Our mission is to provide comprehensive and actionable intelligence to businesses, government agencies, and private clients. With a team of experienced intelligence collectors and analysts, many with backgrounds in intelligence services, military, law enforcement, and academia, we are committed to delivering insights that drive informed decision-making.
Small Networks vs. Big Bureaucracies: Why Independent Wins
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Dear Decision Maker, The intelligence world’s dirty secret? The most valuable insights come often from the smallest teams. I’ve briefed both sides. Government agencies with thousand-person staffs and independent units of five people working out of hotel rooms. Guess which ones consistently deliver game-changing intelligence? Here’s what I learned watching a three-person team outmaneuver a 100-person intelligence division: 1. Speed kills bureaucracy. While the big team was forming committees to discuss forming committees, the small team had already recruited three sources and delivered actionable intelligence. 2. Direct accountability eliminates excuses. In large organizations, everyone’s responsible, which means no one’s responsible. In small networks, failure has a name and success has an owner. 3. Fewer layers, better signals. Big bureaucracies filter information through six management levels before it reaches decision-makers. Small teams put finished intelligence directly in front of people who can act on it. 4. Resource focus beats resource abundance. Large teams spread thin across multiple priorities. Small networks concentrate everything on what matters most. 5. Personal relationships trump institutional processes. Small operators know their sources personally. They understand motivations, fears, and pressure points. Big bureaucracies treat sources like data points in spreadsheets. The future belongs to intelligence organizations that can move faster than their competition can think. That’s not possible with 50-person approval chains and quarterly review cycles. In intelligence, lean and lethal beats large and sluggish. The companies winning in uncertain markets aren’t the ones with the biggest intelligence budgets. They’re the ones with the smartest, smallest teams that can turn information into action while competitors are still in meetings. If you’re ready to build intelligence capabilities that move at the speed of opportunity rather than the pace of committees, let’s talk about what focused expertise can deliver. Ahmed Hassan
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Our mission is to provide comprehensive and actionable intelligence to businesses, government agencies, and private clients. With a team of experienced intelligence collectors and analysts, many with backgrounds in intelligence services, military, law enforcement, and academia, we are committed to delivering insights that drive informed decision-making.
Dear Decision Maker, Intelligence networks aren't built on contracts. They're built on trust. And trust isn't something you buy. It's something you earn. I've spent almost 20 years building intelligence networks across 20+ countries. The sources who've given me the most valuable intelligence never started by asking about money. They asked: "Will you protect me?" Because trust in intelligence means something different than trust in business. It means: Your source's safety depends on your...
Dear Decision Maker, Western intelligence has a blind spot problem. And it's costing companies millions. I've spent almost 2 decades in intelligence, moving from government to private sector work. The most valuable lesson I learned? The best intelligence doesn't come from the most credentials. It comes from the most perspectives. Last year, a European energy company asked us to assess political risk for a major infrastructure project in East Africa. They'd already paid a top-tier Western...
Dear Decision Maker, Everyone’s watching the same indicators. Market reports. Quarterly earnings. Regulatory filings. Stock movements. By the time these signals appear, the opportunity is gone Real intelligence doesn’t come from what’s published. It comes from what’s changing before anyone publishes it. Three months ago, a client asked us to assess a West African market they’d been tracking for years. Every conventional indicator said “wait.” GDP growth flat. Currency unstable. Political...