Josh Wolfe and Tony Thomas - The Past, Present, and Future of Defense

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (0:00)
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Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Patrick O'Shaughnessy and this is Invest Like the Best. This show is an open-ended exploration of markets, ideas, stories and strategies that will help you better invest both your time and your money. Invest Like the Best is part of the Colossus family of podcasts, and you can access all our podcasts, including edited transcripts, show notes and other resources to keep learning at joincolossus.com.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:47)
Patrick O'Shaughnessy is the CEO of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management. All opinions expressed by Patrick and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.
Clients of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast.

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (3:12)
My guests this week are Josh Wolfe and Tony Thomas, better known as T2. Josh is the co-founder and general partner at Lux Capital. T2 is now a venture partner alongside Josh at Lux after serving almost 40 years in the US military and becoming a four-star general and the 11th commander of US Special Operations Command. Our conversation focuses on the technology frontier in defense, as well as the geopolitical threats that the US faces. We talk about everything from semiconductors and autonomous weapons systems to the moral dimensions of investing in defense technology. I hope you enjoy this fascinating conversation with Josh Wolfe and Tony Thomas.
So T2, I think since the audience knows Josh very well, we have to begin with you and your fascinating background. Could you begin by giving us sort of the thumbnail sketch of your career up until this point?

**Tony Thomas** (4:02)
Thanks, Patrick, and thanks for the opportunity to engage with you here today and with my teammate, Josh.
I come from some pretty common formative years.
And in fact, I joke, I was probably voted on more occasions than not if we had that early balloting of least likely ever to become a four-star general in the UOD. So I'm the oldest of six kids from the Philadelphia area, stumbled through 10 years of education before I finally had the opportunity to visit West Point. And for whatever reason, and I still don't understand how I was mature enough on that day to grasp the opportunity, it struck me that I need this place. I need some orientation. I need to go here. So I switched out of Catholic school into public school, got a haircut, started hanging around with the right kids and applying myself. Up to that point, my parents at university said I was the most underachieving person on the planet. And luckily, by hook or crook, got into West Point. Like a lot of guys and gals that go to the military academy, I had no intent of making a military career. I mean, I was interested in serving my country, certainly, and I knew that there was a five-year commitment. I didn't have a plan past that. I didn't have a plan on where I wanted to go from my initial assignment until I picked it.