Taiwan’s Strategy and Scaling Tech for Modern Conflict: Ellen Chang Part II

Ellen Chang is a deep-tech investor focused on the maritime and space domains. She is Managing Director at CapZone Impact Investments, and Co-Founder and Co-President of Wharton Aerospace.She served the U.S. Navy as an Intelligence Officer, later working on JP Morgan’s aerospace team and founding a B2B aviation parts sourcing startup. She spent 12 years at Northrop Grumman, holding leadership roles across systems engineering, program management, and advanced systems, with work spanning autonomous air and space platforms.This episode covers:- Deep tech investor insights.- Drone adoption and reducing cognitive load.- Why manufacturing scale, not just innovation, wins wars.00:00 - Intro01:07 - Taiwan’s defense strategy: Standing on their own vs. US support03:07 - Geopolitics and the "Chip Deal": China’s path to self-reliance04:42 - The ITAR debate: Should the US "drown the world" in American tech?05:23 - Why the US struggles with "trinkets," motors, and batteries06:39 - Economic Statecraft: Lessons from the Great Depression & WWII08:01 - Revitalizing the Maritime Sector: US vs. China’s $90B investment09:48 - Partnering with allies to accelerate manufacturing speed12:00 - Is American innovation too arrogant? Lessons from South Korea13:08 - The "Hard Tech" Founder Profile: MIT, Stanford, Palantir, and SpaceX14:59 - Ellen’s investment philosophy: De-risking the "Go-to-Market"16:23 - Advice for young people entering the "Defense Tech Rage"17:59 - The Wharton Effect: Why MBAs and Vets are moving into defense19:36 - Defense Tech as an emerging asset class21:01 - AI Infrastructure: Data center risks and 2-year backlogs23:11 - The Future of Autonomy: Adoption challenges in the "System of Systems"25:01 - Lowering the "Cognitive Load": Designing tech for the 18-year-old warfighter26:49 - Moving the Bureaucracy: Using safety arguments to improve UI/UX28:04 - Closing RemarksAbout Drone WarsThe Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry.