Six Years, Zero Customers Lost
Matt Altman spent seventeen years at Intel. During most of those years he was also building a second company at night, one that would eventually put sensors at nearly every NFL stadium in the country and along the southern border of the United States.
He and his business partner Russ started Aerial Armor in 2017 by selling drones on Craigslist. Six years later they sold it to their largest competitor, a company with 120 employees and $80 million in venture funding. Aerial Armor had eleven people and had never raised a dollar. This conversation is about what happened in between, and what it cost.
What You'll Hear
The Deal That Almost Died at the Gate
Matt was standing at the jet bridge in Phoenix with his ticket in his hand when the CEO of the acquiring company called and told him not to get on the plane. What happened next took place at a two-seat table in a packed American Airlines lobby.
How a Drone Reseller Became a Defense Company
A forty-five minute delivery drive that netted twenty dollars convinced Matt they had to pivot. A few weeks later, a colleague wandered past a folding table at a Las Vegas conference and found the niche that would define the next six years.
Selling Something Nobody Knows They Need
Ninety-nine percent of the people they called said they did not have a drone problem. Matt explains the shift that ended that objection permanently, and why it had nothing to do with a better pitch.
Eleven People Against 120 and $80 Million
Aerial Armor was bootstrapped, outnumbered, and outspent. It also never lost a customer in six years. Matt is direct about what that record actually required, and what it did to him and his family along the way.
The Offer He Turned Down
Four months into negotiations, Matt called the acquiring CEO and said no thank you. He describes lying in bed that night questioning the decision, and the month of silence that followed before the phone rang again.
Episode Timestamps
00:31 Deal Almost Falls Apart
03:41 Side Hustle Origins
07:08 Finding Drone Detection Niche
09:49 Selling the Unknown Market
14:40 Broncos Breakthrough Moment
18:30 Rivalry and Acquisition Offer
28:01 Border Drone Metrics
31:01 Founder Sacrifices
34:48 Meaning And Impact
42:04 Walking Away Then Winning
About Matt Altman
Matt is the co-founder and former CTO of Aerial Armor, a drone detection company acquired by Dedrone in 2023. He stayed on as CTO of Dedrone and helped guide that company through its own acquisition by Axon two years later. He spent seventeen years at Intel before going full-time on the company he built at night, and he now runs R&D for Dedrone at Axon.
