The final panel of Georgetown’s 2026 Venture in the Capital Summit brought together two student founders turned defense tech CEOs: Lucas Raskin of Guardian RF, who studied physics at Georgetown, and Jarren Reid of Usul. Juliano Perczek (SFS’27) moderated.
Raskin explained that Guardian RF grew out of signal processing research with Georgetown physics classmates and a win at a defense hackathon organized by Georgetown students, and that he later spent months testing the product in Ukraine. Reid described building Usul, an AI platform that helps companies find and win government contracts, after watching his father struggle with outdated government software. Both spoke about the pressure and speed of Y Combinator, the value of informal mentors, and why fresh perspectives matter in defense. Raskin urged students to lead with impact and to see Washington as a strong place to build.