Typical crisis simulations don't train leaders for today's unpredictable disruptions. Modern crises ' like the global CrowdStrike outage and Silicon Valley Bank's collapse ' strike without warning or a playbook to guide a leader's response. Instead of just testing predefined response plans, organizations need to supercharge their crisis simulations to develop leaders' real-time adaptability. Consider 10 ways to design simulations that prepare executives for the unprecedented. Crises now hit organizations hard, fast, and in ways that few leaders see coming. When cybersecurity company CrowdStrike released a faulty update to its software in 2024, it triggered a massive global outage that crashed 8.5 million Microsoft Windows systems. In 2021, a container ship blocked the Suez Canal, halting nearly $10 billion in global trade per day and exposing critical vulnerabilities in supply chains. And in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic threw the world into turmoil overnight, disrupting economies, industries, and daily life on an unprecedented scale....

Using data from Crunchbase and PitchBook, TechCrunch tracked down the newly VC-backed startup minted unicorns so far this year (as of the end of March). These include healthcare companies like Hippocratic AI and satellite space companies like Loft Orbital. Fleetio ' $1.5 billion: This Alabama-based startup creates software to help make fleet operations easier. It last raised a $454 million Series D at a $1.5 billion valuation, according to PitchBook. It was launched in 2012 and has raised $624 million in funding to date, with investors including Elephant Partners and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The Bot Company ' $2 billion: This robotics platform last raised a $150 million early-stage round, valuing it at $2 billion, according to PitchBook. The company, which was founded in 2024, has raised $300 million to date in funding. Celestial AI ' $2.5 billion: The AI company raised a $250 million Series C led by Fidelity that valued the company at $2.5 billion, per Crunchbase. The company, based in California, was launched in 2020 and counts BlackRock and Engine Ventures as investors. It has raised more than $580 million in capital to date, per PitchBook....

Less than two months before the official start of hurricane season, the nation's primary disaster-response agency faces an uncertain future. Employees working across the Federal Emergency Management Agency tell WIRED that a rapid erosion of tools, external partnerships, and practices'as well as the looming threat of staffing cuts and the exodus of senior staff'is bad news for the country as it heads into the summer, even if the agency reaches the season somewhat intact. FEMA staffers who spoke to WIRED were granted anonymity because they aren't permitted to speak to the press. FEMA was established in 1979 as an independent agency by an executive order signed by President Jimmy Carter; after 9/11, it was moved under the Department of Homeland Security. In recent years, expensive disasters like Hurricanes Ian, Ida, and Helene, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, have caused the agency's spending to skyrocket. The agency has long been a favorite target of conspiracy theorists. But last year, after Hurricane Helene tore through parts of North Carolina, Donald Trump, encouraged by right-wing influencers, amplified misinformation around the agency's response to the storm, putting a political bullseye on FEMA leading into his second presidency....

The Commission approved the transaction under the EU's simplified merger review procedure, stating that the acquisition raised no competition concerns due to the limited combined market share of the parties involved. The deal will see PAI gain sole control of the business, formalising a proprietary partnership with a consortium led by Motel One founder Dieter Muller. Learn more about acquisitions in the Benelux area by joining the Benelux Private Equity Conference in Amsterdam. PAI Partners, an independent private equity firm with over '27bn in assets under management, focuses on control investments across business services, food and consumer, industrials, and healthcare. Since 1994, the firm has completed more than 100 investments and realised over '26bn in proceeds across 12 countries. Subscribe to our Newsletter to increase your edge. Don't worry about the news anymore, through our newsletter you'll receive weekly access to what is happening. Join 120,000 other PE professionals today....