Full Anduril R&D Tour: Matt Grimm, Co-Founder & COO
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 exclusive tour of Anduril's 200,000 square foot Costa Mesa headquarters, Co-Founder and COO Matt Grimm provides an unprecedented look inside the defense tech company's R&D facility. (00:52) The episode showcases Anduril's journey from a 5,000 square foot moldy garage to a global operation with 7,000 employees across 34-35 offices worldwide. (03:59) Grimm walks through cutting-edge facilities including machine shops, metrology labs, anechoic chambers for electronic warfare testing, and showcases flagship products like the Ghost Shark autonomous submarine and distributed command systems. The conversation reveals how Anduril's founders divide responsibilities at scale, with Grimm overseeing all operational functions from supply chain to production logistics while his co-founders handle strategy, innovation, and public relations.
- Main Theme: How Anduril scaled from startup to defense manufacturing powerhouse through strategic facility design, rapid prototyping capabilities, and clear founder role division to accelerate product development and deployment.
Speakers
Matt Grimm
Co-Founder and COO of Anduril, Matt Grimm oversees the operational core of the defense technology company, managing facilities, security, supply chain, production, logistics, and sustainment across their global operations. He was instrumental in setting up Anduril's Sydney office and manufacturing facility, and now leads the company's expansion into new manufacturing locations including their upcoming Quonset, Rhode Island facility for submarine production.
Key Takeaways
Build Rapid Prototyping Capabilities In-House
Anduril's competitive advantage comes from having engineers design something in one building and immediately walk across to their machine shop to prototype and test it the same day. (17:00) Rather than sending designs to external vendors and waiting weeks for parts, their integrated approach allows for multiple iterations within days. Grimm explains that while this in-house approach is more expensive initially, it dramatically accelerates time-to-market and reduces overall costs through faster iteration cycles. For example, their Bolt drone frame went through three major design iterations rapidly because engineers could get immediate feedback from fabricators and test results.
Hire Mission-Driven People with "Can-Do" Attitudes
When scaling globally, Grimm emphasizes that success comes down to finding entrepreneurial people who ask "how do we make it work?" instead of focusing on why something won't work. (05:08) This positive worldview and mission-driven approach becomes the cultural foundation that enables rapid scaling. Rather than getting bogged down in obstacles, the right people focus on solutions - whether that's finding innovative engineers, operations experts, or production specialists needed to execute ambitious programs.
Design Facilities for Testing and Breaking Things
Anduril's dev-test area is specifically designed as "an area that is meant to break things" where they subject products to saltwater spray, temperature extremes, vibration testing, and electronic warfare scenarios. (14:49) This philosophy of intentionally finding failure points during development prevents field failures later. Their anechoic chamber allows them to test jamming and electronic warfare capabilities without interfering with nearby airport communications, demonstrating how smart facility design enables advanced testing capabilities.
Clear Founder Role Division Enables Scale
As Anduril grew to 7,000 employees, the four founders developed distinct specializations: Palmer Luckey drives innovation and serves as public spokesperson, Brian Schimpf handles strategy and global program evaluation, Trae Stephens manages investor relations plus marketing/design, and Matt Grimm runs all operational functions. (06:20) This clear division prevents overlap and ensures each founder can focus their expertise where it's most valuable rather than trying to do everything.
Strategic Use of Secondary Markets for Capital Equipment
Rather than buying expensive new manufacturing equipment, Grimm prefers purchasing used capital equipment from secondary markets, especially in early phases. (31:57) This approach provides flexibility when requirements change and reduces capital expenditure risk. Since specifications often evolve during development, buying used equipment allows them to test approaches and scale without massive upfront investments in equipment that might become obsolete.
Statistics & Facts
- Anduril has grown to approximately 7,000 employees across 34-35 offices worldwide, operating in about 14 time zones. (04:19) This represents massive scale achieved in just 8.5 years since founding in early 2017.
- Their Costa Mesa headquarters spans approximately 650,000 square feet across two buildings (450,000 sq ft in one building, 200,000 sq ft in Building A), housing about 4,100 employees plus support staff for roughly 2,400 people on campus daily. (27:07)
- Anduril started with just 10 employees in a 5,000 square foot moldy garage that used to store lost luggage for American Airlines, with no bathroom, air conditioning, or ventilation. (03:24) This stark contrast illustrates their rapid growth trajectory.
