Tech startups and venture capital firms are signaling to the Pentagon that the clock is ticking if defense leaders want their help on new innovations, Breaking Defense reported from this month’s Reagan National Defense Forum.

“We have, at most, two years before founders walk away and private capital dries up,” Katherine Boyle, a partner with venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, tweeted at the beginning of the event. “And many, many startups will go out of business waiting for DOD to award real production contracts.”

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown acknowledged the delay and said DOD needs to act quickly.

“If we don’t do that, then I really believe all that venture capital is just gonna walk,” he said, according to the report. “They’re going to find someplace else to go.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also acknowledged the problem.

“Let’s face it: For far too long, it’s been far too hard for innovators and entrepreneurs to work with the department,” Austin said at the forum. “The barriers to entry into this effort to work with us in national security are often too steep, far too steep.”

DOD photo by Chad J. McNeeley