Coming up on this week’s episode, whatever happened to Pan Am? King of the American Skies. Long story short: a lot of things. Short story long: The collapse of Pan Am was a perfect risk storm. It wasn’t one threat that took out Pan Am. It was a mix of threats, incubating over an extended period of time, that came together. Creating a risk storm that Pan Am was, simply, unable to either weather and/or recover from. On this week’s episode, I look at the (very sad) collapse of an...

Coming up this week, let’s go back in time and explore how the Antwerp Diamond Heist was executed. On February 15 2003, a group of five Italian thieves calling themselves ‘The School of Turin’ breached one of the most secure locations in the world – the Antwerp Diamond Center – and stole in excess of $100 million dollars worth of diamonds, gold, silver and other rare gems and jewelry. The largest diamond heist in recorded history. One of the largest robberies ever in recorded history. And...

What a risk gift we have received in the last week, in the form of Trevor Milton, founder of electric vehicle manufacturer – Nikola – being indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of criminal fraud. The US Securities Exchange Commission (the SEC) has also filed a complaint against MIlton I say risk gift, not because what is happening is wonderful. Milton’s indictment will see thousands of investors lose over the coming weeks. And Nikola leadership will have to steady a ship that...

So, COVID-19 cases in the US are rising. A second wave is possible. And with that potential second wave, comes a second wave of COVID-19’s partner in crime: panic porn. Breathless social media posts. People cancelling vacations. Politicians calling for additional lockdowns. And while I understand that the memories of 2020 are still fresh. And that it is natural to feel fear as a result. I think it’s important that we all understand what is really happening. It’s important to...

Coming up this week, the story of a group of unlikely risk masters. Female Bootleggers. When the US ratified the 18th amendment to its Constitution in January of 2019. A move that effectively banned the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages. It unknowingly, or at least unintentionally, created opportunity for bootleggers to ply their trade to customers for whom alcohol was a non-elastic necessity. The usual shady characters – including organized crime groups – all...

Coming up on this week’s episode, disrupting is all fun and games. Until such time as you become the disrupted. As we see with the rise. And fall. Of Compaq computers. Compaq - the brainchild of three friends from Houston, Texas – disrupted the computer hardware market by, initially, boldly playing in IBM’s slipstream. And subsequently, transforming and mastering what was, at the time, the burgeoning value chain that was computer hardware manufacturing. Creating for itself multiple...

You’ve heard me talk all year about the agnostic nature of risk management, as a discipline. As recently as three weeks ago, in an episode exploring the 1986 Insider Trading Scandal, I talked at some length about how our discipline. As a method of navigating the unknown. It doesn’t have a moral compass. It can be used for the purposes of good. And for the purposes of the not so good. Enter John McAfee. The controversial and problematic creator of McAfee Anti-Virus Software, who –...

Coming up on today’s Masters of the Risk Universe, a woman whose name you may not have ever heard of. But a woman whose invention and innovation, a large majority of you will have used at some point. Melitta Bentz – the inventor of the paper coffee filter. Melitta Bentz - the creator of a coffee empire that, to this day, still exists. And Melitta Bentz – a woman whose innovative workplace policies set the tone for the benefits we take for granted today. There is nothing more inspiring...

Coming up today, let’s call this week’s episode a Viewers Choice episode, given so many of you reached out to me to cover it. This week, I will make sense of the JBS Holdings Hack. I’ve always said that the 2016 Crash Override hack. Which, for those not familiar, was the successful infiltration, and shut down, of Kiev’s electrical grid in the dead of a frigid Ukranian winter. I’ve always said that the 2016 Crash Override hack. It wasn’t the main event. It was a preview of what was to...

Something I’ve said time and time again on the podcast, is that risk management – as a discipline – it’s agnostic. As a discipline which – at its core – is all about how we entreat with the unknown – both with opportunity and/or threat in mind. Risk management doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t have a moral compass. Anyone can make use of it. For the purposes of good. And for the purposes of the not so good. And that’s where Ivan Boesky and the 1986 Insider Trading Scandal comes in. ...

Inventor and Futurist - Ray Kurzweil – a Risktory Podcast favorite – speaks of the Law of Accelerating Returns. Which is the idea that, in a non-technology driven world, change was largely linear. Left to Right. Top to Bottom. Consecutive. According to the Law of Accelerating Returns, in a technology driven world – such as the one we now live in – change is both concurrent and exponential. Every advance feeds on the previous advance, not only hastening the rate of change, but also...

On this week’s episode, a much requested Make It Make Sense: the Colonial Pipeline crisis. On May 7 2021, the Colonial Pipeline, a fuel pipeline operating out of Houston, Texas, and serving 45% of the US east coast, was shut down, due to hackers infiltrating its systems and impacting equipment critical to the operation of the pipeline. The resultant impacts – everything from fuel shortages to flight disruptions to increased hacking activity (industry agnostic) – were a stark reminder of...

When someone asks me my favorite movie, I always say: I have three. Stanley Kubrik’s, The Shining. Rob Reiner’s, This is Spinal Tap and David Lynch’s directorial debut, Eraserhead. David Lynch is a curious cat. An accidental disruptor. A master of actively, consciously stepping into the void without fear or trepidation. There is something to be said about someone who sees the herd, knows they have the capacity to outrun the herd if they wanted to, but still chooses their own unique...

In a world that seems all so negative and chaotic, a good news story this week. A story that exemplifies the natural inclination of our species to spot the gap, innovate the gap, and change the world. The Door Dash Start Up Story. The Door Dash Start Up Story will feel familiar to you. It’s a story of beautiful disruption. Of opportunity chasing. Or discipline, resilience and commitment to goal. And a story of making the impossible, the unknown, a beautiful reality. The Risktory...

On today’s episode, I look at the rise and fall of Payless Shoes. At one point, Payless Shoes was the US’ largest and most successful family owned business. Bigger than Walmart and the Walton Family. Think about that for a minute. And then, its fortunes dwindled. The disruptor became the disrupted. And the disrupted was unable to sustain itself. On this week’s episode, let’s talk about how Payless disrupted the shoe market. Innovated its way to what seemed to be an unassailable...

On today’s episode, Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of all three charges laid against him, for his role in the death of George Floyd: second degree murder, third degree murder, and second degree manslaughter. On the face of it, justice has been served. But has it? What if Tuesday’s verdict isn’t the end, but rather, the beginning of a far more turbulent and hazard riddled era. On today’s episode of the Risktory Podcast, I make it make sense – from a risk perspective – of what next? ...

Coming up on this week’s episode, the story of a man who was handed lemons, and decided to make himself a billionaire. Founder and former executive chairman of juggernaut tech giant, Alibaba. Jack Ma. Jack Ma’s story is a story of how good stuff doesn’t just happen. You have to want it. Work for it. Chase it. Make sacrifices in the process. And learn to balance opportunity and threat so that you reap the benefits of the former and minimize the impacts of the latter. You have to be a...

On this week’s episode, a listener request. Listener, Samantha, emailed me a few weeks ago asking if business continuity – as a discipline – as a product – as an output – is business continuity dead. And she asked this because, in her own organization, not one plan was invoked during COVID-19. In her mind, you’d think COVID19 – with its far reaching consequences – it would be the one event where you would invoke your continuity plan or plans en masse. And that did not happen in her...

On today’s episode, Whatever Happened to… The Medici Bank. The Medici Bank was, at its height, a conglomerate behemoth. The largest and most respected financial institution in Europe. An innovator and disruptor, establishing banking and accounting protocols, that exist to this day. And then, in spectacular fashion, it collapsed. In a way so seminal that, even today, the collapse of the Medici Bank acts as a cautionary tale of what not to do. And not just because it was so impactful. ...

On today’s episode, one of the most requested episodes I get from Risktory listeners: blockchain From murky origins within the world of cryptocurrency, blockchain technology is emerging as a true game changing way of doing business. From supply chain to finance to entertainment, blockchain is no longer a technology that exists in the shadows. It is one of THE most innovative disruptive technology the world has seen in the last 20 years. On today’s episode of the Risktory Podcast,...

Coming up on today’s episode, the Queensland Health Fraud, starring quote/unquote, Tahitian Prince, Joel Barlow. A fraud that cost the Queensland taxpayer upwards of $16 million Australian dollars. I say upwards, because $16 million dollars is what Barlow stole. The costs associated with detecting and investigating the fraud, prosecuting Barlow, and reinforcing internal control environments to prevent a recurrence: this also totals in the millions. Barlow’s plan, as you will find out in...

Today – March 8 – is International Women’s Day. And to celebrate, on today ‘s Masters of the Risk Universe episode, I am going to explore the life and times of three queens of rock and roll: Debbie Harry, Patti Smith and Pat Benatar. Growing up as a kid in Australia, these three women were the three I dreamed of being when I grew up. Not necessarily as a singer or a musician. I am a trained musician, but I am no singer. When I say I dreamed of being them, I more refer to me somehow...

On today’s episode, how do you solve a problem like Section 230. Here in the US, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 has transitioned. From being seen as a necessary protection for – at the time - burgeoning tech companies. To a weapon now being wielded by, no longer burgeoning, but behemoth, tech companies to curate and – some say – weaponize – how information is disseminated. On today’s episode of the Risktory Podcast, I explore exactly what Section 230 is and what it...

There’s an old saying of history always repeating. And never has that been more true than in the story of Solyndra. The solar power would be unicorn that received a half a billion dollar loan guarantee from the US Government. Solyndra was supposed to change the world. And it did. Just maybe not in the way it was expected. With the unicorn shuffling off the mythical coil after just six years. Solyndra – and its collapse – is a reminder that, when we don’t learn from the mistakes from...