Heather Somerville

Heather Somerville is a reporter at The Wall Street Journal in San Francisco covering technology and national security. Her articles explore the national-security implications of emerging technology, U.S. efforts to counter China's rise as a technology power, and the relationship between Silicon Valley and the U.S. defense complex.

Heather joined the Journal in 2019 to cover venture capital and technology companies. Before that, she wrote about venture capital and Silicon Valley startups for Reuters and the Mercury News. She was previously a reporter for the Fresno Bee and the Charlotte Observer and wrote about national security for outlets in Washington, D.C.

Doug Philippone

Doug Philippone co-founded Snowpoint Ventures, a venture capital firm dedicated to bringing the best technological talent to help our nation’s defense and broader government function, in 2021. Doug also served as the Head of Global Defense at Palantir Technologies from 2008 to 2024, when he transitioned to Senior Advisor. Doug both started and successfully grew the defense business to where it now supports over 19 different allied countries. Doug has led every part of the Software Platform business. He led design and innovation teams to invent and field new technology across a variety of sectors. Most impactful in the world of Big Data, was the invention of Nexus Peering, which provides a unified view of data for an organization, synchronized across geographic boundaries and multiple networks that are often disconnected, intermittent, or low bandwidth. Doug’s leadership has been critical to not only innovating at the cutting edge of the hardest problems, but also leading the teams through successful fielding of the Palantir Platform in the world’s harshest environments.

Prior to his civilian life, Doug served in the US Army for 18 years from 1991 to 2008 (Enlisted, West Point Cadet and Officer). During his time in the US Army, he deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan for a total of 6 deployments from 2003-2007. He commanded multiple Joint Special Operations Command outstations in support of the global war on terror. Doug ran the foreign fighter campaign on the Syrian border in 2005 to stop the flow of suicide bombers into Baghdad and helped to ensure a successful Iraqi election. Doug was awarded three bronze stars with two valor awards, the joint commendation medal with valor award, as well as many other commendations for his service to the nation.

Doug earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1997, where he also served as class president for two years, received his Master’s Degree in Terrorism Operations and Finance from the Naval Post Graduate School in 2008 and studied Machine Learning at MIT. He is also a published author on terrorism finance. Doug was medically retired from active duty in 2008 and continued his lifetime of service to the nation by serving for three years on the board of directors for the 3/75 Ranger Assistance Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping Rangers and their families when great Americans are injured in the line of duty. In his personal time, Doug is a State Champion competitive cyclist.

Paige Craig

Paige Craig is the Founder and Managing Partner of Outlander Ventures, a pre-seed venture fund backing founders at their earliest and most formative stages. After serving across the U.S. Marine Corps, Intelligence Community, and Department of Defense from 1992 to 2009, Paige combined his entrepreneurial instinct with his passion for national security to bootstrap a private military company, Lincoln Group, starting with a solo drive into Iraq with $10,000 and scaling it to over $300 million in revenue across the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Over the past 15+ years, he has made more than 200 early-stage investments and backed 17 unicorns, including Scale AI, Wish, AngelList, Lyft, Gusto, and SpaceX. He now leads Outlander Ventures’ $150M fund, investing in breakthrough technologies that advance national security, American industry, and frontier innovation, guided by Outlander’s proprietary Founder Framework, which evaluates entrepreneurs across vision, intelligence, character, and execution. From combat zones to boardrooms, Paige has dedicated his career to identifying and supporting bold, unconventional founders shaping the technologies of the future.

Steve Kiser

Steve is a General Partner at Veteran Ventures Capital and chairs the dealflow committee. Steve is an experienced leader and executive in the defense industry and has a highly successful record as an early-stage investor. Before joining Veteran Ventures, Steve had a successful 20-year career as both an Air Force officer (Lieutenant Colonel retired), and in large companies in the defense industries. His most recent position was the Vice President of Engineering and Analysis at Valiant Integrated Services, a privately-held defense services company, where he was responsible for a $400M pipeline of business. From 2011 to 2018, Steve served in a variety of roles at Cubic Global Defense with increasing progression and responsibilities, including business development, contracting strategy, program manager, innovation subject matter expert, and senior analyst. He is intimately familiar with developing business with the US Government, as well as identifying grants and other support from the government for start-ups.

Steve enjoyed a successful career in the USAF, including squadron command, senior combat leadership roles, and senior policy positions. Steve retired from the USAF after serving as a special advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, working on a variety of issues including personnel, pay, energy, congressional engagement, and other areas. He is the recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Bronze Star.

Steve is an early-stage investor in small companies and a mentor to start-ups, including being the lead investor in a pre-revenue company that is preparing for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange with a valuation in excess of $1B. He has mentored dozens of small companies, as well as served as a coach in three different incubators.

Steve earned his PhD in Policy Analysis alongside Josh from the RAND Graduate School with emphasis on the use of modeling and simulation to refine various counter-terrorism policy. He is a 1998 graduate from the University of Hawaii with a master’s degree in Futures Studies/Asian Politics, and a 1990 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy with a major in political science. He has graduated from numerous military colleges, schools, and training programs, most notably: the Air War College; the Air Command and Staff College; Joint Professional Military Education, Phase II; and a Distinguished graduate of the Squadron Officer School. He is also the author of several research publications and articles.

Steve lives in San Diego and is an avid waterman.

Kelly Perdew

Kelly has been investing in leading U.S. startups since 2004, including globally recognized unicorns like LinkedIn, Pandora, Slack, SpaceX, and ID.me.

As a serial founder who has served in operating roles at 10 early-stage companies, Kelly works directly with the founders he backs to help them achieve successful exits. His board and advisory roles have included Ustream (acquired by IBM), Bitium (acquired by Google), eteamz (acquired by Activision), Harvest.ai (acquired by Amazon), and Scopely (acquired by Savvy Games Group).

Kelly is an honor graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served as an Army Intelligence Officer, where he completed elite Army programs: Ranger School and Airborne Training. After leaving military service, he earned joint MBA and JD degrees from UCLA.

In 2004, Kelly won Season 2 of NBC's hit reality show The Apprentice. He is a published author and nationally recognized speaker on leadership, technology, and entrepreneurship.