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 (using my SFA model - see below) 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]
{ad}ventures
Cryptography:
One of my recent adventures in math resulted in a discovery of how to leverage 3D geometric forms for encryption called: The UberCrypt Framework (US Patents: 8767954 & 9118481).
Thanks to my business partner, the UCF runs on Windows, OSX and Linux - and will soon be available as an Amazon AWS Lambda function. Here's a link to the published research paper if you are interested in the mathematics. Or, better yet, contact me about a private briefing and how the UCF can better secure your (particularly big) data than any other algorithm available today.
Patent Analytics:
Another recent adventure is in the area of patent analytics - looking for patterns and trends that may be used to enhance economic growth.
Based on nearly 5 million US patents - joined with census, business and other data, the www.InventivenessIndex.com is a comprehensive study on the inventiveness of the top 250 metro areas in the nation. Check out the research on the balance of male and female inventors in the USA.
A spinoff from that non-profit adventure, is the commercially focused Patent Index. Contact me to learn about the available data feeds and other services.
Check out how D Magazine and the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce use one of my feeds to support Dallas Invents.
Business Consulting, Mentoring, and Coaching:
During my career, I have had opportunities to mentor, consult, and advise company executives in a variety of industries. Many were startups, but I have worked with the executive teams of mature organizations too.
While I advise them on a wide range of topics, my focus is always on how to get them to the next stage of growth.
My Strategic Focus Alignment (SFA) model (click on the adjacent diagram or flyer) is the foundation of most of my consulting services. It helps executives see themselves, their company, their market and the competition through a clear and common lens so they can communicate and execute more effectively and efficiently.
Often, executives also find my Market Innovation, Adoption and Maturation Model (shown adjacent) to be helpful. Click on the image to learn more.
When time allows, I am working to complete a book about how SFA can help leadership teams take their organizations to the next level, with real-world case studies. For more information on how SFA can help you and your business, contact me.
Finally, here are a few of my recent consulting projects:
* Product Positioning for a Cyber Security product company in Silicon Valley
* Product Security Review for a Health IT company in the Midwest
* Product Strategy Review and Recommendations for a global Cyber Security company
* Product Definition for a Health IT company in the Mid-Atlantic
* Business Strategy consulting for a Health IT company in the Mid-Atlantic
* Business Growth and Succession planning for a federal contractor in the Mid-Atlantic.
* Product, Launch and Partner Management for a global wellness company
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 two local 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.
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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