Relationship to Blank
William Perry (b. 1927) served as U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1997. Before his government career, Perry founded ESL (Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory), the defense electronics firm where Steve Blank had his first Silicon Valley job. ESL helped the U.S. government understand Soviet technological and arms developments during the Cold War.
Significance
Perry's connection to Blank illustrates the military-industrial roots of Silicon Valley that Blank documents in his "Secret History of Silicon Valley" lecture. Perry represents the generation that built the defense technology ecosystem from which commercial Silicon Valley emerged — the connection between military electronic warfare and the Valley's technology industry that conventional narratives obscure.
Sources: steveblank.com, "Secret History of Silicon Valley" lecture, Computer History Museum