Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Friday, January 17th.

Today on Forbes, military tech investors go looking for a Trump bump at Mar-a-Lago.

On a recent evening, Neil Keegan, a defense tech investor, held a pitch meeting, gathering

limited partners to hear how his firm, Marlon

Spike Partners, planned to become a leading backer of startups building weapons to arm the U.S.

military.

The event, cocktails and a presentation, was a largely paint-by-numbers affair.

What was unusual was its location, President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago. The property, once a

destination for gaudy weddings and gala's, and now a political hotbed, has become a favored

location for venture capital funds, hoping the appearance of proximity to the incoming president

will bolster their fundraising efforts or result in a

chance meeting with someone who has his ear. Kegan told Forbes, quote, the energy that Mar-Lago and the

new administration represents is that change is coming and change is needed. He added that he had

run into Trump while at the club. He explained, quote, When he walked out, I stood up and said,

Good luck, sir.

He looked right at me and gave me the famous point

and said, thank you very much.

Trump's so-called Winter White House in Palm Beach, Florida,

has been the nerve center of his presidential transition,

drawing business titans, foreign leaders, and politicians alike.

There has also been the conga line of Silicon Valley leaders who've made the pilgrimage to dine

with Trump, including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Tim Cook, all of whom have donated

...