanent office in Ukraine?
(35:52) What actually happens on a modern battlefield?
(37:41) How Starlink is changing drone warfare
(39:14) What happens when a drone loses its signal
(40:41) Soren’s learnings from Kelly Johnson
Show more
BREAKING: Neros Raises $250M Series C at $2.5 Billion Valuation
FULL INTERVIEW
"America should have the capability to have factories that can make millions of drones per year because that's what modern conflict demands."
Co-Founder & CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson (@soren_ma) takes us inside the new 250K sq ft Torrance factory. Currently shipping ~1,250 drones a week. Sized for 1 million a year by 2028.
Fresh off a $500M Army IDIQ for 100,000s of drones over 5 years
This round was led by @shaunmmaguire of @sequoia & American Strategic Technology Fund w/ participation from Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, & Mantis
With this capital @neros_tech is now going multi-product with:
› Archer AI — Autonomous strike drone
› Bandit — Counter-drone interceptor
› Marksman — Ruggedized operator handset
› Useful Autonomy — Framework for evaluating autonomy claims
ICYMI: China builds an estimated tens of millions of drones a year & arms both sides in Ukraine. America is way behind, representing just 1% of the world's small drones.
Neros was the first FPV maker to win Blue UAS certification, meaning a fully NDAA-compliant supply chain with no reliance on China.
"You can look at our boards, you can look at all of the chips that go onto our boards. Those will not have ever touched China."
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Soren Monroe-Anderson, Co-Founder & CEO at Neros Technologies
(01:02) $250M Series C at a $2.5B valuation
(03:34) Working with Shawn Maguire
(04:25) Inside the Army's $500M drone contract
(05:38) How the Ukraine war rewrote modern combat
(08:05) The Interceptor drones taking over the battlefield
(10:31) How many drones China really makes in a year
(12:55) Is it even possible to build a drone without China?
(16:09) China is arming both sides of the war
(17:08) What actually separates Neros from every other drone company
(19:55) The biggest BS claims in defense tech right now
(20:51) Why most defense startups never actually deploy?
(22:58) Neros’s growth to over 250 employees
(24:00) Why defense startups need to screen for spies
(25:29) The Talent bottleneck slowing down American manufacturing
(26:51) How AI is quietly reshaping engineers
(29:43) The biggest myth about re-industrializing America
(30:50) Neros's plan to build drones with U.S. allies
(32:53) The brutal tradeoff between speed and scale
(34:51) Why Neros keeps a permanent office in Ukraine?
(35:52) What actually happens on a modern battlefield?
(37:41) How Starlink is changing drone warfare
(39:14) What happens when a drone loses its signal
(40:41) Soren’s learnings from Kelly Johnson
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BREAKING: Devin now writes ~95% of Devin's code
Scott Wu (@ScottWu46), CEO of @cognition says the abundance era of AI is real & coming soon..
FULL INTERVIEW
Cog Stats:
› $2.5B raised, $26B valuation
› $500M+ run rate, up from $37M LY
› Customer usage is up 11x-12x in 6 months
› Total code shipped inside Cognition has grown 7x
› Devin writes ~95% of Cog's code, up from 89% at May Series D
› The entire Windsurf acquisition was negotiated over 1 weekend, ~40 people buying a 200 person company with $82M of ARR
› Goldman Sachs, Mercedes-Benz, Citi, Dell, Santander, NASA, the US Navy & the US Army all run Devin
R I P : "The tokenmaxx era lasted from January to May of 2026, roughly."
"I'm excited to have AI that allows me to spend all of my time & focus on the things that I care about & take care of the rest. I think the abundance era is real, & I think we'll be there pretty soon."
Recorded 7 July 2026. On 23 July 2026 Cognition acquired Poke maker The Interaction Company
𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Scott Wu, Co-Founder & CEO at Cognition
(01:00) The Identity crisis of building Devin
(01:42) How Cognition 7X-ed its output in 6 months
(02:55) The Metric every AI company gets wrong
(04:18) Cognition's 12x growth curve
(07:46) The Windsurf acquisition
(13:26) Scaling overnight: Cognition's hardest week
(15:11) The strategy behind the integration of Cognition products
(17:23) Cognition's M&A playbook
(20:01) Why the DMV is Cognition's next big target
(22:59) Why Cognition bet against AI centralization
(25:09) Why enterprises refuse to bet on a single AI lab
(28:32) Scott's honest take on Superintelligence
(32:36) Is Silicon Valley losing its mind over the AI gold rush?
(33:26) Devin's origin story
(37:17) The question Scott thinks nobody's asking yet
(39:59) Poker with Peter Thiel & Napoleon ?
(41:24) Scott's vision for the next year
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David @friedberg on the "cult of socialism" and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani:
"Part of socialism is like multi-level marketing."
"There's an aspect of: you just gotta sign up one person per day."
"The other thing they're really good at in socialism in driving adoption is to create spectacle, like Zohran Mamdani jumping in the pool. These viral moments in front of a desk. Knocking on the glass in front of Ken Griffin's condo."
"Those viral moments that we've all seen, that we all watch, are key to the strategy. It's the spectacle, it draws people in, and then it's about recruiting."
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“The truth is the bottom 50% were left behind because of bad tax policy, because of government spending and (bad policy) on housing, healthcare and education. And because we didn’t give them access to owning capital. We can fix this.”
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