Building Hypersonic Missiles | Bryon Hargis, Castelion
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this episode, Brian Hargis, CEO and co-founder of Castellion, discusses his company's mission to build hypersonic missiles for U.S. defense capabilities. Hargis explains that hypersonic weapons provide crucial middle-ground deterrence between economic sanctions and nuclear war, addressing America's lost ability to hold adversaries like China at risk. (02:00) The conversation covers Castellion's journey from a nearly failed startup in 2022 to a 150-person company developing critical defense technology. (86:00) Hargis emphasizes the importance of relentless persistence, rapid iteration cycles learned from SpaceX, and building hardware demonstrations to gain government trust. The discussion reveals the challenges of breaking into the defense industry while maintaining focus on a single product to maximize team effectiveness and punch above their weight class.
- Key themes include the critical importance of relentless persistence in building defense technology, rapid iteration versus traditional aerospace approaches, and the necessity of hardware demonstrations for government credibility
Speakers
Brian Hargis
Brian Hargis is the CEO and co-founder of Castellion, a hypersonic missile company focused on providing deterrence capabilities to the U.S. military. He previously spent 12 years at SpaceX, where he worked on Starlink sales and business development before the constellation launched its first satellites. (28:00) Hargis has extensive experience in defense and aerospace, having worked in the industry since 2002, and has a background in physics with early career experience in traditional defense contracting.
Key Takeaways
Relentlessness is the Ultimate Success Predictor
Hargis identifies relentlessness as the single most important characteristic for success in business, particularly in sales and entrepreneurship. (04:35) He explains that most endeavors will result in getting "kicked" multiple times before achieving success, and those who are deterred by rejection or setbacks won't make it. This principle applies beyond sales to starting and scaling businesses, where founders face continuous challenges and setbacks. The key insight is that while luck plays a role in success, relentlessness is the one factor entrepreneurs can control - by continuing to "get kicked and get up again" until one attempt succeeds. Hargis emphasizes this isn't about blind persistence, but about making your own luck through sustained effort over time.
Hardware Demonstrations Trump Everything in Defense
For government customers, physical hardware demonstrations are exponentially more valuable than presentations or software demos. (78:00) Hargis explains that DOD customers are wired to respond to tangible proof of capability, making it extremely difficult for software-only defense companies to gain traction. The most effective business development activity is simply "doing what you said you would do" - delivering on promises consistently builds the credibility necessary for larger contracts. This approach helped Castellion move from PowerPoint presentations to actual flight tests, which unlocked customer confidence and follow-on opportunities. The lesson extends beyond defense: in any industry where skepticism runs high, showing rather than telling becomes the fastest path to credibility.
Rapid Iteration Beats Perfect Planning
Traditional aerospace follows a 5-7 year development cycle that often results in canceled programs due to cost overruns and changing requirements. (22:00) SpaceX proved that shorter iteration cycles - building, testing, learning, and rebuilding quickly - produces better results than extensive upfront planning. This approach allows teams to discover real problems versus theoretical ones, learn what doesn't matter, and build production expertise simultaneously. Hargis emphasizes that engineers naturally worry about everything, but rapid testing reveals which concerns are actual problems versus unnecessary fears. The key is setting up systems, culture, and processes that enable quick learning cycles rather than perfect-first-try development, which rarely works in complex hardware.
Focus Creates Disproportionate Impact
Castellion's 150-person team punches above their weight class by maintaining extreme focus on a single product family rather than diversifying across multiple projects. (88:40) Hargis contrasts this with the traditional defense industry's consulting model, where companies take on scattered projects to maximize revenue. By having everyone "row in the same direction" on closely related work, teams achieve higher efficiency per individual and avoid the paralysis that comes with large groups making competing decisions. This focused approach allows small teams to move faster and reach consensus more easily. The principle applies broadly: rather than pursuing multiple opportunities simultaneously, concentrating resources on one well-defined problem often yields better results than spreading efforts thin.
Transparent Communication Enables Better Decisions
Hargis shares detailed financial information with all employees, including daily burn rate and runway calculations, enabling team members to make strategic spending decisions. (46:00) This transparency helps employees understand that company money is "our money" and make educated trade-offs between speed and cost. Rather than hiding challenges from the team, open communication about risks and constraints allows individuals to contribute to strategic thinking beyond their immediate job responsibilities. The approach requires treating employees as adults capable of understanding business complexity and making good decisions when given proper context. This creates a culture where everyone thinks strategically about resource allocation rather than just completing tactical assignments.
Statistics & Facts
- Castellion has grown to 150 employees in just two and a half years since founding in 2022. (86:00) This represents extremely rapid growth for a defense hardware company.
- Traditional aerospace development cycles typically take 5-7 years for anything of reasonable complexity, often resulting in program cancellation due to cost and schedule overruns. (22:00)
- SpaceX was launching rockets at nearly the same frequency as Atlas rockets when Hargis joined in 2017, demonstrating their rapid scaling capability. (30:00)
