My final days at Trustwave, looking back.

As I close out my final week at Trustwave, I think it is fitting to look back at what my team and I have accomplished the last 4+ years. Quick backdrop, My team knows I am not one to hang trophies on the wall to point at, nor pump our chests for analyst accolades, but to simply tip our hat to them for the validation they bring. In my final days, we achieved what many would say is the impossible. To take a little compliance focused MSSP that was serving quick serve restaurants and low end merchants, up market growing 2x the market rate in a highly competitive space, and gaining analyst accolades as Leaders in every analyst firm review. The final act being Forrester, which had evaded us for many years. For those that don't know, Jeff is one of the toughest, but I will be the first to admit he has made us better in the process.

Actually, quick shoutout to all the great analysts I have worked with over the years here. Each have sharpened our message (Toby), held me back from jumping off a cliff (Pete), pushed me into the deep end when I needed it (Craig), always gave me great data and insight (Christina), and patted me on the back when I wanted to stop (Jinan). We couldn't have achieved a quarter of what we were able to without each of you. Also, to my analyst relations leader Sarah Schulz for always motivating me to talk to our analysts even when my schedule didn't permit it. We all need great people around us and many time ones who will lead their leaders.

So you may be curious and want to know the decoder ring for pivoting a business that was in the teens for gross margin, declining revenue, and living off the PCI land that was drying up faster than the Sahara. First, I knew that doing traditional MSS was not going to cut it both from a revenue and EBIDTA perspective. When I left IBM to come to a flailing Trustwave, it was to do something different. I was frustrated with what the MSSP industry had turned into and that was the first key ingredient, passion. Without it, most give up when it becomes hard and you fail. Instead, we took risks, failed a lot, and continued to learn getting better in the process. Our passion kept us focused on the objective and not the hurdles.

Secondly, I needed an environment to run without restrictions and with total support. Bob McCullen, my CEO at the time and Rick Miller, provided that to me. I saw it at IBM too many times, great ideas dying with politics and budgets. This didn't exist and something that Bob, Rick, and I talked about often, zero red tape or obstacles if it must be done. Having people believe in you and support you without the immediate results, chasing quarterly results, is key. As a comparison, it's how many startups are successful vs. the inevitable failure. They all have the initial idea, but seeing it through to the first product with a total focus is the key. For us it was all or nothing, we burned the ships to the old way and didn't look back even when it got hard and the results didn't show. We knew they would.

Lastly, the team around you has to be A players and believe in the mission. Everyone member of my team, some who joined recently and others like Julio and James within the first 30 days, all wanted to join me in creating something different. To deliver something truly unique and a valuable service that we could be proud of. Nothing kills top performers more than to not be able to see their hard work pay off. It's always been personal to them and to me. Many would say to always separate the business from personal, but for my team and I, we did the exact opposite. So surround yourself with people who are better and different than you, who believe in the mission, and who will make it personal.

In summary, for my team and I the goal from day one was to be differentiated and in the process disrupt the legacy firms that were stuck in the mud. Our absolute focus was and always is about our customers. Showing value and being the partner they could really lean on. I believe we did just that and I could not be prouder of my amazing team and what we built together. I know they will all continue to kick ass when I am gone. So for my competitor friends reading this, legacies don't die with leadership change. Best team in threat detection and response business!

Humbly,

Chris

P.S. #staytunedformynewrole .....were about to light an industry on fire!