Overview
My career began while working in a small business as a systems engineer. After starting my first company at the age of 20, one of my clients made me an offer and for about 10 years, I worked in big business (two $1B+/year companies) where I learned a great deal. Entrepreneurship called to me again and for the last 20 or so years, I have contributed to small business, mostly in a series of six high-tech startups.
Most of that time I focused on the intersection of {business + technology/product + market}. I'm probably most well known for my work in cyber-security, but I’ve also been deeply involved in education/training/learning, as well as publishing, retail, consumer packaged goods and more.
Strengths
If I were a "super hero" one of my two business super-powers would be that I often see things either before others do (the future) or at a deeper level (deep diagnosis). Futures like a trend in the marketplace before it emerges. Or a convergence of technical forces that will open new vistas of opportunity. Or, conversely, a threat before it bites. I also often see deeper into the business model and can diagnose and remediate problems that help the company reach new heights.
My other super-power is that I execute with discipline. Which is to say I get things done. I can work with people from the Board Room to the Receptionist and from the sales person to the coder - and inspire them toward a vision. In any given business, I quickly penetrate how it ticks and make it better through a disciplined process of leadership and execution.
Successes
Two (both in cyber-security) of the six startups generated above mid-8-figures in exit value and >4X return for investors. The primary product of the second of those companies, LinkScanner, is still running on more than 300 million computers worldwide.
At PestPatrol (first anti-spyware product company), I was responsible for product architecture and management and drove the vision to modularize the tech and build an API strategy - which enabled the hyperbolic growth and ultimately acquisition of the company. See Bob Bales' (CEO) testimony about this on the testimony page.
At Exploit Prevention Labs (XPL) (first anti-exploit product company), where I was one of six co-founders, I again drove product architecture and management for LinkScanner, as well as our IT infrastructure. It was at XPL that I envisioned and built our first generation threatscape collection engine, which was also one of the driving values of our acquisition.
Following the acquisition, I envisioned, architected and led the development on our 2nd generation global closed-loop big data collection, analysis and reporting engine. It remains a vital resource to that company's success and many of the products this $1B+ market cap company currently offers depend upon it.
Published Author
Publisher/Author: Gender in Invention, The Inventiveness Index, 2017 [Innovation, Sociology]
Author: Manipulating Life at its Beginning, Ethics & Medics, May 2106 [CRISPR/Cas9, Bioethics]
Publisher/Author: The Inventiveness Index, 2015 [Innovation, Economics]
Author: The UberCrypt Framework, Int'l Assoc of Cryptologic Research, Aug 2014 [Crypto-Math]
Publisher/Researcher: Yellowcakes Magazine, 2003-2005 [Tech Entrepreneurship]
Author: The Learning Molecule Model, Soc. for Applied Learning Tech, 2000 [Pedagogical Models]
Weekly Columnist: Strictly Business, 1984-1985 [Business Computing]
Author, Data Analyst: US Geological Survey, 1981 [Hydrologic Analysis]
Community
Contributing to my community has always been, and will be, important to me.
In high school, I served as Chair of the City Council Youth Commission, co-founder of the Student Action Committee and more. I also worked at the Senate of PA where I learned the beauty and the belly of how laws are made.
Since before the turn of the century, I have been active in various ways and intensities in supporting the regional tech startup ecosystem. That has been in many forms, including:
- committee work for the Technology Council of Central PA
- supporting the regional Ben Franklin Technology Partners incubator members and companies
- serving on the Penn State Hershey Med Center's Commercialization Advisory Board
- serving the PA House of Representatives Emerging Technologies Task Force
- doing technical due-diligence for the local angel investment community
- direct advising/mentoring of startup founders
- inaugural member of the Founder's Roundtable and supporter of the Up Next Festival showcasing the regional tech ecosystem
- or just being a "super connector" putting people together when I see a fit that might be beneficial to those parties.
It has been my pleasure to support, and my privilege to serve, on the boards of three non-profits:
- the local mini EMBA program called Execustar
- the incredible work that Tom Hachten does at CoderKids where he takes curious 3rd-8th graders and turns them into programmers - while they have a ton of fun.
- and most recently, working to build the tech ecosystem through SWFL Tech
Strong tech ecosystems have a lot of parts: entrepreneurs, higher education, accelerators, incubators, successful founders who give back, angel and institutional investors and more.
When I'm not working | ||
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The reading stacks around the house and office testify to my curiosity for math, science, technology, biology/genetics/bioethics, theology, psychology, cognition, sociology, economics, entrepreneurialism, the arts, and yes, the occasional novel too. I am also an avid student of the art and science of business. To relax, I do enjoy shooting a game of straight at the billiard parlor or playing the rare 7 No-Trump at the Contract Bridge tables. It is always great to see the world, so I travel to new destinations for art, music, history or other culture, or sometimes just a really good gelato and tea. Finally, a diversion of great passion for me is that of making sculptures out of marble like the recent piece "Caro Cuore" pictured here. Click the image to see other works. |
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