Michael Miller is the Founder and CEO of Miller C. & Co., where he architects outcome-driven playbooks to early, defensible value for founders and investors. A C-level entrepreneurial executive, strategic innovator and thought leader, Michael is internationally recognized for creating high-leverage pathways which preserve capital, produce early validation, and resolve execution barriers in the complex, bureaucracy-intensive aerospace, defense and national security markets. His leadership experience across the private sector and U.S. government gives him a rare perspective on how to guide founders and investors to early market success. As a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Defense, he deployed $12B+ in U.S. investments to rapidly develop transformational technologies for the global war on terrorism. As a former Director at Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation, he understands the development risk, integration friction, technical debt, and the realities of moving from prototype to a revenue-generating, scalable capability. Michael also served in the U.S. Air Force and as a senior advisor to senior executives across the DoD and intelligence community. Michael works closely with founders and investors to execute the right playbook to early value through strategic partnerships and activating the government bureaucracy for market acceleration and crisis resolution.