My Story
I’m a dreamer, doer, and problem solver.
I believe that entrepreneurship is key to building a prosperous community and a strong country. As Managing Partner at The Outpost, a boutique consulting firm, Joey helps companies win government contracts, especially in the defense arena, leading the conversation for businesses that want to learn how to work with the government. They have helped over 215 companies win $367M in contracts. Every day he gets to enable the people who foster innovation and change, which are critical to our success as a society. Creating access to capital and jobs drives our economy.
Previously, Joey was the Chief Scaling Officer for a government software program (DoD Platform One) where he worked to streamline and scale operations designed to get commercial software authorized for use on Department of Defense systems in days and weeks instead of months and years.
Joey is a proud Air Force Veteran, continuing to serve as an Air Force reservist, and was an Airfield Operations Officer in the US and in Afghanistan. During the second half of his Air Force career, he led innovation efforts and co-founded AFWERX (Air Force Innovation Program) to connect an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and innovators and accelerate results for Air Force culture change and technology adoption. He scaled the government organization from 5 to over 350 people, engaged over 100,000 Airmen, and funded over 2,422 companies with $710M. This led to 530 prototype projects, with 50+ scaling to serve the strategic needs of the Air Force. He tailored the strategy around how the Air Force invests in small businesses.
In addition to his extensive work with government contracts, Joey has started 3 companies, facilitated Startup Weekends, been a 1 Million Cups organizer, and is a grassroots ecosystem builder. He is mission-driven, passionate about innovation in government, cares deeply about entrepreneurship, and enjoys legos, working out, getting outside, and making stories.
My Story
I’m a dreamer, doer, and problem solver.
Joey is currently a Chief Scaling Officer working to streamline and scale operations for a government software program (DoD Platform One) designed to get commercial software authorized for use on Department of Defense systems in days and weeks instead of months and years.
He believes that entrepreneurship is key to building a prosperous life for every human. Creating access to capital and jobs drives our economy. Enabling people who foster innovation and change is critical to our success as a society. He has built his life around maximizing these principles.
He is an Air Force Veteran, currently an Air Force reservist and has served as an Airfield Operations Officer in the US and in Afghanistan. During the second half of his Air Force career, he led innovation efforts and co-founded AFWERX (Air Force Innovation Program) to connect innovators and accelerate results for Air Force culture change and technology adoption. He scaled the government organization from 5 to 350+ people, they engaged over 100,000 Airmen, funded over 1,700 companies with $529M which led to 530 prototype projects and 21 scaling to serve the strategic needs of the Air Force. He was responsible for shaping the strategy around how the Air Force invests in small businesses.
He has started 3 companies, facilitated Startup Weekends, been a 1 Million Cups organizer, and am a grassroots ecosystem builder. He is passionate about innovation in government, mission-driven, cares deeply about entrepreneurship, enjoys legos, working out, getting outside, and making stories. He believes change happens when you create a movement where people can get involved in building the future we want to be a part of.
Work history
The Outpost
In 2022 I had the amazing opportunity to join the Outpost, a boutique consulting firm, where I help companies win government contracts, especially in the defense arena, leading the conversation for businesses that want to learn how to work with the government. They have helped over 212+ companies win $403M in contracts. Every day he gets to enable the people who foster innovation and change, which are critical to our success as a society. Creating access to capital and jobs drives our economy.
DoD Platform One
From late 2020 to early 2022 I got the chance to be the Chief Scaling Officer at Platform One. This was a transition from a full-time military role to a new role for me. I enjoyed the chance to dive into how DevSecOps is changing the software space. Where I worked to streamline and scale operations designed to get commercial software authorized for use on Department of Defense systems in days and weeks instead of months and years.
AFWERX & AF Ventures
In the last 3 years I helped co-found two Air Force Innovation efforts: AFWERX and AFVentures. At AFWERX our mission was to connect innovators and accelerate results for Air Force culture change and technology adoption. My role on the team was to help design the incentives and build the relationships that bring together the DoD and startups/small businesses to address national security mission sets. I also led the build-out of a modern tech backbone (Salesforce, G-Suite, Okta, Trello, Teams) to scale AFWERX efforts. Over the last three years, we funded over 1,700 companies with $524M dollars, leading to 530+ prototype projects and 25+ projects transitioned to programs of record. We averaged $3.17 of private capital invested for every $1 of SBIR funding invested. Additionally, the team engaged over 100,000 Airmen and shifted the narrative around how Air Force personnel interact with the commercial world. We built a credible, repeatable, and scalable pathway for non-traditional companies to work with the Air Force.
The Better Government Movement
I helped create the Better Government Bootcamp (formerly the Design Challenge), to pair proven modern methods with practical application over a period of time to yield both principles and practice. Between March and June 2018, 40 public servants from 34 agencies completed the Bootcamp’s first cohort which consisted of 15 weeks of training and applying eight different 21st century methods in a safe space to tackle three government-wide problems.
Human-Centered Design, Lean Startup, and Agile were the core elements of this training program, with specific masterclasses on prototyping/Minimum Viable Product, change and transformation, storytelling, and finally pitching. We partnered with Design Thinking DC to take their existing work and translate it for the federal government.
Designed as an extended bootcamp experience, the chosen first cohort were divided up into seven teams and learned eight methodologies in an experiential learning environment while applying the skills immediately through diving into three problem sets and “how might we?” questions. They were guided by a team of five leaders and their own teams of “sherpas” to mentor them through the process of innovation: 3 subject-matter Sherpas, 3 Innovation Sherpas, and nearly a dozen other sherpas as needed.
In all, the students attended seven masterclasses with 14 instructors from the community and completed 12 assignments which amounted to more than 120 hours of teamwork. At the end of their journey, each of the teams competed in a pitch day to showcase their work in front of a panel of judges.
MoAr Real Estate
I co-founded MoAr Real Estate to build an investment portfolio in the midwest United States and to generate a source of long term passive income.
Deployment to Afghanistan
I was the Airfield Operations Flight Commander while in Bagram, Afghanistan. I was in charge of combat operations on the Airfield. I oversaw two $23 million dollar contracts across Afghanistan, supporting 240,000+ combat air operations.
Techstars Startup Weekend
I love helping new people explore entrepreneurship, the Startup Weekend model is a fantastic way to do that. It is a 54 hour event where people of all ages and experience levels get to experience the highs, lows, fun, and pressure that make up life at a startup. The goal is to teach them the basics of how to create a real company, and bring together mentors, investors, cofounders, and sponsors who are ready to help get the idea kicked off. I have facilitated 9 startup weekends and organized a couple. I truly enjoy the passion of people moving their ideas forward and the energy of these weekends.
Air Force
I served as the Deputy and Flight Commander for Airfield Operations officer and the Commander’s Support Staff Flight Commander. I was here for two years as a part of Air Force Global Strike Command, where I had the opportunity to learn how one triad of the nuclear mission is executed. I was selected to be the unit’s chief of staff. This was a great learning opportunity for me and prepared me well for my deployment.
1 Million Cups
I was an organizer for the 1 Million Cups program by Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. I got involved in this program to help grow the startup ecosystem in Shreveport, Louisiana. The program is based on the notion that entrepreneurs discover solutions and engage with their communities over a million cups of coffee. It is a free program designed to educate, engage and inspire entrepreneurs around the country. This was a wonderful way to connect with local entrepreneurs and support the co-working space in town. I met amazing lifelong friends through this program and the community behind this program inspired me to become an ecosystem builder.
Startup Alerts
Founded a company to connect co-working spaces together, focused on connecting entrepreneurs to events in their communities. This was my first true startup, it failed. Throughout this process, I learned so much about the ecosystem in place to support entrepreneurs. I learned how to hire and manage a software development team, what it means to truly build an MVP, how important it is to iterate on a weekly or faster basis. Leveraging data to drive decisions in a company, raising money and finally some more about product market fit. Though this venture failed, I learned a ton about being a better entrepreneur. I’m glad I took the chance to do this and look forward to founding my own company again in the future!
Air Force
Served as an Airfield Operations officer at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. I was here for two years as a part of Air Force Special Operations Command, where I was ingrained with the mentality to solve for yes, handle complex problems and bring stakeholders together. I got to work on a massive $1.2 Billion effort to build out the airfield, coordinate new air traffic routes for unmanned aerial vehicles, and put together an Airshow. My favorite part of my time here was
Education
Stanford Ignite
Worked in a team of 6 to develop a new product based venture, I learned and got to apply business concepts around business models, marketing, product-market fit, accounting and pricing through the venture project. We refined our pitch through a day long communications bootcamp. Then, the team presentations were to a panel of venture capitalists, angel investors, industry experts, and experienced entrepreneurs, who provided feedback on the viability of the venture idea and business plan for educational purposes. I have taken this education and my real-world experience with Startup Alerts, and now apply those in mentorship sessions with companies and fellow entrepreneurs.
University of Virginia – Darden School of Business
Design thinking & Innovation Specialization
I studied how an organization can adopt a lean-thinking & human-centered design mindset to drive innovation. I worked through 4 projects that helped me derive insights on how to drive cross-departmental collaboration and break down silos. I have since used these skills extensively in the launch and scaling of AFWERX and AFVentures.
CSU Global
Masters in Organizational Leadership – Strategic Change and Innovation Management
This degree was critical to keeping my critical thinking skills sharp and engaged during my time in the Air Force and set me up well for engaging in entrepreneurial ecosystems and my eventual transition and founding of AFWERX.
CU Boulder
Bachelors in Business
CU was a wonderful environment where I got the chance to grow into who I am today. I was able to join a multitude of organizations from the Presidents Leadership Class, AFROTC, the Diverse Scholars Program and many more that all shaped me development. This is where I doubled down on my love of creating collaborative cultures, bringing people together and having fun in everything that I did. My real education here was in these extracurricular activities, the leadership lessons I learned, the experiments and silly things I got to do, the people I got to grow with. That is what made my time at CU special.
AFWERX & AF Ventures
In the last 3 years I helped co-found two Air Force Innovation efforts: AFWERX and AFVentures. At AFWERX our mission was to connect innovators and accelerate results for Air Force culture change and technology adoption. My role on the team was to help design the incentives and build the relationships that bring together the DoD and startups/small businesses to address national security mission sets. I also led the build-out of a modern tech backbone (Salesforce, G-Suite, Okta, Trello, Teams) to scale AFWERX efforts. Over the last three years, we funded over 1,700 companies with $524M dollars, leading to 530+ prototype projects and 25+ projects transitioned to programs of record. We averaged $3.17 of private capital invested for every $1 of SBIR funding invested. Additionally, the team engaged over 100,000 Airmen and shifted the narrative around how Air Force personnel interact with the commercial world. We built a credible, repeatable, and scalable pathway for non-traditional companies to work with the Air Force.
The Better Government Movement
I helped create the Better Government Bootcamp (formerly the Design Challenge), to pair proven modern methods with practical application over a period of time to yield both principles and practice. Between March and June 2018, 40 public servants from 34 agencies completed the Bootcamp’s first cohort which consisted of 15 weeks of training and applying eight different 21st century methods in a safe space to tackle three government-wide problems.
Human-Centered Design, Lean Startup, and Agile were the core elements of this training program, with specific masterclasses on prototyping/Minimum Viable Product, change and transformation, storytelling, and finally pitching. We partnered with Design Thinking DC to take their existing work and translate it for the federal government.
Designed as an extended bootcamp experience, the chosen first cohort were divided up into seven teams and learned eight methodologies in an experiential learning environment while applying the skills immediately through diving into three problem sets and “how might we?” questions. They were guided by a team of five leaders and their own teams of “sherpas” to mentor them through the process of innovation: 3 subject-matter Sherpas, 3 Innovation Sherpas, and nearly a dozen other sherpas as needed.
In all, the students attended seven masterclasses with 14 instructors from the community and completed 12 assignments which amounted to more than 120 hours of teamwork. At the end of their journey, each of the teams competed in a pitch day to showcase their work in front of a panel of judges.
MoAr Real Estate
I co-founded MoAr Real Estate to build an investment portfolio in the midwest United States and to generate a source of long term passive income.
Deployment to Afghanistan
I was the Airfield Operations Flight Commander while in Bagram, Afghanistan. I was in charge of combat operations on the Airfield. I oversaw two $23 million dollar contracts across Afghanistan, supporting 240,000+ combat air operations.
Techstars Startup Weekend
I love helping new people explore entrepreneurship, the Startup Weekend model is a fantastic way to do that. It is a 54 hour event where people of all ages and experience levels get to experience the highs, lows, fun, and pressure that make up life at a startup. The goal is to teach them the basics of how to create a real company, and bring together mentors, investors, cofounders, and sponsors who are ready to help get the idea kicked off. I have facilitated 9 startup weekends and organized a couple. I truly enjoy the passion of people moving their ideas forward and the energy of these weekends.
Air Force
I served as the Deputy and Flight Commander for Airfield Operations officer and the Commander’s Support Staff Flight Commander. I was here for two years as a part of Air Force Global Strike Command, where I had the opportunity to learn how one triad of the nuclear mission is executed. I was selected to be the unit’s chief of staff. This was a great learning opportunity for me and prepared me well for my deployment.
1 Million Cups
I was an organizer for the 1 Million Cups program by Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. I got involved in this program to help grow the startup ecosystem in Shreveport, Louisiana. The program is based on the notion that entrepreneurs discover solutions and engage with their communities over a million cups of coffee. It is a free program designed to educate, engage and inspire entrepreneurs around the country. This was a wonderful way to connect with local entrepreneurs and support the coworking space in town. I met amazing lifelong friends through this program and the community behind this program inspired me to become an ecosystem builder.
Startup Alerts
Founded a company to connect co-working spaces together, focused on connecting entrepreneurs to events in their communities. This was my first true startup, it failed. Throughout this process, I learned so much about the ecosystem in place to support entrepreneurs. I learned how to hire and manage a software development team, what it means to truly build an MVP, how important it is to iterate on a weekly or faster basis. Leveraging data to drive decisions in a company, raising money and finally some more about product market fit. Though this venture failed, I learned a ton about being a better entrepreneur. I’m glad I took the chance to do this and look forward to founding my own company again in the future!
Air Force
Served as an Airfield Operations officer at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. I was here for two years as a part of Air Force Special Operations Command, where I was ingrained with the mentality to solve for yes, handle complex problems and bring stakeholders together. I got to work on a massive $1.2 Billion effort to build out the airfield, coordinate new air traffic routes for unmanned aerial vehicles, and put together an Airshow. My favorite part of being here was the culture and the friendships I made!
Education
Stanford Ignite
Worked in a team of 6 to develop a new product based venture, (ours was called Outdoor Connections) I learned and got to apply business concepts around business models, marketing, product-market fit, accounting and pricing through the venture project. We refined our pitch through a day long communications bootcamp. Then, the team presentations were to a panel of venture capitalists, angel investors, industry experts, and experienced entrepreneurs, who provided feedback on the viability of the venture idea and business plan for educational purposes. I have taken this education and my real-world experience with Startup Alerts, and now apply those in mentorship sessions with companies and fellow entrepreneurs.
University of Virginia – Darden School of Business
Design thinking & Innovation Specialization
I studied how an organization can adopt a lean-thinking & human-centered design mindset to drive innovation. I worked through 4 projects that helped me derive insights on how to drive cross-departmental collaboration and break down silos. I have since used these skills extensively in the launch and scaling of AFWERX and AFVentures.
CSU Global
Masters in Organizational Leadership – Strategic Change and Innovation Management
This degree was critical to keeping my critical thinking skills sharp and engaged during my time in the Air Force and set me up well for engaging in entrepreneurial ecosystems and my eventual transition and founding of AFWERX.
CU Boulder
Bachelors in Business
CU was a wonderful environment where I got the chance to grow into who I am today. I was able to join a multitude of organizations from the Presidents Leadership Class, AFROTC, the Diverse Scholars Program and many more that all shaped me development. This is where I doubled down on my love of creating collaborative cultures, bringing people together and having fun in everything that I did. My real education here was in these extracurricular activities, the leadership lessons I learned, the experiments and silly things I got to do, the people I got to grow with. That is what made my time at CU special.