“Actions have consequences” is a term a lot of us have heard before. Usually, when it’s said it is implied to be a bad thing. A semi-direct way of saying that for the actions you have taken there is a price to pay. HUMAN has never been a company that molds its goal and morals to the status quo. Here at HUMAN we lean into the positive narrative of our actions having consequences because our actions are making us a company of consequence.
It all started in a sci-fi book store in Brooklyn in 2012. From that humble start there has been many new beginnings along the way; including name changes, acquisitions and now the merger. There’s a lot that has happened in between all that, there is a lot that has happened before and even more will happen after.
It all came together during a week in Las Vegas at Black Hat.
Weeks before one of the biggest cybersecurity conferences in the world, HUMAN and PerimeterX announced an industry changing merger. Both companies decided to move forward as one with the HUMAN name. The size of the company instantly doubled and a third of that company would be at Black Hat. As I embarked on my first cybersecurity conference and reflected on our recent actions. I went into it with one singular question to be answered. What does it mean to be a company of consequence?
A Company of Consequence
Our CEO Tamer Hassan said to me, “Building a company of consequence is the reason I get out of bed every morning”.
That is such a strong statement of conviction. As he put it, “I wake up wanting to deliver on our statement of purpose to safeguard the integrity of the internet.” To keep the promises we have made as a company to our customers. The core belief that this was a task of passion. Something we believe is possible and followed by the actions we take to realize a worthwhile goal. A company of consequence is more than a brand, more than the technology, more than the title any singular person holds. It is the soul of the company. It is the HUMAN experience.
To kick off Black Hat, we had our initial SKO (Sales Kick-off) to show our growth plan as a combined company which included more than 130 Humans from our go-to-market team. It revealed our unmatched advantage of our expert team of Humans and industry leading products that are a part of the HUMAN Defense Platform. Humans hailed from the skyscrapers of New York, lands of Tel Aviv, flats of London and home offices all over the world. It was a reunion of old faces and introduction of new ones.
To be behind the scenes and help orchestrate tangible things that were merely ideas before we landed in Las Vegas for Black Hat was mesmerizing. The name HUMAN was visible between our two booths on the showroom floor and our presence felt throughout the entirety of Black Hat. We met with a large number of customers and partners in our suite and at our live music event at the House of Blues. Our inaugural Dan Kaminsky Fellow got to present his open source work at the conference. A fellow Human won The Black Hat Crypto Challenge. Our CEO realized a personal dream of being interviewed for WIRED magazine. Often it did not seem like enough time, but every Human onsite acted as a gear to make sure the clock kept ticking.
It was great having conversations about how the merger amplifies the pillars of modern defense strategy. What combining both our industry leading technology under one company means for observability and interactions. How we can disrupt the economics of cybercrime at a greater scale and the value that adds to what we do for our customers. It was thrilling to see the excitement our partners had when I went up to their booths in my HUMAN shirt and we talked about the gravity of this merger when it comes to collective protection.
I am confident in the future of our company based on our unique approach to protect our 500+ customers from digital attacks, and by celebrating what we have accomplished so far. It was refreshing to see all the executives communicate that the work is not done yet. There is all this potential that must be realized. We must make good on our promises to the internet and deliver on remaining honest to our core values. We must hold true to our name; HUMAN.
A Name of Consequence
What’s in a name? It represents who you are before an introduction. It is not just how the peers in the industry view you but how the world feels when it hears that name. It's how the employees wear that merch proudly not as a uniform but a badge of honor knowing their work makes a difference. It’s more than the return on investment. It’s doing the kind of work you believe in on a daily basis. A name is when your brand intertwines with your culture. It is reflective of you in a way that most mirrors cannot capture. It is both who you are now as a company and what we want to be. On the path to becoming a company of consequence, the name HUMAN was chosen with a purpose. With the merger, we are two companies that will be one team the same way at the end of the day we are one human race.
HUMAN is what we stand for when the booths are taken down. Our north star will still be disrupting the economics of cybercrime in a meaningful way. We will still be the best at knowing who is real. Black Hat was a demonstration of our possibilities.
This was our moment to display the consequences of all our actions. For us to say, “We are firmly here and we are not done”. Heavy is the head that wears the crown in protecting the internet but we can handle the weight. You do not wake up a company of consequence overnight. You don’t just say it and it happens. It is something you must build with intention and care. That is why it’s great motivation to get out of bed every morning. There will be consequences to our actions and I am looking forward to it. Black Hat was magical and I hope you come visit us there or at the 100+ events we sponsor around the world each year to help bring the best in cybersecurity together. I can promise you we still have a few tricks up our sleeve.
Learn more about us and our mission here.
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