Today we bring you two absolutely incredible stories. The first is Lockheed’s legendary Skunk Works division — the elite team of aviation geniuses who produced some of the greatest airplanes in history: the U-2, the Stealth Fighter, and the incomparable SR-71 Blackbird. The second story is arguably even more important, but not widely known! It's the secret and true origins of Silicon Valley — and Lockheed’s primary role in it. We take you from WWII to the Cold War, all the way to today to unpack and analyze the industry dynamics of defense contractors in the modern era. Tune in and prepare to be blown away by what you’ll learn about the history of our industry! ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2! https://pod.link/acquiredlp Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. https://acquired.fm/lp Sponsors: Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Vanta: a free trial + $1,000 off any compliance audit product https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service https://bit.ly/acquiredpilot23 …in touch with Tiny! Just tell them Ben & David sent you. https://bit.ly/acquiredtiny Links: Ben Rich’s Skunk Works https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003 Kelly’s 14 Rules of Skunk Works https://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed-martin/aero/photo/skunkworks/kellys-14-rules.pdf LMSC’s “Seven Tenets” https://youtu.be/E09qg-Kxm_M?t=8671 Steve Blank’s Secret History of Silicon Valley https://steveblank.com/secret-history/ Episode sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15wJOKmpQ64-HVXykXWTo1-wndUlSmCJPjUxbF39Nopk/edit?usp=sharing Carve Outs: Nier: Automata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nier:_Automata The Blackbird speed check story https://www.thesr71blackbird.com/Aircraft/Stories/sr-71-blackbird-speed-check-story EGO Lawn Tools (just in time for Fathers’ Day!) https://egopowerplus.com/power-blowers/?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjryjBhD0ARIsAMLvnF_te03nXGYJnmGkklzqFMCy5MUSn6tmCzHz1Zj0rup-s2UtUAlESv4aAmjEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.