E56 – The Fury Origin Story

<p>This is the untold origin story of the Fury CollaborativeCombat Aircraft (CCA), as told by those who lived it.</p><p><br></p><p>Scott Bledsoe and Joe Murray join Mike to talk about Fury’s very beginning—way back to 2016.</p><p><br></p><p>Now known as Anduril’s YFQ-44, Fury originated as an SBIR project from Blue Force Technologies and may go on to become a poster child of SBIR success stories. But it’s not all good news.</p><p><br></p><p>The experience—and the decision to sell to Anduril—motivated Scott and Joe to start a new type of investment fund called the DoD Accelerator. </p><p><br></p><p>DoD Accelerator bridges the gap between venture capital and private equity, addressing the ‘funding valley of death’ they faced and the factors that led to the decision to sell their company—and Fury—to Anduril.</p><p><br></p><p>This is packed with never-before-revealed details and serves as the backdrop for a broader conversation about the realities of having a company in the defense industry.</p><p> </p><p>Links</p><p>• Sign up for the <a href="https://www.themerge.co/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">newsletter⁠</a>! </p><p>• Support us on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/the_merge" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠Patreon⁠</a>! </p><p>• <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottbledsoe/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Scott Bledsoe</a> </p><p>• <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephamurray/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Joe Murray</a></p><p>• WOTR <a href="https://warontherocks.com/2017/01/re-thinking-the-high-low-mix-part-i-origins-story/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">High-Low Mix Part I</a></p><p>• WOTR <a href="https://warontherocks.com/2017/03/rethinking-the-high-low-mix-part-ii-complexitys-death-spiral/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">High-Low Mix Part II</a></p><p>----</p><p> </p><p>Follow us on...</p><p>• <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/themerge" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">LinkedIn</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/merge_newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">• Instagram⁠</a></p><p>• <a href="https://x.com/MergeNewsletter" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠X⁠</a></p><p>• <a href="https://www.facebook.com/themergenews" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠Facebook⁠</a></p><p>• <a href="https://www.themerge.co/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠Website⁠</a> </p><p>----</p><p> </p><p>00:00</p><p>00:26 intro</p><p>01:50 Scott and Joe</p><p>07:21 DoD Accelerator</p><p>09:51 Fury origin story</p><p>11:24 SBIR</p><p>16:28 the high-low mix</p><p>17:11 writing to understand</p><p>18:29 F-117</p><p>19:04 no part 3</p><p>19:41 red air use-case</p><p>24:29 Bandit and ADAIR-UX</p><p>25:10 funding and the valley of death</p><p>28:04 the capital void</p><p>31:11 programs consolidate</p><p>32:28 Anduril acquisition</p><p>33:37 the small business divide</p><p>34:14 DoD Accelerator fit</p><p>36:12 Baxter Aerospace example</p><p>41:19 the cheat code</p><p>44:26 crystal ball</p><p>45:17 the prime cartel?</p><p>46:32 magic wand - IR&amp;D policy change</p><p>49:10 policy hurts start-ups</p><p>52:51 DoD Accelerator focus areas</p>