So, this is my second go-round to start up a company and try to bring something revolutionary to the security space. Back in 1999, myself and some good friends started a company and to the surprise of us all, we actually found an Angel who spotted us enough money to quit our "lousy jobs" to try and get our security product off the ground. Back then, we developed a security product that was based on open source (both hardware and software) and attempted to start one of the first technical services-only business models. (Now commonly called "the cloud...")
Let's just say it was incredibly tough to find people who understood what we were trying to do back then and after 18 months, we had the difficult choice to either accept our Series A funding and lose our company or to close the company permanently. We decided to do the latter. Just prior to that decision, we had watched some of our good friends with their companies get their Series A and then be immediately diluted off the board. They then had to watch from the sidelines as those same vulture capitalists that gave them the money carved up and sold off the tech they were so excited to bring to the market. We really learned something from that moment and we swore we'd rather have no company than one that wouldn't reflect the ideals (and brewery! :-) we wanted to bring to the world.
But out of that company, we eventually wound up with several patents and we were able to pay our Angel double their money + interest. That was one of the proudest moments of my short entrepreneurial experience at that time.
So now, here's the next venture... What makes this security consultancy different from the others?
I would say it's our experience. The founders are experts in their fields and they know how to get the job done right. Between the two of us, there's nearly 50 years of charting out client's business requirements and then securing them to the necessary levels, both in the private sector and government.
Personally, as the security person, I'm looking forward to bringing 25+ years worth of engineering and compliance out from the shadows of working in the government and to bring those sensibilities and experiences to enhance our customer's livelihoods.
So, here it is... Twenty years after our first business, the wheel turns again. I can't wait to get started...