How an Ukrainian Soldier Built AI That Saves Other Soldiers

<p>V&#39;yacheslav Shvaydak, an ex-lieutenant with a PhD in economics co-founded DROPLA in 2023. Starting with three co-founders and zero revenue, they pitched military officials: &quot;we&#39;re a small startup, our name is nobody, can you please give us some land mines?&quot; They were shown the door. Today, DROPLA has raised millions from international investors and built technology now deployed across Ukraine, expanding from humanitarian de-mining into real-time threat detection systems dictated by battlefield needs.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode, Slava shares the unfiltered reality of building defence tech during wartime: how his experience as a former tank commander sitting on ammunition watching turret caps fly shaped his product decisions, why European defence startups must stress-test products before bringing them to Ukrainian warfighters, the single biggest mistake that destroys defencetech companies, and why there&#39;s nothing shameful about forging weapons when democracy needs defending.</p><p><br></p><p>-----------------------------------------------</p><p><br></p><p>Chapters:</p><p>(00:00) Introduction</p><p>(01:32) PhD Economist, Engineer &amp; Tank Commander: The Unusual Combo</p><p>(09:30) How Slava ended with Starting a Defencetech Company</p><p>(25:52) The Breakthrough: Getting Access to Real Land Mines</p><p>(27:30) How We Built Europe&#39;s Biggest Mine Database</p><p>(26:27) First Win: How We Got Ukrainian Forces to Say Yes</p><p>(44:31) The Pivot: From Humanitarian to Battlefield</p><p>(51:43) How to Actually Raise Money During a War</p><p>(01:02:40) Why Defencetech Gives You Zero Second Chances</p><p>(01:05:12) The Agreement That Saved Our Founding Team</p><p>(01:09:07) What &quot;Battle-Ready&quot; Actually Means</p><p><br></p><p>-----------------------------------------------</p><p><br></p><p>1) Respect is your currency in defencetech - protect it ruthlessly: &quot;You never badmouth people behind their back. You never badmouth people in the defence industry. The word spreads really quickly about you, your company. This respect is a very bad type of decision that you might choose.&quot;</p><p><br></p><p>2) Face-to-face confrontation beats silent disrespect every time: &quot;If you think that somebody is wrong, confront him. Openly confront him. It will be a sign of strength. It will be a sign of respect to him. And the truth will be revealed in this battle. And there is nothing bad in having different opinions.&quot;</p><p><br