Guru of defense

Over beers after work, while working together on a billion-dollar contract for U.S. Special Operations Command, Dan Vanderheyden and his friends used to joke about starting their own business. But the four men soon found their jokes turned into serious conversations about how they could make money while treating employees well. In 2011, they decided to make the leap.

The group spent a few months floating the idea with their employers so they didn't burn any bridges, and in May 2012 Vanderheyden set out to co-found and act as chief operating officer for the newly formed Legion Systems.

With all four partners “slightly anal-retentive,” they agreed upon an extensive operating agreement and lengthy legal document that detailed all the best and worst courses of action. With military backgrounds, “we basically war game everything,” Vanderheyden says.