While Steve Blank might be best known for his ultra-popular Lean Startup methodology that has inspired a generation of American entrepreneurs, he's spent much of the past decade working to infuse that thought leadership in the defense innovation ecosystem, largely at the academic level. Through his work as a founding faculty of Stanford University's Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation and the school's Hacking for Defense program, Blank is helping shape a new class of startups dedicated to defense-aligned missions. And most recently, he launched a PEO Directory that he refers to as "a phonebook for the Pentagon" that's meant to make it easier for those founders to do business with the Department of Defense. The legendary Blank joins CTRL + ALT + DEFENSE for a wide-ranging discussion about the state of defense innovation, why budding entrepreneurs are turning to defense problem sets at greater rates, and how startups can navigate the bureaucracy of the Pentagon amid a variety of Trump administration reforms.
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While Steve Blank might be best known for his ultra-popular Lean Startup methodology that has inspired a generation of American entrepreneurs, he's spent much of the past decade working to infuse that thought leadership in the defense innovation ecosystem, largely at the academic level. Through his work as a founding faculty of Stanford University's Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation and the school's Hacking for Defense program, Blank is helping shape a new class of startups dedicated to defense-aligned missions. And most recently, he launched a PEO Directory that he refers to as "a phonebook for the Pentagon" that's meant to make it easier for those founders to do business with the Department of Defense. The legendary Blank joins CTRL + ALT + DEFENSE for a wide-ranging discussion about the state of defense innovation, why budding entrepreneurs are turning to defense problem sets at greater rates, and how startups can navigate the bureaucracy of the Pentagon amid a variety of Trump administration reforms.
The debate rages on — and it's coming to a head. Does the U.S. military need an independent cyber force? Or should the services retain their own cyber organizations with specialization in the domains in which they operate? Josh Stiefel, vice president of government relations for Second Front Systems and a former professional staffer for the House Armed Services Committe, is one of the prominent voices advocating for studying the prospect of an independent cyber force, recently helping launch the Commission on U.S. Cyber Force Generation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Stiefel joins CTRL + ALT + DEFENSE to dig into the debate and share what's ahead.
CTRL + ALT + DEFENSE
While Steve Blank might be best known for his ultra-popular Lean Startup methodology that has inspired a generation of American entrepreneurs, he's spent much of the past decade working to infuse that thought leadership in the defense innovation ecosystem, largely at the academic level. Through his work as a founding faculty of Stanford University's Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation and the school's Hacking for Defense program, Blank is helping shape a new class of startups dedicated to defense-aligned missions. And most recently, he launched a PEO Directory that he refers to as "a phonebook for the Pentagon" that's meant to make it easier for those founders to do business with the Department of Defense. The legendary Blank joins CTRL + ALT + DEFENSE for a wide-ranging discussion about the state of defense innovation, why budding entrepreneurs are turning to defense problem sets at greater rates, and how startups can navigate the bureaucracy of the Pentagon amid a variety of Trump administration reforms.
