How to Unf*ck Iran & the Middle East From a Navy SEAL's Perspective

About this video

The guest, a former Navy SEAL officer, discusses military leadership challenges and reflects on conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, which he now views as strategically flawed despite tactical successes. He describes how exposure to intelligence fusion technology, particularly Palantir, during his deployment to the Philippines sparked his interest in the defense technology sector. After leaving the military, he worked in Silicon Valley venture capital and founded Harpoon, a fund focused on national security technologies, and helped start Vector, a company addressing drone warfare challenges highlighted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Key takeaways

• The guest argues that fixing military leadership requires returning to basics: clear communication of objectives, proper training and equipment, and ensuring sacrifice is worthwhile, though he believes structural issues where politics intersect with military objectives create persistent problems.
• The guest recounts that working with intelligence fusion teams and early Palantir technology in the Philippines showed him how machine learning could synthesize disparate data sources for targeting, which inspired his transition into the defense technology industry.
• The guest contends that the Russia-Ukraine conflict represents ‘drone war one,’ where affordable, attritable drone systems are reshaping battlefield tactics and rendering traditional large-scale weapon systems less effective, creating an urgent need for new doctrine and capabilities that the U.S. military has not yet fully recognized.

Episode details: published June 27, 2025 · 9.1K views · 25:36 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

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