Episode 61: Jake Bullock - Founder and CEO of Ravn, Retired Navy SEAL

Today’s guest is Jake Bullock. Jake is the founder and CEO of Ravn, a defense technology company building next generation technology for military personnel. Their platform, built from the ground up for use on the front lines, delivers mission-critical intelligence to service members when they need it most. The inspiration for Jake to start Ravn came from his experience as a Navy SEAL. On his first deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, Jake made a mistake on the battlefield as a result of poor information. That mistake weighed pretty heavily on Jake, and after several more deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan he knew that he had to solve this problem of poor information and communication on the battlefield. In this interview, we get into why Jake wanted to become a Navy SEAL, his time in the SEAL Teams, human performance as an operator vs an entrepreneur, and all things Ravn.

Timestamps

00:02:11 Interest in joining the military

00:04:36 How he prepared for BUD/S

00:07:35 His mindset going into and at BUD/S

00:09:52 Biggest takeaways from going through BUD/S

00:13:20 How many years he was in the Navy and where he was deployed

00:16:08 Optimizing his performance as a SEAL

00:19:10 What surprised him the most when he was in the SEAL Teams

00:20:07 How serving as a SEAL changed his perspective on life

00:21:43 What the transition into civilian life was like for him

00:25:23 Inspiration to start Ravn

00:27:13 Ravn overview

00:29:45 The problem with introducing disruptive technologies to military personnel

00:33:36 Augmented reality and how it applies to Ravn

00:38:37 Theoretical use case of Ravn

00:43:26 Applications of their technology outside of the military

00:44:18 Ultimate vision for Ravn

00:46:46 Biggest lessons he's learned so far about entrepreneurship

00:49:03 Why he's pissed at where history has gotten us

00:50:10 His daily routine

00:51:16 His driving force

00:53:07 Parting words of wisdom for the aspiring entrepreneur