The Logan Bartlett Show
The Logan Bartlett Show
by Redpoint Ventures
EP 145: Rick Smith (CEO, Axon): The Wild Ride From Near-Bankruptcy to $50B+
1 hour 16 minutes Posted May 30, 2025 at 11:00 am.
) Intro
) Axon: Reducing Violence Through Technology
) The Evolution of Axon: From Taser to Body Cameras
) Challenges and Triumphs: Going Public and Beyond
) The Impact of Ferguson and the Rise of Body Cameras
) Navigating Cultural and Business Shifts
) The Role of AI and Future Innovations
) The Taser: Technology and Purpose
) Making the Bullet Obsolete: Future of Law Enforcement
) Consumer Market Evolution
) Proving Taser's Viability
) Targeting Gun Owners
) Taser-Related Deaths and Media Perception
) Employee Taser Experience
) Impact of Body Cameras
) AI Innovations in Law Enforcement
) Challenges in Product Development
) Regulatory Hurdles
) Leadership and Company Culture
) Future Vision for Axon
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Show notes
Rick Smith (CEO, Axon) joined Logan to share the 30-year journey of building a nearly $50B public company behind the TASER, police body cameras, and now AI-powered tools like Draft One. He talks about taking Axon public in the early 2000s, navigating intense public scrutiny, and evolving from a controversial hardware startup into a software and AI pioneer. Rick also reflects on leadership lessons, regulatory battles, and his long-term mission to make the bullet obsolete. It’s a candid and compelling conversation with one of the most unconventional founders in tech.
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Executive Producer: Rashad Assir
Producer: Leah Clapper
Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky
Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA
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About the Show
Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode, Logan goes behind the scenes with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every Friday for new episodes.