Positioning and strategy for defense and dual-use companies. We act as your fractional growth lead: find the mission owner, win the room, and turn engagement into growth.
Top 100 Defense Innovators, 2026. The Difference Makers. Archetype: The Compass.
Strong companies stall at the same wall. Not because the technology lacks impact, but because the story, the strategy, and the relationships never connect to someone who owns the mission.
In the commercial world, growth and engagement are two different jobs. In defense they are the same job. You grow by engaging: problem first, with the operators and programs who own it, carrying a narrative that wins the room. That is the seat Wayfinder fills, part-time, for companies that need it before they can justify a full-time hire.
We engage where we are sharp and point you to the right path everywhere else. We build your capability to compete. We do not try to run your company for you.
Clarify your value, sharpen your message, and aim your strategy at real DoD demand. Stakeholder mapping, narrative design, capability briefs, and quad charts that actually land.
Explore → 02Turn industry days, tech competitions, and experimentation events into opportunity. You walk in knowing your narrative, your targets, and your next move.
Explore → 03For regions, incubators, and program offices building a defense accelerator. We design the engagement side so companies leave with a path into defense, not just a certificate.
Explore → 04For investors, primes, and programs: a trained eye on the dual-use landscape. We find the capability, read the readiness, and tell you what is real.
Explore →Industry, the event floor, the judging panel, and the place where Army demand takes shape. That is the vantage point we bring to your growth.
As Army Growth Lead at Defense Unicorns, Luke ran Army growth for a defense software company from the inside. Wayfinder brings that same seat to companies that are not ready for a full-time hire.
For the Defense Innovation Unit, Luke stood up EXTiC, a combatant command experimentation event, from a standing start. It landed well enough that CENTCOM and DIU kept investing, and it now runs two to three times a year.
We have judged Army xTech competitions and written the problem statements companies compete against. We know what a scoring panel is looking for because we have been the panel.
Seven years as Deputy Director of the Army Mad Scientist Initiative and three as Director of Wargaming for TRADOC G-2. That is where requirements and demand signal start forming, long before a solicitation drops.
Most companies lead with the demo. We start with the problem the DoD is actually trying to solve, then build the strategy backward from there. Demand signal, real users, pilot opportunities, and adoption, not just a slick brief.
That is the difference between a full calendar and real growth. One keeps you busy. The other moves capability to the warfighter.
One conversation. No pitch, no obligation. We will tell you straight whether we can help.