business model, business model canvas, mission model, mission model canvas, customer development, hacking for defense, H4D, lean launchpad, lean startup, stanford, startup, steve blank, pete newell, bmnt, entrepreneurship, I-Corps, batteries, NSIN,

1. Anthro Energy: Powering Isolated Personnel Recovery
David Mackanic Michael Kao Jonathan Hess Andreína Mesalles
PhD, Battery Engineer / Wearable
Electronics
B.S., Battery Engineer /
Materials Science
MS-MBA, Investment
Banking, Finance
MS-MBA, Management
Consulting / Energy
Problem Sponsor
LtCol Jeff Budis, Joint Staff Office
Business Mentor
Rachel Costello, US Navy, Tesla Sr TPM
Defense Mentors
LtCol Warren Cook, USMC, Hoover Fellow
LtCol Theodore Liebreich, US Army, Hoover Fellow
Week 1 Problem Statement: “Isolated
personnel (IP) such as downed fighter
pilots need an integrated power source on
their person to ensure access to power for
necessary electronics and to increase
rescue probability.”
Final Problem Statement: “Ground-based
warfighters behind enemy lines likely to become
Isolated Personnel need an integrated power
source on their person, to ensure access to
power for necessary electronics and enable
mission success; rescue, recon, or otherwise.”
143 interviews

2. We interviewed 143 people across services and functions
74
Beneficiaries
17 Battery Experts
12 Dual-Use
Companies
27 Procurement /
Deployment
Experts
13 Private and
military
investors

3. Refocus on AFSOC
and SOCOM
Deployment is
complicated
‘Product mission fit’
TRL too low
Pivot!
COVID-19 Response
took our Sponsor…
…so we got out of the
building and discovered
use cases for flexible
batteries!
Our emotional journey

4. Drones
Flexible Battery
Pack
Medical
devices
Sensors
Undersea
Equipment
We interviewed 41 warfighters in 2 weeks and identified use
cases for flexible battery tech
✓ Ground-operating warfighters have a wide range of applications that use batteries
✓ Military personnel are dissatisfied with existing batteries - heavy, bulky, unsafe, they
break
✓ Special Operations (SOCOM) adopt new tech quickly

5. KEY PARTNERS
- Joint Staff Office
- OEMs of military
batteries and electronics
- Designers of military
uniforms
- Battery materials
suppliers
- Manufacturing partners
- Legal IP protection
- Integrated Defense
Acquisition System and
logistics life cycle
management in DoD
KEY RESOURCES
- Battery manufacturing
facility or partner
- Stanford IP
- Battery engineers and
designers
- Materials supply
KEY ACTIVITIES
- Use case discovery and
iteration
- Network and get buy-in
- Battery design:
Materials, specifications
- Battery manufacturing
DEPLOYMENT
- Sales to combat unit as
wearable ‘plug-and-play’
- contract with uniform
mfg. for direct integration
- collaboration with OEMs
for universal battery pack
BUY-IN & SUPPORT
-- Need order/ purchase/
specs from Joint Office
- Collaboration with
military outfitters to design
product(s)
MISSION BUDGET/COST
Fixed: engineer/research team, design team, mfg partner
Variable: battery materials, shipping/distribution (similar to
conventional battery)
Number of units: TBD
MISSION ACHIEVEMENT/IMPACT FACTORS
- Increase comfort and modularity of power sources for IPs (ideally
2x increase in easily transportable storage)
- Make integration of powered electronics into soldier kit easier and
more distributed (not reliant on 5 different battery sources)
VALUE PROPOSITIONS
- wearable battery packs
fulfill energy needs while
distributing weight and
enhancing comfort
- flexible/safe batteries
allow pilots to eject from
the plane with enough
energy capacity
- wearable batteries can
power applications without
risk of flammability from a
bullet
- improved battery may
enable new survival
devices
Our new Problem Sponsor guided us to focus on Downed
Fighter pilots at risk of becoming Isolated Personnel
BENEFICIARIES
Downed
Fighter Pilots
who are
Isolated
Personnel (IP)

6. Oops! Fighter pilots did not see value in battery innovation
“When choosing what to carry, I would
opt for bullets, food, water, and maybe
one spare battery.”
“Battery life is not a priority, we use the CSEL at
periodic intervals and it will last us several days.”

7. 7McKinsey & Company
By broadening the search we found a better fit with the Personnel
Recovery Triangle: the CSAR Guardian Angels
SEAD / Electronic Warfare
Airborne Mission
Commander
Joint Personnel Recovery
Center (JPRC)
Tankers
Rescue Combat Air Patrol
Rescue Escort (RESCORT)
Recovery Forces
CSAR
Forward Air Controller
PR Triangle

8. Guardian Angels care deeply
about better batteries
“The three main thing I think about are water,
ammunition, and batteries.”
“Battery management is a headache”

9. Deployment is
complicated
TRL too low
No luck with
downed pilots...
Pivot!
Obtained project
sponsor
Refocus on
Ground-based
special forces
Our emotional journey

10. MVP: A flexible, conformable battery with universal charging
Multi-Charging
The battery is flexible,
safe, conformable and
charges most priority
devices
Personal Radio
High Frequency Radio
ATAK
Toughbook
GPS
Product-Mission Fit!
Anthro Energy
Batteries

11. Obtained project
sponsor
Refocus on ground
based special forces
Deployment is
complicated
‘Product mission fit’
Pivot!
Our emotional journey

12. BENEFICIARIESKEY PARTNERS
- Joint Staff Office
- OEMs of military
batteries and electronics
- Designers of military
uniforms
- Battery materials
suppliers
- Manufacturing partners
- Legal IP protection
- Integrated Defense
Acquisition System and
logistics life cycle
management in DoD
KEY RESOURCES
•Defense contractor
• Stanford IP
• Battery engineers and
designers
• Materials supply
• Military procurement
KEY ACTIVITIES
• Use case discovery
and iteration. Hypothesis
to MVP to discovery,
• Network and get buy-in
• Battery design:
• Battery manufacturing
DEPLOYMENT
BUY-IN & SUPPORT
MISSION BUDGET/COST
• Fixed: engineer/research team, design team, mfg partner
• Variable: battery materials, shipping/distribution (similar to
conventional battery)
• # of units: Limited (spec ops). Reach out to AF / SOCOM-
acquisition
MISSION ACHIEVEMENT/IMPACT FACTORS
• Reduce # of spare batteries / # of devices
• Improve performance of warfighters w/ increased battery
convenience.
• In the event of IP situation, improve battery lifetime for improved
survival
VALUE PROPOSITIONS
Special
operations
warfighters
Flexible,
conformable,
safe battery
with universal
charging
adapter
Once Mission-Fit was ensured, we needed a deployment
strategy
AFSOC/SOCOM
AFWERX/SBIR/DIU

13. We had procurement options, but none of them were a great fit
Prototype battery pack
Conventional RFP Process
5-7+ year timeline
SOCOM Other Transaction Authority
Quick, but small value contract
Defense Innovation Unit Proposal
Quick, help with securing a long-
term purchaser and big contracts
All the identified routes required a TRL 6+, and a full-size prototype

14. Obtained project
sponsor
Refocus on ground
based special forces
Deployment is
complicated
‘Product mission fit’
Pivot!
TRL too low –
Time to build
the prototype!
Our emotional journey

15. Pursuing dual-use deployment can help bridge valley of death
???
‘Valley of Death’
TRL-6
Military deployment
Today

16. Anthro Energy is pursuing a dual-use business
Pre-TRL 6
TRL 6-8
Direct to Phase II
Series A/B VC
AFSOC DeploymentDeployment
NSIC
Seed Venture FundingGrants
Conventional
VCs
Manufacturing
Partners
Commercial Sales
e.g. wearable electronics

17. Obtained project
sponsor
Refocus on ground
based special forces
‘Product mission fit’
Deployment is
complicated
TRL too low
Create a Dual-
Use business
Pivot!
Our emotional journey

18. David Mackanic Michael Kao Jonathan Hess Andreína Mesalles
What’s next?
We are excited to make the next generation of safe, flexible battery to improve
warfighter performance!
Business Mentor
Rachel Costello, US Navy, Tesla Sr TPM
Defense Mentors
LtCol Warren Cook, USMC, Hoover Fellow
LtCol Theodore Liebreich, US Army, Hoover Fellow
Special Thanks to:
Problem Sponsor
LtCol Jeff Budis, Joint Staff Office
Mark Breier - IQT

20. Appendix

21. Flexible
Battery Pack
Unmanned
aerial
devices
▪ Submarine-
launched drones
▪ Lightweight drones
(e.g. Raven, Puma,
ScanEagle)
Medical
devices
▪ Human
performance
tracking devices
▪ Medical team
devices (e.g. blood
warmers, blood
coolers, warming
blankets)
Undersea
Capacity
▪ Jet boots
▪ Unmanned
undersea devices
▪ Spoofing devices
Sensors /
Tracking
devices
▪ Unattended
sensors
▪ Devices to tag,
track and locate
▪ General equipment
for divers (e.g.
flashlights)
▪ Built into armor
▪ Built into helmet
Identified many use cases for improved battery technology
41 interviews across all 5
military branches
Conviction of need for improved
batteries for a variety of applications