E52 – Top Secret Offices

<p>Nooks co-founder and CEO Sean Blackman spills all thesecrets about what it takes to do classified business with the Pentagon. </p><p><br></p><p>Nooks is a venture-backed startup founded in 2021 to solve amassive pain point: access to classified offices and networks to perform sensitive national security work.</p><p><br></p><p>Nooks is attacking the problem in an innovative way called Classified-Infrastructure-as-a-Service (CIaaS), which is a subscription access to a nationwide network of classifiedworkspaces and IT.</p><p><br></p><p>If you are in the defense industry—or even thinking about it—and there is even a sliver of a chance you will touch classified work, this episode is everything you need to know. </p><p> </p><p>Links</p><p>• Sign up for the <a href="https://www.themerge.co/">newsletter⁠</a>! </p><p>• Support us on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/the_merge">⁠Patreon⁠</a>!</p><p>• Nooks <a href="https://nooks.works/">website</a></p><p>• Nooks <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/nooks-works/">LinkedIn</a></p><p> </p><p>----</p><p> </p><p>Follow us on...</p><p>• <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/themerge">LinkedIn</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/merge_newsletter/">• Instagram⁠</a></p><p>• <a href="https://x.com/MergeNewsletter">⁠X⁠</a></p><p>• <a href="https://www.facebook.com/themergenews">⁠Facebook⁠</a></p><p>• <a href="https://www.themerge.co/">⁠Website⁠</a> </p><p>----</p><p> </p><p>00:00</p><p>00:46 intro</p><p>01:49 Nooks</p><p>02:52 origin story</p><p>09:49 name and logo</p><p>12:30 locations and spaces</p><p>13:30 location and the real value unlock</p><p>17:57 COVID</p><p>19:20 fractional labs</p><p>20:06 fundraising for a weird company</p><p>22:01 information disadvantage</p><p>23:33 myth of hiring security clearances</p><p>30:00 SCIF</p><p>34:09 mobile SCIF</p><p>39:23 touchpoints and impact</p><p>42:13 security in shared spaces</p><p>46:48 the real impact</p><p>47:36 magic wand - crystal ball</p><p>49:50 make the problem go away</p><p>secrets, top secret, military, technology, tech, defense, national security, air force, navy, army, marine corps, usmc</p>