Cloud Surfing: A New Way to Think About Risk, Innovation, Scale, and Success

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Defining the Cloud

We are all hungry and thirsty for concrete images.

—Salvador Dalí

History is written in the collective images that we share as a civilization. Jack Schmidt created one of those images. Schmidt had a rare moment with nothing else to do on December 7, 1972, as he floated about in zero gravity with his Hasselblad camera in his hand. On a lark, he turned to face the retreating Earth as Apollo 17, the last manned mission to the moon, was leaving Earth’s orbit for its 250,000-mile journey. The image he saw through the viewfinder was serendipitous: he quickly framed the shot and took the picture, one of thousands taken during ...