These deals have turned the company into one of the quietest success stories in Silicon Valley—it’s on track to hit $250 million in sales this year—and a candidate for an initial public offering. Palantir has been used to find suspects in a case involving the murder of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent, and to uncover bombing networks in Syria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. “It’s like plugging into the Matrix,” says a Special Forces member stationed in Afghanistan who requested anonymity out of security concerns. “The first time I saw it, I was like, ‘Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap.’ ”
Thanks to Paul for enlightening me about Palantir. This is some very cool technology and I thought I would share this with the rest of the readership. This thing is also drawing a lot of interest from many sectors, and not just government.
What I like about it is it’s ability to process all of this data that is floating around out there. Or process data that groups have compiled, and help them to make sense of it all or find problems/deficiencies.
What I thought was interesting about the company itself, is it’s influences and how it innovates. The name Palantir comes from the movie Lord of the Rings, and the crystal ball used in the movie was called a Palantir. So this is a technology company with a ‘middle-earth’ theme. lol
But the other cool thing is how they find talent. Here is a quote:
Palantir has been doubling headcount every year to keep up with business. To get a job at the company, an applicant must pass a gauntlet of brain teasers. An example: You have 25 horses and can race them in heats of 5. You know the order the horses finished in, but not their times. How many heats are necessary to find the fastest? First and second? First, second, and third? (Answers: six, seven, and seven.) If candidates are able to prove themselves as what Karp calls “a software artist,” they’re hired. The company gives new arrivals some reading material, including a guide to improvisational acting, a lecture by the entrepreneur Steve Blank on Silicon Valley’s secret history with the military, and the book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. They’re also rewarded with a low wage by Silicon Valley standards: Palantir caps salaries at $127,000.
Improvisational acting? lol Now I am intrigued by that, and would be curious as to why this is a needed skill. Could it be that improvisational acting is a ‘building snowmobiles’ activity, where a person has to be creative on the fly? A test of a person’s OODA and their ability to react off of another person?
Well, definitely check this one out. I also think this would be a fantastic investment if it ever became an IPO. –Matt
Palantir, the War on Terror’s Secret Weapon
November 22, 2011
A Silicon Valley startup that collates threats has quietly become indispensable to the U.S. intelligence community
By Ashlee Vance and Brad Stone
In October, a foreign national named Mike Fikri purchased a one-way plane ticket from Cairo to Miami, where he rented a condo. Over the previous few weeks, he’d made a number of large withdrawals from a Russian bank account and placed repeated calls to a few people in Syria. More recently, he rented a truck, drove to Orlando, and visited Walt Disney World by himself. As numerous security videos indicate, he did not frolic at the happiest place on earth. He spent his day taking pictures of crowded plazas and gate areas.