National Security Investing x Public Policy: Michelle Volz (Pax Ventures) & Greg Sands (Costanoa Ventures)

National Security Investing x Public Policy: Michelle Volz (Pax Ventures) & Greg Sands (Costanoa Ventures)

Tuesday, April 7, 2026 | 12:45 – 1:45 PM | Columbia Business School

The defense industrial base was built for a different era. Great power competition, rapid technological change, and a brittle acquisition system demand a new approach to how we build, fund, and field the technologies that underpin national security.

Join us for a conversation with Michelle Volz, Founder and Managing Partner of Pax Ventures, and Greg Sands, Founder and Managing Partner of Costanoa Ventures — two investors approaching national security from different angles. Michelle backs early-stage companies rebuilding America's defense industrial base across nuclear energy, autonomous systems, cybersecurity, and aerospace. Before launching Pax, she was a partner on the American Dynamism team at Andreessen Horowitz and started her career at Palantir. Greg invests in early-stage enterprise technology, with a focus on companies operating "left of kinetic action" — cyber, SATCOM, space domain awareness, and decision support. He previously was the first product manager at Netscape. 

The discussion will explore why national security has become an investable category, where the most important opportunities are, and how the next generation of founders and talent should think about the space.

Hosted by the Adam Smith Society and the Aerospace & Defense Tech Club at Columbia Business School.