V'yacheslav Shvaydak, an ex-lieutenant with a PhD in economics co-founded DROPLA in 2023. Starting with three co-founders and zero revenue, they pitched military officials: "we're a small startup, our name is nobody, can you please give us some land mines?" They were shown the door. Today, DROPLA has raised millions from international investors and built technology now deployed across Ukraine, expanding from humanitarian de-mining into real-time threat detection systems dictated by battlefield needs.
In this episode, Slava shares the unfiltered reality of building defence tech during wartime: how his experience as a former tank commander sitting on ammunition watching turret caps fly shaped his product decisions, why European defence startups must stress-test products before bringing them to Ukrainian warfighters, the single biggest mistake that destroys defencetech companies, and why there's nothing shameful about forging weapons when democracy needs defending.
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Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:32) PhD Economist, Engineer & Tank Commander: The Unusual Combo
(09:30) How Slava ended with Starting a Defencetech Company
(25:52) The Breakthrough: Getting Access to Real Land Mines
(27:30) How We Built Europe's Biggest Mine Database
(26:27) First Win: How We Got Ukrainian Forces to Say Yes
(44:31) The Pivot: From Humanitarian to Battlefield
(51:43) How to Actually Raise Money During a War
(01:02:40) Why Defencetech Gives You Zero Second Chances
(01:05:12) The Agreement That Saved Our Founding Team
(01:09:07) What "Battle-Ready" Actually Means
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1) Respect is your currency in defencetech - protect it ruthlessly: "You never badmouth people behind their back. You never badmouth people in the defence industry. The word spreads really quickly about you, your company. This respect is a very bad type of decision that you might choose."
2) Face-to-face confrontation beats silent disrespect every time: "If you think that somebody is wrong, confront him. Openly confront him. It will be a sign of strength. It will be a sign of respect to him. And the truth will be revealed in this battle. And there is nothing bad in having different opinions."
3) Never bring half-baked products to warfighters - it's unforgivable: "If you are a defence tech in Europe, I would strongly advise not to waste Ukrainian warfighters time... You would come with a completely raw, untested, under stress product in your environment, trying to bring something that you know for sure will not work. You know, personally inside. You are just doing that to stamp battle proven on your product and go brag about it."
4) Impossible persistence beats perfect credentials: "Imagine you coming to the military guys and asking them 'hey guys, I'm a small startup with 4 co-founders, we just started, we have zero in revenue, our name is nobody and can you please give us some land mines to play with?' Right now we have the biggest land mine threat signature in Europe I would say without any doubt."
5) There's nothing shameful in building shields and swords - "There is nothing bad in being strong. There is nothing bad in forging a shield. There is nothing bad in forging a sword. There is nothing bad in desire to defend your people. It is a source of strength... Straighten up your backs and work." European defence tech founders: abandon the shame. Defending your people is a source of strength, not embarrassment.
6) Your weird combination is your unfair advantage: "We are all on our personal journeys with a designated set of skills... your pair of eyes have seen stuff that no one else in the world has seen or heard. And your unique connect of the brain is such a unique experience." Don't try to fit into boxes. Your strange path is your edge.#defence #ukraine #entrepreneurship #artificialintelligence