Passing the baton of leadership at VGS (f.k.a. Very Good Security)
16 November 2022
Sensitive data is valuable, but possessing it is risky and costly. This was the understanding Marshall Jones and I had when we started VGS (Very Good Security) almost eight years ago. Storing sensitive data, by accepting customer credit card numbers for instance, enables businesses to charge their customers for the services or goods they provide them. But in order for businesses to be allowed to hold on to a customer’s credit card info, they must first pass steep regulatory hurdles. Even then, the risks and penalties of a data breach are ever-present.
Meeting these regulatory barriers to entry and then keeping customer data safe for all time, are seldom a core competency for most businesses. Much like the fact that businesses use an already established bank for all financial transactions, we believed they should use an already established “data bank” for all data transactions. Enter, Very Good Security.
Over the past seven years, through the hard work and tenacity of the dedicated VGS team, and with the financial backing of our incredible investors, VGS has created and now leads a new category called data security as a service. We’ve surpassed all of our initial revenue goals and we proudly support 700+ customers including many Fortune 100 companies. I am in awe of what this team has achieved and this is only the beginning. However, security is still not reachable for most of today's innovators and builders and we plan on doubling down to fix that.
Founding a company is not easy. It requires drive, willpower and stamina. Although it can be lonely, it is also wildly rewarding. It is, without a doubt, the hardest thing I have ever done. And it takes time, so much time. While of course it takes years and years, that’s not what I mean here. I mean it takes every moment of every day. Over the past seven years I have gotten married, had two children, and at best I would say I was half present for many important life milestones. I realized I was experiencing (founder) burnout -- a very real phenomenon.
A couple of months ago, I approached our board to broach the idea of bringing in a new leader with a different skill set to help me execute on the administrative parts of running our business, while Marshall and I would continue to execute on the product vision. We have so much left to do and we have been fortunate to witness our company grow to a point where it is time to bring in new leadership to steer the ship Marshall and I started on its next journey.
My wonderful wife put it best: We built the ship; I played a small part in being the tugboat captain to navigate the ship out of the internal waterways, but it requires different skill sets to navigate the ship across the Pacific. This really resonated with me and I am thankful to have such a patient and supportive life partner alongside me in this journey.
I will have more to share soon, but right now my plan is to go on a deserved sabbatical to recharge. In the meantime, the company is in excellent hands with the new CEO, Chuck Yu, who have had previous success scaling vision and companies.
I am truly grateful and thankful for all the employees, the customers, the partners, and our investors who joined and backed the team and I through our journey and I'm super excited to see how the next generation of leaders take VGS to the next level of growth. VGS is in great hands while I take some time to recharge and figure out what's next -- right now, I'm just looking forward to dropping my kids off to school every morning!
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