Finding Success in Defense as a Dual-Use Startup with Emma Bates

Defense Mavericks

This week, Bonnie sits down with Emma Bates, founder of PaaS tool Cachai and a veteran DoD strategy thinker, live from South by Southwest 2024. Emma shares her journey from a DIU fellow to founding Cachai, driven by her mission to tackle complex coordination challenges in computer systems for national defense. They dive into the significance of human connections, the reality behind SBIR STTRs for dual-use companies, and the importance of clear communication when working with the DoD. Tune in for a great discussion on modernizing technology in defense and fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors.

TIMESTAMPS:

(3:28) The bottleneck in state management for distributed systems

(9:17) How the name “Cachai” came to be

(15:25) Why dual-use startups should not focus on government first

(18:23) The challenge of translating military requirements into tech terms

(23:31) The missing piece from DoD that could streamline private sector innovation

(30:15) Why most transition funds are unusable

(35:25) How collaboration empowers clear next steps for innovation

LINKS:

Follow Emma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmasophiabates/

Follow Bonnie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonnie-evangelista-520747231/

CDAO: https://www.ai.mil/

Tradewinds AI: https://www.tradewindai.com/

Cachai: https://cachai.io/