A colleague’s mandate to build an Ironman suit for the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) led Jason Lamb to realize how national security and technology transition could be improved through the introduction of modern product management disciplines. While working on his MBA at the Darden School of Business, Lamb was introduced to such disciplines by, among others, Mark Pushinsky, an early Agile adopter and Certified Scrum Trainer. Lamb and Pushinsky attended Jeanne Liedtka’s Design Thinking course and the two partners began to refine their belief that DualTrack Agile—the blending of design thinking and agile practices—held the key to unlock countless possibilities.
Jason and another classmate, Gus Nicoll, pursued an Entrepreneurial Thinking independent study project with Professor Sankaran Venkataraman “Venkat” to identify ways to improve technology transition for USSOCOM - the project was called, “The Hard Yards.” The Hard Yards is a phrase used to describe the challenge and difficulty a crew has getting the canvas (sail) up to the highest yardarms and ultimately to the top of the mast due to the weight of the sail and the distance from the ship’s center of gravity. It is a metaphor for the pre-commercialization “valley of death” that is often experienced when taking a product from prototype to commercialization or program of record in the federal context. The project recommended three basic things; 1. Access to new sources of funding similar to the CIA’s venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel. 2. A collaborative network to understand emerging technologies and efforts in both the commercial and federal markets, 3. Application of commercial product development best practices.
Bobblehead Hall of Fame
Today, Hard Yards is a commercial product management consultancy thanks to Gus Nicoll’s initial trust and confidence in the team. Gus, the COO for Sentara Medical Group, awarded Hard Yards their first contract in 2016. Throughout our history, classmates, professors, and others associated with the University of Virginia have graciously provided support and encouragement.
A special thanks to our original customers that took some risk by working with a small company getting started:
Hard Yards presents bobbleheads to our most extraordinary clients - the ultimate sign of respect!