When I told my wife I was naming my new company "BlackProject.ai," she gave me the side-eye. You know the one. The look that says "What have you done now?"
"BlackProject? Seriously? That sounds... ominous."
And that's when I realized: I'm an uber nerd living in a bubble where everyone knows what a black project is. My wife—a perfectly intelligent human who just happens not to obsess over military aviation history—had no idea. So let me explain. Because the story behind the name is actually pretty cool.
What Is a Black Project?
A black project is a highly classified, off-the-books program—usually military or aerospace—that operates with extreme secrecy, minimal oversight, and a mandate to solve problems that seem impossible. The term comes from "black budget" programs, where funding is hidden in classified line items. Congress knows money is being spent, but not on what. The public? They have no idea these programs even exist until decades later when something declassifies or someone leaks photos.
Black projects operate outside normal bureaucracy. They have:
- Unlimited mandate to solve the problem by any means necessary
- Minimal red tape compared to traditional programs
- The best people pulled from across organizations
- Extreme secrecy to avoid interference
- Ridiculous deadlines that would be "impossible" in normal programs
The most famous example? Skunk Works.
The Legendary Skunk Works
In 1943, Lockheed Aircraft Company had a problem. The U.S. military needed a jet fighter to counter German aircraft. They needed it fast. And they needed it to work. Lockheed's solution was radical: take a small team of their best engineers, isolate them from the rest of the company, give them a clear mission, and get out of their way. They set up shop in a rented circus tent next to a plastics factory that smelled terrible. The team started calling it "Skonk Works" (after a moonshine factory in the Li'l Abner comic strip). Eventually, it became "Skunk Works." The result? They designed, built, and flew the first American jet fighter in just 143 days. In 1943. With slide rules and hand calculations. For context: traditional aircraft development programs took 3-5 years. Skunk Works did it in less than five months.
The team was led by Kelly Johnson, who created 14 rules for how Skunk Works operated. Some highlights:
- The Skunk Works manager must have complete control
- Strong but small project teams (10-25% of normal size)
- Minimize paperwork and reporting
- Funding must be timely
- Mutual trust between military and contractor is essential
- Access by outsiders must be strictly controlled
Translation: Give smart people a clear mission, remove bureaucratic friction, and get the hell out of their way.
The Greatest Hits of Black Projects
Skunk Works went on to create some of the most legendary aircraft in history:
- SR-71 Blackbird (1964) - Still the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft ever built. Top speed: Mach 3.3 (2,200+ mph). Flew missions for 30+ years. Never shot down—it just outran missiles. Developed in secret while the official program was a decoy.
- F-117 Nighthawk (1981) - The first stealth fighter. Looked like it was designed by aliens. Completely invisible to radar. Its existence wasn't confirmed until 1988—seven years after it started flying combat missions.
- Have Blue - The prototype that proved stealth technology worked. So secret that when test pilots crashed during development, the wreckage was buried in the Nevada desert to hide the technology.
These weren't incremental improvements. These were paradigm shifts. Aircraft that redefined what was possible.
And they all came from small, focused teams operating outside normal bureaucracy with a mandate to solve impossible problems.
Why I Chose BlackProject for My Company
Here's the thing: I've spent 28 years in enterprise software. I've seen how big companies operate. Layers of approval. Risk-averse decision making. Quarterly planning cycles. Committees that require consensus before anything moves forward. It's the opposite of Skunk Works. And I get it—big companies need governance. They need processes. They can't just let everyone run wild. The bureaucracy exists for good reasons. But sometimes you have a problem that can't wait for the next quarterly planning meeting. Sometimes you need someone who can parachute in, solve the impossible problem, and get results yesterday.
That's BlackProject.
I don't want to be another vendor on your approved supplier list, waiting six months for procurement approval. I don't want to be the consultant who schedules discovery meetings for three months while your problem gets worse.
I want to be your off-the-books secret weapon.
The team you call when:
- Your SaaS vendor just raised prices 40% and you need an alternative fast
- Your board wants an AI strategy but you don't know where to start
- You have a critical business problem and traditional development timelines don't work
- You need someone who can execute without getting tangled in corporate bureaucracy
Like Skunk Works, I operate with:
- Small, focused execution - No massive teams, no endless meetings
- Clear mission focus - Solve the problem, deliver ROI, move on
- Minimal red tape - We move fast because we're not navigating corporate politics
- Proven expertise - 28 years of enterprise software
- Speed that seems impossible - AI-assisted development lets us build in weeks what used to take months
The Secret Weapon Model
Skunk Works didn't replace the Air Force's normal aircraft development process. They complemented it. When you needed something routine, you used the standard process. When you needed something revolutionary in an impossible timeline, you called Skunk Works. Same concept here. Your IT department? Your internal dev team? Your approved vendor list? Those all still have their place. They handle the routine, the governed, the standard.
But when you need the impossible?
When you need someone who can move at startup speed with enterprise rigor? When you need results in weeks, not quarters?
You call BlackProject.
We're the team you don't put on the org chart. The solution that happens faster than procurement expected. The capability you demonstrate to your board that makes them ask, "Wait, how did we build that so fast?"
We're your black project.
What's in a Name?
So when my wife asked, "BlackProject? Really?" I explained all of this.
Her response: "So you want to be the Skunk Works of software development?"
Exactly.
I want to be the team companies call when they need the impossible. The off-the-books problem solvers who execute while others are still scheduling meetings. The secret weapon that delivers results that seem too good to be true. Because sometimes you don't need another vendor. Sometimes you need a black project.
And if that makes me an uber nerd? I'm okay with that.
Welcome to BlackProject.ai. We solve problems that seem impossible. We move at speeds that seem unrealistic. We deliver ROI that makes your CFO do a double-take.
We're not on your org chart. We're not in your standard procurement process.
We're your black project.
P.S. - My wife now tells people I named my company after "those secret spy plane guys." Close enough.
Fun Facts About Skunk Works You Can Use to Impress Nerds at Parties
The SR-71's skin got so hot at Mach 3+ that the aircraft actually expanded - Engineers designed it to leak fuel on the ground because the panels wouldn't seal until the metal heated up and expanded in flight.
The F-117 was so ugly that test pilots called it "the Hopeless Diamond" - It looked like it should fall out of the sky. But physics is weird, and stealth requires angles that don't look aerodynamic.
Kelly Johnson's 14 rules are still used today - Not just at Lockheed, but by startups and innovation teams worldwide. Turns out "give smart people clear goals and get out of their way" works pretty well.
Skunk Works engineers used department store mannequins to fool Soviet satellites - They'd arrange them on the tarmac to look like ground crews working on aircraft, making the Soviets think programs were further along than they were.
The U-2 program was so secret that CIA pilots' deaths were reported as "aircraft accidents" - Their families weren't told the real cause for decades. Francis Gary Powers' shootdown over the USSR in 1960 finally revealed the program's existence.
"Black project" doesn't mean the projects are nefarious - It refers to the budget classification level. Black = classified/secret. White = unclassified/public. Gray = somewhere in between.
The X-37B space plane is currently on its seventh mission - It's been orbiting Earth since 2010 on missions lasting 1-2 years each. What it does up there? Still classified. That's a modern black project.