Describe five businesses or non-profits that have been created in my field.

There are many businesses in the cybersecurity field, one of which is CrowdStrike. Crowdstrike is a business that helps corporations respond to and prevent data breaches. There are many other businesses similar to this as well, such as Cloudflare, which protects data located on the Cloud. There are also businesses such as Outflank, Mandiant, and SpectatorOps which focus on the active offensive and defensive sides of cybersecurity, both protecting from attacks as well as testing other business’s security infrastructure. There are also companies such as Infosec which focus on spreading knowledge, since in the cybersecurity field, the number of learning opportunities is never exhaustive.

What is your overall perspective on the entrepreneurship experience?

In my perspective, the entrepreneurship experience provides an excellent insight into how businesses grow and become what they are today. It requires a lot of methodical and creative thinking to create an innovation you think will benefit society as a whole and solve a significant problem (or collection of problems). An entrepreneur is someone who is able to perform problem solving by looking at how an issue can be alleviated through multiple lenses, working with other entrepreneurs with different perspectives to create the best possible solution. While most innovations ultimately fail or are replaced by better innovations, the process still provides a valuable experience in understanding why something failed and what can be changed.

How did the entrepreneurship prepare or not prepare you to be a competitive candidate for vacant positions?

I believe the entrepreneurship experience prepared me for the competition that lies ahead. In any profession, there will always be someone who has more skills of value, experience, and/or ideas to bring to the table. This experience helped me become a more creative thinker when it comes to coming up with new ideas that others have not tried before. This helps my overall position in the competition because businesses are looking for new, fresh ideas so they can be one step ahead of their competitors.

What suggestions do you have to improve the experience?

I believe I had a very well-rounded entrepreneurial experience with little room for improvement. I learned what it is to be an entrepreneur, how to think like an entrepreneur, how to brainstorm ideas and to know when to take a step back and reassess an idea, and much more. It was definitely a valuable learning experience for me, and I do not think I would have had it any other way.

What’s next for you?

After my academic career is over, I am going to use the skills and knowledge I gained throughout my many semesters, and what I gathered from this entrepreneurial experience, to go forth and find ways I can better the world through innovation. In the field of cybersecurity, there is always room for improvement, and as an aspiring ethical hacker, I can expect to be tasked with solving new problems that have never been tackled before. It is one of my goals to propose a solution in my field that aids in making the process of securing systems easier and more effective.