In this eye-opening episode of AI Confidential, I had the privilege of hosting two pioneers in AI security and privacy: Daniel Rohrer, VP of Software Security at NVIDIA, and Raluca Ada Popa, Professor at UC Berkeley, Co-Director of UC Berkeley Skylab, and Co-Founder and President of Opaque Systems. Together, we explored the cutting edge of privacy-preserving AI technology and its implications for the future of innovation. Watch the full episode on YouTube →
The Hardware Revolution
One of the most exciting developments we discussed was NVIDIA’s recent introduction of GPU Hardware Enclaves with the H100. As Daniel explained, this breakthrough, which became available through cloud providers like Azure in September 2023, fundamentally transforms what’s possible with secure AI computing. For the first time, organizations can achieve true end-to-end security for computationally intensive AI workloads at scale.
The Power of Attestation
Raluca brought a unique academic and entrepreneurial perspective to our discussion of how confidential computing transforms trust in AI systems. The key insight? It’s not just about encryption—it’s about proving exactly what happens to data throughout the AI pipeline. Through confidential computing, organizations can now:
Cryptographically verify code execution
Track model access to data
Document complete data lineage
Ensure compliance through technical guarantees
Beyond Traditional Security
Our conversation revealed how these capabilities enable entirely new forms of collaboration and innovation. Organizations can now:
Process sensitive data while maintaining encryption
Enable secure multi-party computation with verifiable guardrails
Protect both data and model weights in AI workflows
Maintain documented compliance while driving innovation
Real-World Impact
The applications we explored were compelling: from healthcare institutions collaborating on better treatment protocols to financial institutions jointly fighting fraud. What makes these use cases possible isn’t just the encryption—it’s the ability to prove exactly how data is being used.
The Path Forward
As both Daniel and Raluca emphasized, attestable AI pipelines aren’t just a security feature—they’re becoming a business necessity. In today’s AI-driven world, losing control of your data isn’t just a temporary setback—it can have irreversible consequences for competitiveness and security.
The future belongs to organizations that can not only protect their data but prove how it’s being used. Confidential computing makes this possible, turning data privacy from a constraint into a catalyst for innovation.
Join me for the next episode of AI Confidential where we’ll continue exploring the frontiers of secure and responsible AI implementation. Subscribe to stay updated on future episodes and insights.
As we move into this new era of secure AI, how is your organization balancing innovation with data privacy? Share your approach in the comments below.
When I sat down with Teresa Tung from Accenture for Episode 2 of AI Confidential (you can find this episode on Youtube in addition to Spotify), I was struck by a stark reality that many enterprise leaders are facing: while 75% of CXOs recognize the critical need for high-quality data to power their generative AI initiatives, nearly half lack the trusted data required for operational deployment.
This gap isn’t just a statistic—it’s a story I’ve seen play out repeatedly across boardrooms and technical teams. As companies rush to embrace generative AI, they’re discovering that the real challenge isn’t implementing the technology—it’s protecting and leveraging their most valuable asset: data.
Teresa shared a fascinating perspective from her work at Accenture that resonated deeply with me. She pointed out that in the next five years, industry leadership will be determined not by who has the most advanced AI models, but by who can effectively control and utilize their data. It’s a shift that reminds me of the early days of digital transformation, where companies that failed to adapt quickly found themselves in a Kodak-like situation.
The Security Paradox
Here’s the challenge that keeps enterprise architects, CTOs, and CIOs up at night: the most valuable data for AI applications is often the most sensitive. Whether it’s financial records, customer interactions, or proprietary research, this “crown jewel” data holds transformative potential but comes with enormous risk.
During our conversation, Teresa shared an illuminating example from an automotive manufacturer grappling with this exact dilemma. The company saw tremendous potential in using AI to enhance customer interactions but faced the fundamental challenge of keeping sensitive data secure while making it actionable.
Beyond Pilot Purgatory
What’s become clear through my conversations with technology leaders is that many organizations are stuck in what I call “pilot purgatory”—they can experiment with AI on non-sensitive data, but can’t scale to production because they lack frameworks for securing sensitive data at scale.
This is where technologies like Confidential Computing enter the picture. As Teresa and I discussed, it’s not just about encrypting data at rest or in transit anymore—it’s about maintaining security while data is being processed. This capability is transforming how companies can approach AI implementation, enabling them to:
Process sensitive data while maintaining encryption
Share insights without exposing raw data
Create new business models through secure multi-party computation
The Path Forward
For technology leaders navigating this landscape, the message is clear: the winners in the AI race might be determined partly by who moves fastest, but whoever builds the most trustworthy and secure foundations will endure and stand the test of time. As Teresa pointed out, successful AI implementation requires treating data as a product—with all the quality controls, supply chain considerations, and security measures that implies.
Looking ahead, I believe we’re entering a new era of AI adoption where security and scalability must be considered from day one. The companies that thrive will be those that can balance innovation with protection, speed with security, and ambition with responsibility.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or visit our podcast page for more platforms. For weekly insights on secure and responsible AI implementation, subscribe to our newsletter.
Join me for the next episode of AI Confidential where we’ll continue exploring the frontiers of secure and responsible AI implementation. Subscribe to stay updated on future episodes and insights.
What challenges are you facing in scaling AI while maintaining data security? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
In a recent discussion between technology leaders Mark Papermaster (CTO and Deputy CISO of Microsoft Azure) and Mark Russinovich (CTO of AMD), the focus was on the transformative potential of confidential Computing in reshaping data security practices within the technology industry. Against a backdrop of escalating concerns surrounding data privacy and cybersecurity threats, the conversation delved into key themes such as Security and Trust, Confidential Computing, Data Control, and Collaboration. These themes underscored the critical importance of safeguarding customer data in cloud environments through innovative solutions like secure enclaves and hardware root of trust mechanisms. Confidential Computing, defined as a technology that ensures data remains secure even during processing by unauthorized parties, emerged as a pivotal tool in enhancing data security measures amidst rapid advancements in AI technologies.
The dialogue also highlighted recent developments such as the collaboration between AMD and Microsoft to streamline confidential computing adoption and Microsoft’s ambitious goal to transition to a confidential cloud by 2025. The introduction of Azure Confidential Ledger further exemplified industry efforts towards bolstering supply chain security. Looking ahead, the future outlook points towards continued advancements in confidential Computing technologies with an emphasis on expanding their application to edge devices while establishing robust integrity measures across computing supply chains. As companies strive to navigate ethical considerations around data control and privacy in AI applications alongside potential regulatory challenges associated with widespread adoption of secure computing practices, it becomes increasingly clear that fostering trust through enhanced security measures will be paramount for shaping the future landscape of technology innovation.
The first episode of the AI Confidential Podcast will be available next week. You can find this here: https://aiconfidential.com. Here’s a preview of what you can expect.
This podcast project has been super fun and has allowed me to spend time with some of the most important and influential people in technology—some of whom I’ve followed since beginning my career—specifically, Mark Russinovich and Mark Papermaster. If you don’t know them, look them up on Wikipedia.
AI Confidential is a groundbreaking new podcast by Opaque Systems that uncovers confidential AI’s impact on business innovation. Featuring leaders from Microsoft, Accenture, NVIDIA, Google Cloud, AMD, and more, AI Confidential offers valuable, firsthand perspectives from industry pioneers on how Confidential AI is redefining the path forward for enterprises across all sectors.
This article was written for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and originally published on the Cooke Alumni Blog.
2002 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
My career path has been a winding road filled with learning, growth, and unexpected turns. I’m proud to say that I am a first-generation college graduate and part of the inaugural cohort of the Cooke Transfer Scholars and in 2004 I received my BS in Applied Math Computer Science from UNC-Chapel Hill. My path started at Microsoft, where I worked briefly in Research, which led to co-founding a software company (MindTouch), eventually joining a 22,000-person company (ServiceNow), and currently leading another startup (Opaque Systems). Along the way, I’ve gathered valuable lessons that I hope will inspire and guide you in your own career.
The Beginning: Microsoft
My career began at Microsoft, which was a remarkable experience. I worked with brilliant people on Research that informed some of the foundational Cloud technologies used today. We had access to resources that fueled my passion for technology. This period taught me the importance of kindness in the workplace. Kindness isn’t just about being nice; it’s about genuinely caring for others and their success. By being kind, you build relationships that can last a lifetime, and these relationships are invaluable in your career. While I worked at Microsoft for less than a year, I still have many friendships from that time that are meaningful to me twenty years later.
Lesson One: Operate with Kindness
Kindness has always been a core value for me. It makes life more fulfilling and opens doors professionally. Twenty years of professional experience have taught me that relationships and helping others bring me the most fulfillment and joy. Also, as a side effect, being kind enables you to develop more relationships and creates a supportive network throughout your career.
Entrepreneurship: Founding MindTouch
I’ve always been comfortable taking risks and betting on myself. I developed this skill early because my circumstances afforded me few opportunities. I learned to “do it myself” and figure it out through trial and error, embodying the attitude common in punk culture that emerges when you’ve got nothing to lose. In 2005, I co-founded MindTouch with a friend from Microsoft. What started as an open-source project quickly gained traction, becoming one of the world’s most popular open-source software projects within two years; today, this software still serves hundreds of millions of users (an example can be found atLibreTexts). Leading MindTouch was incredibly fulfilling. We built a product that empowered people to share knowledge and collaborate more effectively. Not only was MindTouch helping people who used the software, it also launched and advanced the careers of hundreds of MindTouchers who worked for the company.
Lesson Two: Be Proactive and Drive
Most people talk about their dreams and goals, but very few start them and even fewer stay committed to putting in the hard work to achieve their goals. It’s essential to be proactive. Don’t make excuses—take action. Be punk, be bold, and learn by trial and error. I’ve taken inspiration from the concept of Zanshin, which I learned about in the book “Zen in the Art of Archery.” It’s about being fully aware and committed to your actions. Be present in all aspects of your work, always strive to improve and develop your craft.
Transformative Leadership: Growing ServiceNow
After leaving MindTouch, which we sold to a larger company, I joined ServiceNow. At MindTouch, our business was in the tens of millions, and then I joined ServiceNow, where I was helping to run businesses that contributed billions to the company. After helping to triple the revenue of one business, I then led the creation of a new business and product line. This product became the fastest-growing in the company’s history. However, the journey was challenging. Some people resisted the new business unit because it disrupted existing structures and change can be uncomfortable but it’s the only way to grow. Despite the resistance, we stayed focused on our vision and values, which ultimately led to our success.
Lesson Three: Be Enthusiastically Interested in Others
Understanding what others care about and what motivates them is essential. This attitude, born from a genuine interest in helping others, has helped me build authentic relationships with colleagues and customers. It’s not just about business; it’s about creating meaningful connections. Caring to understand the customer and internal stakeholders allowed me to navigate the political landscape authentically and develop trust.
Lesson Four: Be Determined
Achieving your objectives requires not letting setbacks or failures discourage you. My time at ServiceNow was filled with numerous challenges and resistance, but staying determined helped us push through. We remained focused on our customers, vision, and values, ultimately creating products that significantly improved the industry, accelerated the careers of hundreds, probably thousands, and added billions to ServiceNow market cap.
Leading the Future of AI: Joining Opaque Systems
Now, as CEO of Opaque Systems, I am at the forefront of AI innovation. Opaque Systems is dedicated to accelerating AI adoption by ensuring data privacy, security, and sovereignty. Several world-renowned researchers launched the company from a famous computer science lab at UC Berkeley (RISElab). My role as CEO combines my passion for technology with my commitment to ethical technology adoption. Here we are tackling the trust crisis in AI with confidential data, ensuring AI can advance without compromising privacy.
As CEO of an early-stage software company, I am mostly focused on our “product-market-fit.” This means I’m spending most of my time speaking with current customers, prospective customers, and partners to determine the optimal go-to-market and product strategies. Go-to-market is a fancy way of saying that we’re figuring out the best customers to focus on and how to communicate the benefits of the technology to as narrow an audience as possible. By remaining focused we will grow the business more quickly than be being diffused across many potential buyers and use cases. The go-to-market strategy informs the product strategy, which is another fancy way of saying features we should focus on and how to design the user experience. On any given day, I spend most of my time in Zoom meetings with Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Data Officers, and Chief Information Security Officers of enterprise-scale companies in the Financial Services, High Tech, Government, and Manufacturing industries. When I’m not doing this, I’m helping to recruit new talent to the Opaque team.
Lesson Five: Have a Bold Vision and Be Disciplined
Having a bold vision is essential, but you must also follow the order of operations to achieve it. Just like in arithmetic, where you solve problems in a specific sequence (parentheses first, then exponents, followed by multiplication and division, and finally addition and subtraction) achieving your goals requires a similar approach. Furthermore, being successful at anything requires practice and repetition. Focus on the first steps and consistently do the tedious work daily. Discipline and a willingness to focus on the work that matters, even if it’s not the most fun, are crucial.
Reflecting on my Journey
Looking back, each step in my career has taught me something valuable and have shaped who I am today. I encourage you to embrace kindness, be proactive, take an enthusiastic interest in others, stay determined, and have a bold vision while staying disciplined to do the tedious work.
I hope my story offers guidance and inspiration to other scholars, college students, and young professionals reading this. Remember that success isn’t just about reaching your goals; it’s about how you get there and the relationships you build along the way. Be kind, proactive, and curious about others; always maintain sight of your vision. Your journey is unique, and I’m excited to see where it takes you. Please contact me on LinkedIn directly with your stories, especially if this was helpful, and let me know if I can be helpful to you in your journey.
This is a repost of a podcast interview from Aug 31, 2016 that does a good job communicating how I think about business and sales.
Today’s episode features Aaron Fulkerson, founder and the CEO of MindTouch, a provider of cloud-based software that uses product and support content to drive customer engagement and success. Aaron joined us to discuss how to crush it at sales through a no-selling approach, how to hire teams focused on doing “important work,” building a culture of sales leaders and why companies should approach the sales cycle as a “success cycle”.
The best companies have a simple central guiding concept that drives every aspect of their business.
MindTouch focuses on understanding. Zendesk focuses on relationships. Companies that last and deliver value and are interesting businesses have a simple central value proposition. Think about how your company can do this, too.
Do you want to be the important person or do the important work?
Do you want to do important and valuable work? Do you want to be focused on how you can be of service and do work that will be important to other people and serve others? This means being sincere, authentic, and with integrity. Or do you want to be seen as the “important person”? Companies can vary vastly based on whether their teams are built with “me first” or “team first” employees.
Integrity means to be honest and sincere, and it comes from the word “integral” or “whole”. Only by serving others can we achieve the satisfaction of being whole.
Sales folks may be attracted to making a lot of money, and often fall into the first category to be perceived as the important person in the room. When MindTouch hires, they focus on “no selling”. They hire leaders, who are focused on people who want to help others have positive outcomes.
Leadership is about creating new leaders and serving others. Leadership is measured by how many effective leaders you’ve created. Help clients learn a new way and become leaders in their space.
Leadership is about creating new leaders and being of service of others.
Focus on how you’ll deliver successful outcomes in the buy stage of the customer journey. In the succeed stage, you’re helping lead them to become proficient in their products. You’ll teach them how to do things differently to get positive outcomes.
The kinds of behaviors that sales teams should be asked to develop skills around include being a leader vs. selling.
Approaching The Sales Cycle As A “Success Cycle”
The sales development representative. They have to get good at creating opportunities. They understand personas at prospects’ companies and how to benefit them. Goal: Help people understand how they’ve helped other companies to talk to account executive (next step in success cycle)
AE 1: Helps prospect understand the opportunity they have with MindTouch’s product.
AE 2: This is the next step: Helping them organize their team members to organize promise.
Prospects will get to learn best practices from mature brands and startups so that every time you’re coming into contact with someone, the goal will be to have them leave the interaction better. If you focus on that, then you’ll succeed and build a company worth working at.
Aaron started selling in fourth grade
When he was in fourth grade, Aaron made edible playdough–yes, really edible–called “edible glue gunk,” and yes, he was a masterful entrepreneur, even back then, successfully selling his ‘dough wares to his peers.
Next, he was passionate about War Hammer a turn-based strategy game and bought wholesale and sold figures and wanted everyone to be excited about it. Leadership and starting things is Aaron’s passion.
To build a leadership culture: Hire leaders and model the approach.
You may lose candidates, but it’s worth it to hire the best people. Aaron’s advice: avoid silicon valley sales royalty! You’re better off with someone with a speckled background who values service. That may slow potential for growth in short-term, but long-term if you hire the wrong fits, you may not be as sustainable with the right customers and your culture will suffer. Invest in building a culture that doesn’t sell, that is sincerely focused on helping others and embodies core values of beginners mind and having a passion for process. Even if you fail – you can be proud of what you did.
If you’re going to do something half-way, don’t do it.
Aaron learned at a young age: Don’t sweep the garage (or do anything, really) if you’re going to do it half-way. Whether the “thing” in question is a partnership or a customer relationship, it is disrespectful to only do part-way. So only take on customers who you can fully help, and only engage partnerships where you can fully commit.
Be a founder, even if you’re not the one who started the company. Do not be an employee. Why? Being a founder creates a more fulfilled work life for you and turns you into a high performer.
What do I mean by being a founder? It means you take ownership of your role. Do not just do what you’re told, but rather understand why you’re doing your work and why it matters to the organization. How is your impact being measured? Why is that important? What board-level initiative are you advancing? Understand the challenge or opportunity your work is addressing. If you understand this, then you can inform the solution you are delivering.
An employee shows up and does what she’s told. She doesn’t take the time to understand how her work advances the mission. She does her assignment and waits for the next. An employee is a victim of circumstance. An employee owns nothing and optimizes for minimal accountability. “I did what I was told.”
How many times have you witnessed an employee complete a project to the letter requested and completely miss the intent of the mission? A founder would never do this because founders take ownership.
There are two types of people. Those who float at sea and those who swim toward a goal. Obviously, the founder is in the latter group. Swimming toward a goal while always course correcting for the water’s currents.
How to be a founder:
Choose to be one.
Act like it.
How do you know that you’re acting as a founder?
You know the mission, your “managers intent,” and you’re actively tuning your actions to maximize impact.
You care less about what your work colleagues think about your importance and more about the impact you have on the mission.
You understand how your efforts compliment and fit with others, even those in other departments and teams.
I met Ed Viesturs, heard him speak, and had dinner with him. Ed summited Everest seven times (eleven attempts). He’s an incredible human who climbed the world’s fourteen tallest mountains — all over 8,000 meters, or 26,000 feet. He also created the highest grossing IMAX film in history ($300M). If you’ve read “Into Thin Air”, you know Ed. He also has severalgreatbooks of his own.
Ed approached his expeditions as an exercise in risk management. He was hyper-focused and passionate about the process of climbing the mountain and getting back down. He learned that his successes were a “boring success” because he was able to consistently perform without tragedy and drama due to his focus on planning, preparation, and an ego-free approach to the expedition. When the conditions did not permit summiting, he didn’t perceive it as a failure. Failure was dying. He says: “it’s not a failure; it’s a non-success.” Where can you apply this concept in your life? Your business? Try it, it will liberate you.
Ed summited K2 with Scott Fisher and climbed with Rob Hall. Ed has accomplished what only five other people in the world have achieved (the fourteen tallest peaks), and he did this without supplemental oxygen! Ed racked up a more consistent record (two-thirds success rate compared to one out five) than the average mountain climber. However, because he has been a “boring success” story free of tragedy and drama, he’s lesser known. He’s what Brad Feld has called a “Silent Killer“.
Would you rather be a “boring success” or a well-known tragedy? I know which I prefer and this informs how I approach business and life.
Another inspiring statement Ed shared that pierced me to my core was:
“Impossible is good an excuse not to try. Think ‘barely possible’.”
Man, I love this guy!
I want to thank Eric Otterson of Silicon Valley Bank for organizing this event and dinner. Eric might be the most connected, and influential people in the tech industry in San Diego and SoCal. He’s also a great human.
Finally, here are choice quotes from Ed that I jotted down because they were just too good to forget. Ed, forgive me if I’ve inadvertently reworded some of these.
Don’t let ego or sunk costs kill you.
Summiting is only half the journey. #zanshin
People who succeed are those willing to pay the currency of toil.
It’s mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.
Plan. Prepare. Do it well. Do it without ego. It’s what I call boring success.
If you don’t want to try something, impossible is a good excuse. We thought barely impossible.
Once you and your team make a decision, stick with it. Don’t be influenced by others’ group think.
Patience pays off.
Listen to the mountain.
The number one ingredient for success is passion. Because then you’re willing to be patient, persistent, and suffer.
Don’t regret your decisions. You can’t change it; so, there is no point in regretting.
Americans believe too much in talent. We are the “Michael Jordan Generation”. People think Jordan was inherently talented, but what most don’t realize is that Jordan simply WORKED HARDER than anyone else. Everyone is looking for an excuse or a shortcut.
Of course she’s better at that than me, it’s “genetics” or raw talent. The flipside of that coin is: I’m inherently talented, reward me because I showed up and wrote some sh** on the whiteboard.
Bullsh**. They’re better than you because they worked harder than you. It’s tough to realize you’re not special, I know, but it’s true. Moreover, just showing up and thinking you’re talented doesn’t earn you a ribbon. You have to actually work. And if you want a ribbon, you have to work harder than anyone else.
Ideas and “whiteboarding” aren’t work. That’s direction finding. Thinking about a route west is not the same thing as pioneering a path through the wilds to the goldfields of California. You have to actually put in the work and take the risks. You have to actually make the arduous journey. And when you arrive, you’ve just begun. That’s when the real work begins.
Organizations focus too much on results. Revenue growth, acquiring customers, shipping new product features…these are the obsessions of companies, but these are the wrong things to obsess about.
It was sometime in late 2010 and I was really down. I felt like a huge failure. I had been feeling like a failure for a while. The business grew well in 2009, but it was a sugar high. We were burning money and we didn’t actually have a defensible business model. Many of the people at the company cared more about themselves than each other or our customers. It was all bullshit.
We were focused on all the wrong things. I was trying to drive others in new directions by force of will. Nothing was collaborative about what we were doing. At that time it really couldn’t be because everyone was pulling in different directions and our company was being ripped apart by it. Our culture was shit and I wasn’t sure we could fix it. I felt the most to blame and I probably was. I was the CEO and I wasn’t sure I should be.
We had some things going for us. We had a massive install base of our free (open source) software. We had a few million in cash coming in annually from customers paying for a commercial version of our software, but we were flatlining. Things were not good and everyone at the company knew it. We were burning cash and we only had months of runway left.
We were rushing to get launched a new product and we were hurriedly trying to figure out how to sell it. This time we were smarter about focusing on the product-market fit, but I’m pretty sure there weren’t many people at the company who actually believed in what we were doing. Why would they? We were jettisoning our old business that they had believed in. We were launching a new product that wasn’t proven and we weren’t sure yet how to take it to market. While most of the team didn’t understand it yet, this new product was our only hope because the old business was failing fast.
We sat down over a beer and started talking. Just us two founders. It was Steve’s idea and he wanted to make sure that when we failed, because it seemed pretty likely, that we could look back on our last attempt, perhaps a final fit of energy before our demise, and have something for which we could be proud. That was a critical meeting because we hashed out a couple guiding principles that were instrumental. Also, it got me thinking.
I don’t waste energy outside of work on people I don’t love and respect. Why would I hire people at work that I didn’t love and respect? Solely based on the idea they had experience or skill that might help us achieve results? In a moment of clarity I realized we’d made a huge mistake.
We spend more time with the people we work with than we do with our families. Do the math. We had hired people for their skill and experience in spite of not being fond of their values. I recall discussing this with a friend of mine when I was hiring the first of these people.
“I guess I have to resign myself to working with some people I don’t really like as we grow the company. Is this just a hard truth I have to accept? Sometimes I’m going to hire d-bags?”
My friend didn’t work with me, but he was a lot more experienced than me and I valued his opinion. I still do. He’s been at big companies, I never have, and his response was: “Yup. Sometimes you just have to work with d-bags because they’re good for business; because they’ll deliver results”.
Nope. That was a mistake. I had been focused on results. We were building an engine powered by sugar. You know what happens after that sugar rush? You crash soon after. It’s like walls with no foundation. It will collapse in on itself and that’s exactly where we were. Crashing. A poorly constructed house that was collapsing in on itself.
If you want to build something that matters don’t focus on results. Results are an obsession that may offer short term gain, but it will all fall in on you soon enough. Maybe you jump out before it falls apart, like in a Ponzi scheme, but what you built won’t matter. This was when I finally learned that the most important and valuable thing to any organization is the people it employs and the culture that attracts and retains them. It’s these people that service your clients and craft your products.
If you want to build something that matters, focus on hiring people you love and respect and maintaining a culture that attracts and retains them. When you hire people you love and respect it’s easy to invest everything you can in them. When you focus on your people being successful in their careers they focus with the same vigor on the client.
Every company’s goal should be to max out the success of their clients. To scale your business you need a team and you’ve got to instill this goal in your team. If your focus is on making the people you pay, your team, successful in their careers then naturally they will focus on making the people who pay you, your clients, successful. This creates a virtuous cycle that makes your work mean something.
Do what’s right for your people and your clients above all else. Sometimes it’s hard — especially when you’re struggling. Keep the faith though because this is what makes life fulfilling and your success in the results department becomes inevitable.
I met 
We sat down over a beer and started talking. Just us two founders. It was Steve’s idea and he wanted to make sure that when we failed, because it seemed pretty likely, that we could look back on our last attempt, perhaps a final fit of energy before our demise, and have something for which we could be proud. That was a critical meeting because we hashed out a couple guiding principles that were instrumental. Also, it got me thinking.
Aaron Fulkerson 