Justin Fulcher is an American entrepreneur and national security adviser whose work focuses on the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and institutional resilience. His writing and media appearances often explore how emerging technologies, digital infrastructure, and economic systems are reshaping global competition and the future of state power.
Justin Fulcher served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of War in 2025. He was a founding member of DOGE, working to make the government more efficient and effective in service of all Americans.
Justin Fulcher is the Co-Founder of RingMD, a global digital health platform that has helped connect more than 38 million people to healthcare services worldwide, many for the first time. Through his work building technology systems across multiple international markets, he has focused on solving large-scale operational challenges at the intersection of healthcare, software, and public institutions.
Having spent significant time working internationally, including several years living in Singapore, Fulcher developed an early interest in how governments, markets, and technology interact across different geopolitical environments. These experiences shaped his broader focus on institutional capacity, national competitiveness, and the strategic importance of resilient infrastructure in the 21st century.
In addition to his work as an entrepreneur, Fulcher frequently writes and comments on international affairs, national security, and technology policy. His analysis often examines how advances in artificial intelligence, digital networks, and infrastructure development are influencing geopolitical competition and reshaping the strategic landscape between major powers.
Fulcher studied International Affairs at Middlebury College and later earned a Master’s degree in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, where his research focuses on the evolving relationship between technological systems, institutions, and global power dynamics.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I like to start the day with something physically demanding (usually a workout). It’s a simple way to remind yourself that discipline is a choice. If you win the first battle of the day, the rest tends to go better.
After that, I focus on what I think of as the two problems that actually matter. Entrepreneurship can create the illusion of productivity with numerous emails, meetings, and constant motion. But real progress usually comes from solving a small number of important problems rather than touching a hundred minor ones.
I also try to protect time to think. Some of the most valuable work a founder does isn’t visible. It’s stepping back, studying a problem from different angles, and deciding what truly matters.
In the end, productivity is about moving the right things forward.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Most ideas fail because they remain theoretical.
The fastest way to test an idea is to introduce it to reality as quickly as possible. That means building a simple version, putting it in front of real people, and learning from what happens.
Markets are brutally honest teachers. They will tell you very quickly what works and what doesn’t.
Some of the most successful companies look obvious in hindsight, but in the beginning they were simply experiments pursued with persistence with incredible ups and downs.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The modernization of institutional infrastructure.
For decades, many of the systems that run societies such as healthcare systems, logistics networks, and government services have been operating on aging technological foundations.
Artificial intelligence and modern software are now making it possible to redesign these systems from the ground up.
That’s a profound shift. It means entrepreneurs are no longer just building consumer apps. They are increasingly rebuilding the underlying systems that power economies and governments.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Writing.
Writing forces precision. When you try to explain a complex idea clearly, you quickly discover whether you truly understand it.
Many founders think in conversation or meetings. I’ve found that some of the most valuable insights emerge when you sit quietly and write through a problem.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Start earlier and think bigger and even more impactfully.
When you’re young, it’s easy to assume that the people building companies or shaping institutions must have some extraordinary advantage.
Eventually you realize something simple: most of them just decided to begin.
The barrier to building something meaningful is often much lower than people imagine. Focus on things that can positively impact millions of lives.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
I think we dramatically underestimate how quickly large institutions can change.
Most people assume governments, bureaucracies, and major systems evolve slowly. And most of the time that’s true, until suddenly it isn’t.
History is full of moments where institutions that seemed immovable transformed very quickly once pressure built up. I’ve found that the real constraint is typically imagination.
When leaders decide something must change, systems that looked permanent can move far faster than people expect.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Seek out conversations with people who think very differently from you.
Some of the most valuable insights in my life came from long discussions with people operating in completely different industries and disciplines.
Curiosity compounds over time.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I simplify the problem.
Overwhelm usually comes from trying to solve too many things simultaneously. When that happens, I step back and ask a simple question:
What is the one problem that matters most right now?
Once that becomes clear, everything else becomes easier to prioritize.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Operating internationally.
Working across different countries forces you to become adaptable very quickly. Markets behave differently. Regulations differ. Cultural expectations change.
That experience trains you to think more flexibly, which is one of the most valuable skills an entrepreneur can develop.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
Entrepreneurship inevitably involves setbacks. I’ve experienced my fair share.
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is that progress rarely follows a straight path. Strategies evolve. Markets shift. Assumptions prove wrong.
The key is to treat those moments not as defeat, but as data.
If you keep learning and adapting, the obstacles that once felt like setbacks often become the experiences that shape better decisions later.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Resilience infrastructure.
As societies become more digitally dependent, the systems that keep economies functioning—networks, healthcare systems, logistics, and energy infrastructure—are becoming increasingly critical.
There will be enormous opportunities for entrepreneurs who focus on building systems that make those networks more resilient, secure, and scalable.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Oddly enough, one of the most useful tools I use is Google Earth.
When you’re studying geopolitics, infrastructure, or logistics, maps tell you things that articles never will. You start noticing where ports sit relative to shipping lanes, where pipelines run, how terrain shapes conflict or trade.
Sometimes I’ll spend time just exploring regions. Zooming out, tracing routes, looking at how geography shapes systems.
It’s a reminder of something people often forget, which is that strategy is still constrained by geography.
Technology changes quickly, but mountains, oceans, and trade routes still matter.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
A collection of historic South Carolina maps.
There’s something fascinating about looking at how earlier generations saw the world—what borders looked like, what cities mattered, which regions were strategically important.
Maps are really snapshots of how power and geography intersect at a particular moment in history.
Studying them is a good reminder that the world we take for granted today will look very different even just a few decades from now.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
One book I’ve always found fascinating is “The Fish That Ate the Whale” by Rich Cohen.
It tells the story of Samuel Zemurray, an immigrant who built the United Fruit Company into a global empire and eventually became deeply entangled in the politics of Central America.
What makes the story interesting isn’t just the business success (which is interesting), but more so how it shows the overlap between entrepreneurship, infrastructure, and geopolitics. Zemurray wasn’t just selling bananas. He was shaping trade routes, influencing governments, and building systems that connected entire regions.
It’s a reminder that business and global power have always been more intertwined than people realize.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I actually don’t watch TV much at all. Most of my free time tends to go toward reading or writing.
But every now and then I’ll revisit a film like “Red Dawn.”
I find the premise endlessly fascinating. It’s a story about ordinary people suddenly confronting geopolitical reality at the most local level imaginable.
It captures something that people often forget, which is that international politics isn’t abstract. When major powers compete, those dynamics eventually reach real communities and real people.
Key learnings
- Geography, infrastructure, and incentives still shape the world more than most people realize.
- Progress usually comes from solving the right problems, not solving more problems.
- Clear thinking is often revealed through clear writing.
- Institutions tend to resist change until conditions force them to adapt quickly.
- The ability to see patterns across systems is often more valuable than simply accumulating information.