This Gen Z Entrepreneur Is Changing How the Marines Train (ft. Infinite Defense)

Elijah from Infinite Defense joins John and Kaylee to tell the story behind Infinity Targets, the self-healing rubber targets he started building as a college engineering student. He couldn't afford the $500 rubber-dummy setups on the market, so he ran his own material testing out in the desert, figured out a manufacturing process, and taught himself business off Google. After shutting down during Covid and working construction and landscaping, he restarted the company from a blank slate on April 20, 2022, out of his dad's garage. Three years later it runs out of a warehouse with more than 60 target designs. The conversation gets into how the targets actually work. The rubber stretches to let a bullet pass through, then closes back up due to its elasticity, so there's no hole left behind, just a bright contrasting mark you can spray over. Elijah explains the Gen 2 vulcanized recycled rubber, the round-count guarantee of 110 rounds of 5.56 per square inch, why hollow points and slugs are the only things that won't work, and the safety case against steel at close range where fragmentation and ricochet become a risk. He makes the value argument too: one Infinity target outlasts roughly 200 cardboard targets, and the Quantico PMO office cut two to three hours off range days just by not swapping targets between shooters. Marketing is a through-line. As a young founder who grew up on social media, Elijah leaned on free organic content, watched TikTok become his first big platform before it banned him, and built an affiliate and YouTube creator program instead of print ads. He talks about supporting newer creators his own age and still running the social accounts himself. The back half turns to policy, where Elijah and the hosts go after the ATF, the brace ban, SBR rules, the receiver definition, and the $200 tax stamp that traces back to the 1934 cost of a Thompson. Kaylee ties it to GOA's mandate to protect, defend, and restore the Second Amendment, warning that the biggest risk for gun owners right now is taking a win and going apathetic. Linksevents.goa.org/goalsammosquared.comQuestions this episode answers How did Infinite Defense get started, and why did Elijah build a rubber target instead of buying one? Elijah started building self-healing rubber targets as a college engineering student because he couldn't afford the roughly $500 rubber-dummy setups on the market. He ran his own material testing out in the desert, worked out a manufacturing process, and taught himself the business side using Google. How do self-healing rubber targets actually work, and how long do they last? The rubber stretches to let a bullet pass through, then closes back up from its own elasticity, leaving no hole behind, just a bright contrasting mark you can spray over. Infinite Defense guarantees 110 rounds of 5.56 per square inch on its Gen 2 vulcanized recycled rubber. What are the advantages of rubber targets over steel and cardboard? One Infinity target outlasts roughly 200 cardboard targets, and the Quantico PMO office cut two to three hours off range days by not having to swap targets between shooters. Unlike steel at close range, the rubber avoids the fragmentation and ricochet that create a safety risk. When is steel still the better choice over a rubber target? Elijah says he isn't trying to phase steel out of the industry, and notes the rubber targets won't work with hollow points or slugs. Those rounds are the exceptions where the self-healing rubber falls short. How did Infinite Defense use social media, TikTok, and YouTube affiliates to grow? As a young founder who grew up on social media, Elijah leaned on free organic content and watched TikTok become his first big platform before he was banned. He then built an affiliate and YouTube creator program in place of print ads, and still runs the social accounts himself. How did the company handle social media restrictions and bans on firearms content? After TikTok banned him, Elijah shifted to an affiliate and YouTube creator program instead of paid print ads, and made a point of supporting newer creators his own age. He continues to run the company's accounts and produce most of its content himself. Why do Elijah and the hosts think the ATF and the $200 tax stamp don't make sense? They argue the $200 tax stamp traces back to the 1934 cost of a Thompson and no longer makes sense, and they criticize the ATF over the brace ban, SBR rules, and the receiver definition. Co-host Kaylee frames it as a bill of rights, not a bill of needs. What does Gun Owners of America say gun owners should do right now to keep the momentum going? Co-host Kaylee ties the conversation to Gun Owners of America's mandate to protect, defend, and restore the Second Amendment. She warns that the biggest current risk is taking a win and going apathetic, because apathy kills the momentum. Chapters 00:22 — Rapid Fire round 02:55 — How Infinite Defense got started 04:54 — Going all in on social media 06:35 — Surviving the firearms content crackdown 08:52 — Testing materials and target longevity 10:53 — Rubber vs steel vs cardboard 12:39 — What self-healing actually means 13:44 — The full target lineup 15:11 — Building growth through YouTube affiliates 19:03 — Backing the next generation of creators 21:10 — From the Soapbox: the ATF and brace ban 29:25 — The broom analogy for NFA laws 33:20 — Taxing a constitutional right 36:35 — Don't take a win and go apathetic About the guest Elijah is the founder of Infinite Defense, the maker of Infinity Targets, self-healing rubber shooting targets. He started the company as an engineering student, transferred to ASU after he stopped playing college football, and later dropped out to run the business. He ran his material testing out in the desert and taught himself business through Google. He restarted Infinite Defense from a blank slate on April 20, 2022, building it out of his dad's garage before moving into a warehouse. He still runs the company's social media accounts and handles most of its content himself. Based in Phoenix. Key quotes "I was a red anodized AR part guy, just shooting paper targets and whatnot." — Elijah "We're not trying to phase out steel of the industry." — Elijah "We just brought a better solution to the market." — Elijah "It's a bill of rights, not a bill of needs, period." — Kaylee "Apathy kills the momentum." — Kaylee "What logical human just goes, I'm stopping because this is hard." — John