BEYOND THE REPORT · A CONVERSATION CARRYING THE RETHINK THESIS FORWARD
The Freedom Stack: geopolitics, defence tech and venture
You may not care about geopolitics, but geopolitics cares about you.
JULY 202543 MINGUEST · LARSEN JENSEN
HARPOON VENTURES
You might not care about geopolitics. But geopolitics cares about you.
Larsen Jensen · on why venture cannot ignore geopolitics
PRESS PLAY TO LOAD THE VIDEO. NOTHING IS REQUESTED FROM YOUTUBE UNTIL YOU DO.
$1B+Total contract revenue Harpoon has helped its companies close with the US federal government, across departments and agencies
10x to 100xHow much better returning Larsen thinks this era will be than the dot-com era
First checkTheir stage of entry: in at the idea stage, the highest risk and highest reward point
$2BA seed round he saw announced with no revenue, no product, just team and vision, and the kind of risk a government would never take
ABOUT THE EPISODE
Rohit Yadav sits down with Larsen Jensen, former Navy SEAL, two-time Olympic medallist, and now Founding GP at Harpoon Ventures.
The great awakening. Silicon Valley is returning to its roots. It started with ARPANET, the space race, and Cold War tech. Then it moved on to SaaS and social media. Now it is back to building the hard stuff.
The perfect storm. Three forces are converging: founders leaving top tech companies to build hard tech, government budgets finally prioritising resilience, and private capital filling the void.
Ukraine changed everything. This isn't just another conflict, it's "Drone War One". The rules of warfare have been rewritten faster than doctrine can adapt.
The generational opportunity. Larsen believes this AI-driven era will be 10 to 100x more impactful than the dot-com boom. We're not just building software anymore, we're building the "freedom stack". The companies winning aren't just creating shareholder value, they're ensuring Western superiority for generations.
What we unpacked:
Why Harpoon exists. A venture fund focused exclusively on technologies that uphold Western resilience, from AI and cyber to space, energy, and autonomous defence. Venture capital with a national security thesis.
The "Freedom Stack" thesis. AI, rare earths, cybersecurity, energy, space, autonomy. A new category of venture opportunity that will define global power over the next 25 years.
From zero to $1B in government contracts. Harpoon goes into the trenches with its startups, helping them win contracts; the portfolio has secured $1B+ in revenue before IPO or exit.
The "Black Flag" program. YC for defence tech, pretty much: a custom-built accelerator for startups solving impossible problems in defence, national security and critical infrastructure.
The new venture equation. Founders are waking up to geopolitics, capital is following, governments are modernising, and the smart VCs are moving fast.
IN HIS WORDS
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
CHAPTERS
Click a timestamp to jump the player to that point.
First-check investor in the freedom stack: energy, rare earths, AI, cybersecurity, space and autonomy.
ACCELERATOR
Black Flag
A programme built for founders in these technology areas, addressing the shortage not of technical talent but of expertise in navigating the government customer.