The Plan to Make American Crime Obsolete
David Ulevitch speaks with Col. Jeffrey Glover and Rahul Sidhu about how AI, drones, and sensor networks are reshaping public safety and what it takes to bring new technology into law enforcement at scale. As departments face staffing shortages, burnout, and rising complexity, they examine how the right tools can make officers more effective, safer, and better supported.
The conversation covers how drone-as-first-responder programs are changing the speed and safety of emergency response, from high-risk warrant service to Amber Alert pursuits. Glover describes how Arizona DPS is building a full technology ecosystem around its officers, including body-worn camera analytics for burnout detection, brain scan wellness checks, and international intelligence-sharing partnerships ahead of FIFA and the Olympics. Sidhu explains how Flock Safety's layered sensor network — license plate readers, gunshot detection, and drone dispatch — is turning reactive policing into proactive, data-driven response.
They also discuss what founders get wrong when building for law enforcement, why spending time on the beat matters more than any product spec, and how the next decade will fundamentally change the skills required to be a police officer in America.
Resources:
Follow Col. Jeffrey Glover on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-glover-mpa-83310416/
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Govtech + Drones Crash Course, Lessons From 2 Exits | Rahul Sidhu
Rahul Sidhu is the co-founder of SPIDRTech and Aerodome, two companies in the public safety space.
He’s sold both of them, and our conversation unpacks all the lessons he learned, what he did differently with his second company Aerodome, and why he sold only 17 months after starting it.
If you tuned into last week’s episode, Paul told us to never talk to the cops. Rahul gives us the other side of the story, sharing his playbook for selling to police, the government, how he met Nikita Bier in high school, and why he’s still bullish on drones, robotics, and AI in the physical world.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(04:07) What its like testifying to Congress
(08:06) Why 90% of what he knew about police was wrong
(13:15) How to sell to police departments
(15:24) His first business selling WoW accounts
(19:00) Meeting Nikita Bier in high school
(21:29) Starting SPIDRTech to improve police + community relationships
(27:45) Two biggest mistakes building SPIDR
(31:47) How startups break down when scaling
(34:19) Selling SPIDR instead of raising a Series B
(40:12) Why Aerodome was so much easier to start
(42:55) Why Rahul loves unsexy markets with founder market fit
(46:03) Starting Aerodome, drones as first responders
(53:39) Building a capital efficient hardware startup
(56:46) How regulatory changes made an opening for Aerodome
(01:00:13) Inside Aerodome’s Series A
(01:03:57) Selling Aerodome to Flock Safety within 17 months
(01:09:31) Saying “would I work for this team?” when getting acquired
(01:14:35) Seeing a homeless guy in an Aerodome shirt
(01:17:02) The massive Robotics + AI opportunity this decade
(01:21:42) What’s really happening with drones in New Jersey
Referenced:
SPIDRTech: https://www.spidrtech.com
Aerodome: https://www.aerodome.com/
Nikita Bier’s Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9QTVII_lkg
Follow Rahul:
Twitter: https://x.com/rahoolsidoo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulsidhu/
Follow Turner:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovak
Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
The future of public safety via rapid drone response with Aerodome's Rahul Sidhu | E1900
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Todays show:
Rahul Sidhu from Aerodome joins Jason to discuss how his startup is creating the future of public safety air support with an automated drone system. The two dive into privacy concerns and abuse potential for police drones (14:41), challenges of fundraising and selling to the government (34:22), the founding incident of Aerodome (38:46), and much more!
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Timestamps:
(0:00) Rahul Sidhu from Aerodome joins Jason
(3:44) How the Aerodome drone system works to respond to 911 calls
(13:17) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at http://www.openphone.com/twist
(14:41) Privacy concerns and abuse potential with police drone usage
(19:43) FAA regulations, geofencing, and obstacle avoidance for drones
(25:16) Pricing and business model
(28:08) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at http://www.vanta.com/twist
(29:00) Object tracking and combining technologies
(34:22) The challenges of fundraising and selling to government as a startup, but increased venture interest in public safety tech
(37:31) Imagine AI LIVE - Get 20% off tickets at http://imagineai.live/twist
(38:46) Starting Aerodome during the pandemic and protests in 2020. Finding a moderate voice through the All-In podcast
(45:57) The importance of intellectual honesty, steel-manning arguments, and not being married to a single solution as a leader
(47:46) Potential future capabilities and focus on de-escalation
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Check out Aerodome:
https://www.aerodome.com
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Follow Rahul
X: https://twitter.com/rahoolsidoo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulsidhu
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Follow Jason:
X: https://twitter.com/jason
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
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Thank you to our partners:
(13:17) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at http://www.openphone.com/twist
(28:08) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at http://www.vanta.com/twist
(37:31) Imagine AI LIVE - Get 20% off tickets at http://imagineai.live/twist
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Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
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