The CSO Before CSOs Were Everywhere | Adam C. Grant

Everyone has a CSO now. Almost nobody runs one the way the people who built the first ones did.Adam C. Grant was in the room when some of the first commercial ones went live, and he has thoughts on why the speed never matched the promise.Adam C. Grant went from enlisted Air Force to commissioned officer to contracting officer managing a large air and space portfolio at Patrick Space Force Base, where his team launched some of the first commercial Commercial Solutions Openings in the country, coast to coast across both launch ranges. Then he crossed the table: early-stage venture investing, and now business development and capture at Core4ce. In this Success After Service episode he and Chelsea Roberts get into why owning a contracting vehicle is not the same as knowing how to run it, what the consolidation of vehicles into places like the GSA Schedules is doing to competition, and the unglamorous discipline behind a successful transition out of service. Practical, direct, and built for practitioners who want to move faster without pretending the failures do not happen.Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and who is Adam C. Grant01:00 From enlisted Air Force to commissioned officer to acquisition03:00 Running the first commercial CSOs at Patrick Space Force Base05:00 Why six months is not enough to prepare for transition06:00 LinkedIn Premium as an intelligence tool for service members08:00 Reframing your skillsets beyond the obvious career path09:00 Why you need two or three champions who will not blow smoke10:00 Shoot or shoot: the follow-up discipline that builds a network12:00 Breaking into early-stage investing from outside the major markets17:00 Reading founders in the first three minutes20:00 Why a no is not a no forever24:00 What is changing in business development and capture today26:00 Vehicle consolidation, GSA MAS, and the competition it creates27:00 From pitch days to CSOs everywhere28:00 Why owning the vehicle is not the same as knowing how to run it31:00 How to reach Adam (search Adam C. Grant) and the 15-minute ruleResource links: Core4ce WebsiteAdam C. Grant's LinkedIn profileChelsea Roberts' LinkedIn profile🎧 Listen now on:🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHyLike and follow us:🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/Join our #govcon #community:https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/