I worked at a Navy lab, NSWC Dahlgren from 1984 to 1999. Back then almost everyone was a GS-12. The managers had higher ranks. Every year they would pull this aged scientist in his wheelchair out who was a GS-15 and say, "We do have a technical promotion track." Same guy every year. After I wrote the Shadow intrusion detection system and founded the Shadow team there was justification to promote me to a GS-13.
And something went wrong in my brain. My life's mission was to become a GS-14 on my GS-13 birthday, (one year is the fastest you can get promoted).
The Shadow team's largest sponsor was Missile Defense Agency, and they finally asked if I wanted to come on board. Yes, (If I can get a GS-14). I hated working in the Pentagon. You had to keep suit in the office for casual Friday in case Congress wanted testimony about the missile defense program. I wasn't allowed to do anything technical. I realized I was probably going to leave government service.
There was this guy, Dave Merit, that used to send me emails out of the blue on very interesting cybersecurity topics. One day he wrote and said there was someone he wanted me to meet.
In 1999, Dave introduced me to his boss Doug Erwin (former COO of BMC Software). We had breakfast together and to cut to the chase, Doug offered me a CSO/CTO position in his startup, Pentasafe. It really was a great opportunity to become a millionaire. But Doug continued on, he talked about the office which was a restored mansion in Houston, "the air conditioner capital of the world". Houston? Air conditioner capital of the world?
Greed, pride, hubris, coveting, whatever word fits best, less than a year earlier, I took a job only because of a promotion and ended up very unhappy. Friends in Houston, friends that are happy in Houston, I am not trying to offend you. But I live at the beach and bike path on Kauai in the winter, and a lake with a dock in Seattle in the summer. Please do not get me wrong, if someone needs me to work 7 days a week, 14 hours a day in a peak moment I will do it. But I want to bike and canoe and walk my dog Yogi when there isn't a crisis.
I said no. Right after the air conditioner comment; no. Not, "I will think about it, or let me pray about it, or let me ask my wife about it." No. Doug was taken aback, but he was smooth. After a minute he said, "You don't keep score for money." That statement, that observation, has been with me ever since. And I would ask you think about it as well. Can I be defined by a number? Can you?
But I am pretty sure he got his $20 dollars worth of expensed breakfast on that day. He changed the subject to cyberwarfare. In 1999 I was a pretty good guy to ask about that topic. BTW, I just watched a lecture from Mikko Hypponen of F-Secure on cyberwarfare. In 2016, he is a pretty good guy to ask about that topic.
