Steven Simoni Built a $2.2B Company to Reinvent the Way Wars Are Fought

Steven Simoni, co-founder of Allen Control Systems (ACS), sits down with Inspired Capital's Alexa von Tobel and Charlotte Ross to share how ACS went from a pre-seed bet to shipping Bullfrog, its autonomous counter-drone weapon station, onto the battlefield in about three years. 

He breaks down how modern war has shifted to long-range standoff and cheap drones, why the U.S. still relies on expensive interceptors like the Patriot, and how defense budgets actually reach startups. 

Stevem also lays out his plan to turn ACS into an air defense prime, shares what he thinks is overhyped and underhyped in defense tech, and explains why he's still optimistic about the next 20 years.

🔗 Steven Simoni 

•  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevensimoni

•  X: https://x.com/StevenSimoni

•  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevensimoni/

•  Website: https://stevensimoni.com/

•  Steven’s Podcast:  https://www.youtube.com/@thedroneultimatum

Allen Control Systems (ACS):

•  Website: https://www.allencontrolsystems.com/

•  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allen-control-systems

•  X: https://x.com/allencontrol

🎙️ Inspired Capital

• Website: https://www.inspiredcapital.com/ 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspired-capital-partners/

• X: https://x.com/InspiredCap

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inspiredcapital/

• Substack: https://alexavontobel.substack.com/

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

0:40 Meet Steve Simoni

2:15 From small-town Pennsylvania to the Navy

2:53 How Steve met his co-founders

4:03 What ACS is building

4:50 From restaurant tech to defense tech

5:48 How Bullfrog works

7:42 How modern war is really fought

11:27 How defense budgets reach startups

13:41 Why defense is a hits business

15:24 What Steve would build today

17:17 The first drone war and the lessons the U.S. missed

20:04 "We're in World War III"

22:14 Where China stands

24:30 Why the seas matter: Strait of Hormuz and Taiwan

26:22 ACS's plan to become an air defense prime

28:44 Why the military wants lasers

29:35 The next five years for ACS

30:44 Building teams in defense

32:30 What war looks like in 2035

35:05 Cyber warfare and AI

36:56 The weight of building in defense

39:20 Is defense tech overhyped?

40:21 Why you now need a working prototype

42:04 Overhyped vs. underhyped: hypersonics and interceptors

43:52 Why Steve is optimistic about America

45:29 Steve's favorite NYC restaurant