On the SpecOps Battlefield, and In Business, Don’t "Believe," Know by E.M. Burlingame Only two types of confidence exist: the artificial and the real. The first is the far more common of the two, arising from either a need to feel accomplished when not or from a need to feel strong when weak. Conditions even those with real confidence feel at times. The difference between … [Read more...]
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship: Real Leadership is Accidental
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship: Real Leadership is Accidental by E.M. Burlingame In Far Eastern philosophy, there exists a very ancient concept: “The student becomes the master, the master becomes the student - 學生成為碩士，碩士成為學生.” While this has remained with me more than four decades now, most of that time I thought, “yeah, yeah, yet another undecipherable, Yoda-like, … [Read more...]
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship – Team First, Always
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship - Team First, Always by E.M. Burlingame Though I played a year of football in high school, for the most part those sports I participated in growing up were solitary, distance running, skiing and later triathlons. Later in life this led me to approach all endeavours, whether business, personal or athletic, as individual sports to be … [Read more...]
So You’re an “Operator”: How Exactly Does That Benefit My Investment?
So You’re an "Operator": How Exactly Does That Benefit My Investment? by E.M. Burlingame This article first appeared in The Havok Journal 9 September 2016 Having recently ended active duty service with Special Forces (SF) to return to the private sector and to backing startups, we have so far brought in four management teams composed of former Green Berets (GB), to lead … [Read more...]
Plastic “Bullets”: Isn’t That a Really Bad Idea?
Plastic "Bullets": Isn't That a Really Bad Idea? by Scott Faith I read with interest a recent headline touting a revolutionary "plastic bullet." Could such a thing actually be done? Given the marvels of modern science, I supposed it was a possibility. After all, people have experimented with a number of different types of bullets, including ice. But given the extreme heat … [Read more...]
Veteran-Owned Business Success: An Interview with Spartan Blades
Veteran-Owned Business Success: An Interview with Spartan Blades Mark Carey and Curtis Iovito know a few things about taking risks to achieve success. The retired NCOs from 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) started Spartan Blades, LLC over eight years ago after leaving high-paying contracting jobs. Since then, Spartan Blades has risen from a small start-up to an … [Read more...]
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship: Group Think Kills
Group Think Kills by E.M. Burlingame Equally on the battlefields of war, startups and politics, group think kills. There is no more destructive force than everyone at the table thinking the same way, interpreting the intelligence to mean the same thing. Particularly when information is incomplete, when the truth is something quite different, or when an enemy is actively … [Read more...]
“Irate in the Caribbean”: US National Policy, Failing Close to Home
"Irate in the Caribbean": US National Policy, Failing Close to Home by Log Cinco A long time ago, probably measurable in geological time, I went to the range to qualify with my trusty M-16A1. Not the cool, short M4, no, that was years away from being fielded. I was a fair shot, actually, and there was something awesome about hitting all your targets. It gave me a sense of … [Read more...]
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship: The P.A.C.E. Business Plan
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship: The P.A.C.E. Business Plan by E.M. Burlingame To quote one of my more colorful and influential Special Forces instructors during the train up for SF selection, who we will call ‘Mike’, “Have a plan. And have a plan for your plan... because you are ignorant and your first plan sucks.” In the old days of Silicon Valley it was required to … [Read more...]
The Special Forces ODA as a Startup Team
The Special Forces ODA as a Startup Team by E.M. Burlingame As an investor in startup companies there is always a difficult balance to be maintained, with respect to what are decisions management must make alone and my role as investor, adviser and often board member. This is due primarily to two constraints, namely my availability for any single company in our portfolio, … [Read more...]
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