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Aistis Šimaitis, Palantir’s 2nd hire in Europe, shares the biggest lesson from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: “Just having technology is not enough. If you had to pick between the two, you would go for volume. Volume wins. You'd rather have a million of something than 1 of anything. Ideally, we have to do both.”
NEW: “Prototypes Don’t Fight Wars.” Europe is rearming after decades of underinvestment, with hundreds of billions in new defense spending ahead. The problem? Europe can't manufacture fast enough. Some contracts take 4–5 years to deliver, while modern warfare requires systems produced in the tens of thousands or millions. I sat down with Aistis Šimaitis, Co-Founder & CEO of Onodrim & former Palantir Europe commercial lead, George Hadjiminas, Chief Strategy Officer at Theon International & EFA Group, & Bruno Wejchert (@BrunoJW3), Partner at @StrikeCapital_ , on the massive opportunity to rebuild Europe's defense industrial base. We cover › Why “volume wins” in modern warfare › Europe's fragmented manufacturing & supply chain › Why autonomy requires cheaper systems at massive scale › Defense startups vs established industrial players › The biggest misconceptions about European defense 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Bruno Wejchert, Aistis Šimaitis & George Hadjiminas (00:40) The state of European defense since Ukraine (04:52) Europe's Biggest Defense white space (07:21) How autonomous warfare is reshaping the supply chain (09:51) Tech or Industrial: Who wins in Defense? (11:58) The Biggest misconception about European Defense (15:50) "Choice is an Illusion" (17:28) Lessons from Alex Karp's Palantir (18:08) Could Europe build a $500B Defense company?