BASIC TRAINING FOR FOUNDERS
The room where the distance disappears
For founders at the very start of the road — early, and not yet ready for Deployment — who refuse to spend those first years guessing.
No charge to book, and no charge before the vetting call. Both sides decide on it.
Most people thinking seriously about defense technology have the same problem: everyone around them is guessing.
The people who actually know — the engineers rebuilding drones under jamming, the operators who fly them, the team that has moved fifteen companies through this war — are nine time zones and one closed world away.
WHAT'S INSIDE
Three things, every week
A private, working channel with me, my co-founders, and the specialists on our team in Ukraine — AI, drones, hardware, software. Bring your idea, your architecture, your doubt. It gets pressure-tested by people who see the real war every week — before you spend a year and a seed round finding out the hard way.
One early morning U.S. / midday Europe. One late afternoon U.S. / late evening Europe — so wherever you build, one of them fits your life. We work through members’ ideas, what changed at the front this week, and what it means for what you are building.
Members are defense-tech builders — some with companies, some with nothing yet but a serious idea and the willingness to test it against reality. What they share is the standard this whole world runs on.
IF THAT IS THE ROOM YOU WANT
Book the call, and we will tell you honestly whether it is right for you.
Fifteen minutes with our team. Nobody is charged to book, and nobody is charged before that call.
HOW ADMISSION WORKS
We admit people, not payments
Nobody is charged before the vetting call, and nobody is charged for booking one.
Fifteen minutes, on the calendar below. Tell us what you are building when you book.
Fifteen minutes with our team. Both sides decide, and either side can say no.
You are in the Signal group and on the next call.
BOOK IT
Fifteen minutes, both sides decide
No charge to book, and no charge until after the call.
WHO IT IS FOR
- Pre-seed, or not yet a company at all
- Serious about defense, and willing to be told you are wrong
- Building something that would have to survive a real battlefield
WHO IT IS NOT FOR
- Companies ready for in-country work — that is Deployment
- Anyone looking for introductions without doing the work
TERMS
- Membership
- Monthly. The fee is confirmed on the vetting call, before anything is charged.
- Commitment
- Month to month. Leave whenever you like.
- Admission
- By application and a fifteen-minute call.
- Not included
- In-country work, introductions to units, and procurement support. That is Deployment.
WHO IS IN THE ROOM
The people answering you
The same bench our clients retain — not a community manager.
FOUNDER & CEO
West Point ’00. Cavalry officer under H.R. McMaster at Tal Afar, then a troop commander during the surge. Taught Russian history at West Point. Nine years in Kyiv. Co-hosts the Ukraine Military History podcast with Rob Lee.
INDUSTRY ACCESS
Top-level access to Ukraine’s defense-industrial base and its member companies.
MILITARY ACCESS
Direct lines into the General Staff, service branches, and the units that test and buy.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Before you book
Do I need a company to join Basic Training?
No. Members range from founders with a funded company to people with nothing yet but a serious idea and the willingness to test it against reality. What is required is that you are thinking seriously about building in defense.
How is this different from Deployment?
Basic Training is a room and a weekly call — pressure-testing an idea before you spend a year and a seed round on it. Deployment is our done-for-you work inside Ukraine: assessment, compliance, introductions, real trials with real units. Basic Training is for founders who are not ready for that yet.
Am I charged before the vetting call?
No. You book fifteen minutes, we talk, and both sides decide on the call. Payment comes after admission, not before it.
Can I leave?
Membership is month to month. There is no minimum term and no notice period.
TO JOIN
Tell us what you are building
Fifteen minutes with our team. If it is not right, we will say so and point you somewhere better.
Not sure yet? Watch my talk — it is the same first step everyone here took.