RED QUEEN 8 - HOSTED BY STEVE BLANK & PETE NEWELL
Rebuild the Nation's Ability to Assemble the Right Minds
The expertise never went anywhere; the ability to assemble it did. Red Queen 8 convenes the leaders building it back.
DATES
Sept 22-23, 2026
LOCATION
Pescadero, CA
FORMAT
60 Leaders, Invite Only
THE OPPORTUNITY
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Build the operating model that turns parallel programs into capacity the country can call on.
Your peers are building what you are building: innovation centers, new degrees, immersion cohorts, programs wired across entire state systems. Each was stood up separately, and each learned different lessons doing it. This year's Red Queen puts the builders in one room to trade those lessons and to prototype what none of them can build alone: the operating model that turns parallel programs into capacity the country can call on.
RED QUEEN EXPLAINED
Hosted by Steve Blank & Pete Newell. Powered by Common Mission Project. Small, off-the-record, invite-only. Not a traditional conference; no hashtags, no uplighting, no optics.
THE WORKING SESSIONS
Peer-Led Design for National Surge Capacity
Leaders bring what they are building (the center, the degree, the cohort, the system-wide program) and what it cost to stand up. Bring the parts that did not work; those are usually the useful ones. The focus is practical: what transfers between institutions, what does not, and what each needs that no single campus can supply.
THE OPERATING MODEL
From Parallel Programs to Callable Capacity
Day two works the design: who holds the problems, who holds the number, and how a program moves across a system in a semester instead of a decade. (We have assembled this machinery before, during wartime. Thousands of the right minds on one problem, in months.)
THE ROOM
Deliberately small. Deliberately senior.
60 people. University and system presidents, research and entrepreneurship leaders, distinguished educators, and the senior military leaders who own human capital development.
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NO SALES
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NO PRESS
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NO PANELS
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OFF THE RECORD
Past Red Queens have convened senior military and civilian decision-makers from U.S., UK, and NATO defense and intelligence agencies.
BEFORE YOU ATTEND
Logistics
Red Queen 8 marks the event's eighth year.
It is free and sponsored by the Common Mission Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The event qualifies under the "widely attended gathering" exception outlined in House and Senate ethics guidelines and maintains a strict off-the-record, not-for-attribution policy.
DATES
September 22 - 23, 2026
LOCATION
Pescadero, California
A hotel block has been reserved. Shuttle service will run between the hotel and the venue.
MEALS & LOGISTICS
All meals and beverages are provided on-site.
WHAT TO BRING
Comfortable or hiking shoes. There will be an opportunity for those who wish to join Steve Blank for a guided walk of the property. The hike is considered moderate.
COSTS
Participants are responsible for airfare, lodging, and transportation outside the scheduled shuttle. Hotel details and booking instructions will be shared upon confirmation.
MATERIALS
Read-ahead materials and a finalized agenda will be provided in advance.
REQUEST YOUR SEAT
This is a unique opportunity for the leaders of America's universities, state systems, service academies, and war colleges.
HISTORY
Red Queen since 2019
Red Queen was founded in 2019 by Steve Blank and Pete Newell to investigate how to consistently link invention to adoption through a structured, repeatable approach. The first gathering produced the Innovation Pipeline, a framework to identify, evaluate, and scale solutions in the national security sector. Each Red Queen since has built on that foundation. Red Queen 2 produced the Defense Investor Network, now the main connector between more than 500 investors and senior government officials, two groups that had seldom met before it existed. Red Queen 8 turns to the supply side: the institutions that produce the people.
COMMON MISSION
501(c)(3) Nonprofit | Tax ID: 81-2345565