The word "innovation" is everywhere—but what does it really mean? This article takes a hard look at how the term has been hijacked, the real cost of innovation, and what it takes to deliver tangible results in a bureaucratic system that thrives on inefficiency.

What sets great clients apart? At Strike Labs, we know that strong partnerships are built on trust, clear communication, and consistency. Explore the essential traits that make clients not just good, but outstanding, and see how these qualities drive success and innovation.

Launching an MVP and seeing users engage is exhilarating—but what if revenue lags behind? This is a common SaaS founder dilemma where traction doesn’t translate to profit.

The solution starts with targeted conversations. Ask beta clients what features they see as essential and what they'd pay for. Go beyond surface praise to find the real motivators that push users to become paying customers.

With this feedback, prioritize your roadmap around high-value features and plan financially for development. Accurately projecting cash flow and funding needs ensures you make smart financial choices, whether raising capital or securing preloaded revenue. Remember, turning user interest into income is a strategic move, not an automatic shift.

With thousands of development hours poured into creating the best product possible, ensuring your demo shines is crucial. This guide shares practical, battle-tested strategies from a seasoned CTO to help you deliver a flawless SaaS demo that captivates your audience and showcases your software in its best light.

The Private Capital Investor Cohort (PCIC) by USSOCOM aims to keep early-stage tech companies alive long enough to reach defense contracting. But while it may temporarily prop up promising firms, it ignores the root cause of the issue: a painfully slow acquisition process. Instead of accelerating procurement, PCIC focuses on VC funding as a Band-Aid solution. To genuinely foster innovation, we need a contracting overhaul, not a patchwork fix. Read why this approach falls short—and what needs to change—at Strike Labs.

Strike Labs hypothesized that sudden spikes in crypto-to-fiat conversion in a specific area could be a predictive indicator of upcoming adversarial attacks.

The core idea behind tracking crypto-to-fiat conversions is that adversaries use cryptocurrency as a convenient, anonymous medium for storing illicit funds. However, for real-world operations—like purchasing equipment, renting vehicles, or bribing officials—they need local, usable currency: fiat money. Therefore, a sudden spike in crypto-to-fiat conversions within a specific geographic area can be an indicator of upcoming operations or attacks.

Over a year ago, Strike Labs was called to help with the chaotic Afghanistan extraction. In response, we built tools like GetEvacuated, a key resource for evacuees, and OSINTMapCOP, a crowd-sourced mapping platform. These efforts weren’t about recognition or profit—they were about making a difference during a critical time. Now, as we sunset some of these platforms, we reflect with pride, knowing their impact goes beyond metrics.

Mismanaged product ownership often spells disaster, especially in the DoD and large defense projects. Veteran Josh Jordan's advice is simple but crucial: “You have three levers: Quality, Time, and Cost. You can only pull two.” Attempting to control all three guarantees failure, leading to unusable products, missed deadlines, and blown budgets. Instead, smart product owners prioritize, communicate trade-offs clearly, and make strategic decisions. Success lies in knowing which levers to pull—and when.