From NSS to VC: Schadlow Joins Marlinspike to Bridge Strategy and Capability

ARLINGTON, VA – August 25, 2026 – In a move that underscores the deepening symbiosis between national security policy and private capital, Marlinspike Partners has announced that Dr. Nadia Schadlow, the architect of the 2017 National Security Strategy, will join the firm as a senior advisor. The appointment sends a clear signal: the race to rebuild America’s industrial might and secure its technological future is no longer just a matter for the Pentagon and Congress, but a core thesis for a new breed of venture investor.

Dr. Schadlow, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, is not your typical venture capital advisor. Her career has been defined by operating at the highest echelons of strategic thought, most notably as the U.S. deputy national security advisor for strategy, where she led the drafting of the landmark document that officially pivoted America’s focus toward great power competition. Her move to Marlinspike, an investment firm laser-focused on the technologies reshaping the physical economy, is a powerful indicator of where the front lines of that competition now lie: in the factories, labs, and software stacks of innovative companies.

The Strategist and the Thesis

Marlinspike's investment philosophy is built on a bold prediction. "We are building Marlinspike around a clear view of where the world is going: from a human-centric to an autonomy-centric economy," stated Mislav Tolusic, the firm's Managing Partner. This vision drives its investments in companies at the nexus of AI-enabled design, advanced manufacturing, and autonomous operations—firms like Anduril, Palantir, and Armada that are redefining the defense and industrial landscape.

Dr. Schadlow’s expertise provides the strategic overlay to this technological bet. Her work has consistently explored the perilous gap between a nation's stated goals and its ability to achieve them. "Nadia has spent her career on the problem most investors overlook, which is the distance between a strategy on paper and a capability in the field," Tolusic added. "That is exactly the gap our portfolio companies are built to close."

This isn't merely about adding a prestigious name to the letterhead. It's about embedding the very logic of national strategy into the investment due diligence process. Dr. Schadlow's research on supply chain vulnerabilities in critical areas like advanced batteries and energetic materials directly informs Marlinspike’s quest to back the companies that can solve these deficits.

In her own words, the mission alignment is clear. "Marlinspike is one of the few firms taking a truly systems-level view of the convergence of robotics, advanced manufacturing, and autonomy," Dr. Schadlow commented. "American industrial capacity is now a national security question in its own right, from energetic materials and advanced batteries to the machines that build them."

Closing the 'Strategy-to-Capability' Gap

For decades, the so-called "valley of death" has haunted the U.S. defense ecosystem. It’s the chasm where promising, innovative technologies developed by startups perish due to the Pentagon's slow, risk-averse, and labyrinthine procurement system. A brilliant idea or a working prototype is one thing; navigating the byzantine world of federal acquisition to secure a program of record is another challenge entirely.

This is precisely the "strategy-to-capability" gap that Marlinspike, now with Dr. Schadlow's guidance, is engineered to bridge. Her role will involve advising portfolio companies on strategic engagement with government stakeholders, helping them navigate complex procurement environments and accelerate their adoption pathways.

Neil Keegan, CEO of Marlinspike, frames her value in stark terms: "Nadia understands both how national strategy gets written and where it breaks down in execution. For founders building the next generation of defense and industrial companies, that judgment is a force multiplier."

This kind of expertise is becoming a critical differentiator in the increasingly crowded defense-tech space. While capital is essential, the intellectual currency of understanding how to align a company's technology with a documented national security priority—and then how to shepherd it through the bureaucratic maze—is invaluable. It’s about transforming a venture-backed startup from a novel experiment into an indispensable component of national power.

A New Blueprint for Industrial Power

Dr. Schadlow’s appointment is emblematic of a larger, more significant trend: the migration of top-tier national security talent into the world of private investment. This is not the traditional "revolving door" of defense lobbying. Instead, it represents a conscious effort to channel private sector agility and capital toward solving public sector challenges that the legacy industrial base has been too slow to address.

Firms like Marlinspike represent a private-sector complement to public industrial policy initiatives like the CHIPS and Science Act. While the government can provide subsidies and strategic direction, it is venture capital that often fuels the high-risk, high-reward innovation required to create entirely new categories of technology and manufacturing.

This new model recognizes that national security is no longer solely about tanks, ships, and planes. It’s about securing supply chains for microchips, pioneering AI-driven materials science, and deploying autonomous systems that can operate at a scale and speed humans cannot match. As Dr. Schadlow noted, "Marlinspike's focus on integrating design, build, and operate capabilities aligns closely with where I believe the future of national security and industrial competitiveness is headed."

By investing in companies that are not just designing software but are also building the physical hardware and manufacturing capabilities to produce it domestically, the firm is directly addressing the hollowing out of the American industrial base—an issue that has moved from an economic concern to a critical national security vulnerability.

The Autonomy-Centric Future

Marlinspike’s portfolio offers a glimpse into the "autonomy-centric" future it aims to build. Anduril’s unmanned systems are creating a new paradigm for surveillance and defense. Elroy Air is developing autonomous cargo drones to revolutionize logistics. Volund Manufacturing is working on "made in USA attritable jet motors," a key component for the future of aerial combat.

Each of these companies represents a piece of a larger puzzle: creating a resilient, technologically superior industrial ecosystem that can support both economic prosperity and national defense. Dr. Schadlow’s strategic framework, which identified great power competition as the defining challenge of our era, provides the "why" for these investments. Her role at Marlinspike is to help perfect the "how."

By bringing the architect of America’s grand strategy into the boardroom where investment decisions are made, Marlinspike is making a powerful statement. It is betting that the companies that will define the 21st century will be those that can successfully translate strategic imperatives into operational realities, building the tools and technologies necessary to secure a competitive advantage for the United States and its allies in an increasingly contested world. This partnership is more than a high-profile hire; it is a blueprint for how private innovation can be harnessed to serve the national interest.