Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the shadowy figure behind the Islamic State , has become the most powerful jihadi leader in the world. Similar to a startup company’s founder, Al-Baghdadi has an interesting background and ambitious goals:

Killer App

Al-Baghdadi’s organization has risen at a staggering pace. After release from U.S. military custody in Iraq in 2009, he took over a local Iraqi Al-Queda group in 2010, transformed it into ISIS, and built a transnational organization. Like leaders of successful startup companies, he has strong operational capabilities, is able to pivot quickly to new areas of opportunity, and exhibits a unique form of corporate-style professionalism.

Declaring a caliphate (Islamic state) in 2014, then positing himself as calif (leader), Al-Baghdadi recently made clear his strategic goals in a July 4th, 2014 speech in Mosul (full text here). Though sparse on details, the goals outlined in his speech included:

Revenge against the “perpetrators” of crimes against Muslims

Strict interpretation of Islamic law

Recognition that the caliphate is the duty of all Muslims

Allegiance to his leadership (as self-declared calif)

Building operational maturity by recruiting engineers, doctors and lawyers

Social Media And Corporate Reports

As though to emphasize transparency and professionalism, Al-Baghdadi publishes an annual report, which can be found here. His organization also makes extensive use of Twitter and Facebook to reach audiences.