The Magical World of BMNT
BMNT Partners is barely three years old. We are a bootstrapped company that started with 4 people, shrank to 3, and has now increased to over two dozen. How are we growing so fast? What the heck does BMNT do that people find so valuable?
I’m glad you asked.
Four Steps to Solve Problems
BMNT is a problem-solving organization, plain and simple. We are basically MacGyver if he could be reconstituted as a company.
While we focus on national security, we also tackle a variety of other issues because there is so much overlap in the methodology and process. All of our work does have a common thread. Our ultimate goal is always to solve problems, and to improve the process for the next problem. We try to follow a four-step process to guide our strategy. The steps are:
- Do things to create opportunities.
- Develop hypotheses for each opportunity.
- Do things to test those hypotheses.
- Make a decision based on the results of those tests.
In other words, our strategy is to systematically test the random cool stuff that emerges from the problems that we solve. We are the most meta company you can imagine. People have a hard time understanding this, even within the company. Our Managing Partner Pete Newell has to constantly remind us not “to confuse what we are doing with what we do.”
Now we work on problems from all areas. Here’s an incomplete list of the problems that our small but dedicated team is currently working on:
- tactical biometric sensors and data
- secure near-field wireless networks
- commercial satellite networks and launch systems
- peer-to-peer collaboration to facilitate rapid prototyping
- counter-drone defense systems
- facial recognition through augmented reality
- roadside bomb detection through augmented reality
We didn’t get to this level quickly or easily, though.
Building the Problem-Solving Engine
Most companies that experience rapid growth in Silicon Valley are backed by angel investors or venture capital firms. In other words, the company is using other people’s money to fuel its growth. We don’t have that luxury at BMNT. Every penny we spend came from a customer (AKA the best kind of investor because they don’t want any of your equity).
Our growth started slowly, bringing on a few select individuals who could swim if they were thrown into the deep end of the pool. Both of them (Jackie & Brynt) are now partners, fleshing out the original crew (Pete, Joe, & me).
BMNT flailed around a lot in the first two years. We experimented with a lot of business models and services. There was equity-for-service deals, strategic advising contracts, federal business development services, and other types of work. We tried a bit of everything and learned how hard it is to create value for other organizations. We struggled to find our stride, despite a great team that was quickly getting better at a variety of problem-solving activities.
Inflection Point
Everything changed when Pete met Steve Blank. The two of them combined their methodologies, and Hacking For Defense — H4D — was born.
That titanic collision happened about ten months ago. And BMNT has been on a rocket ship since then. Folks from everywhere in the national security arena — including government organizations, defense contractors, R&D labs, and startups with an interest in military-grade problems — are clambering to understand H4D and how they can use it to solve their own problems.
We are working on a variety of efforts to explain the H4D process and how it can be applied to you and your organization. If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach out to us directly.
For questions about overall H4D efforts around the country (and soon the world!), you want to talk to Pete Newell (pnewell@bmntpartners.com).
To discuss the application of H4D within government organizations, Jackie Space is your best bet (jspace@bmntpartners.com).
For question related to hosting H4D courses at Universities, get in touch with Darren Halford (dhalford@bmntpartners.com).
To learn more about H4D sprints, talk to me (wtreseder@bmntpartners.com).
