Every defense startup wants to be the next Anduril. Here's what one of its earliest backers is looking for now.

Defense tech is red hot right now, with a proposed 40% increase to the federal defense budget, Anduril doubling its valuation to $61 billion, and a wave of startups chasing government contracts. But according to Ross Fubini, the venture investor who wrote Anduril's first check, most of them won't make it. The valley of death between a prototype contract and a real production deal is about to claim a lot of companies. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan asks Fubini — the founder and managing partner of XYZ Venture Capital, built on the Palantir alumni network and now approaching $2B AUM — what separates the survivors from the rest. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why Ukraine and Iran have become live testing grounds for US defense startups, and which companies are getting in the field How other countries are building their own defense tech ecosystems, and what that means for where startups build and sell The sustainment problem nobody wants to talk about, and why autonomous logistics is the real moat Where Fubini is writing checks next, from AI-driven US manufacturing to government software for health and human services Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices