A mission-driven company leaves its mark on the industry. Throughout my career, I’ve worked at a variety of companies, from scrappy startups and large enterprises like Tanium and PricewaterhouseCoopers, to blue-chip companies like IBM, each of which doggedly pursued its mission. The roles I held allowed me to contribute meaningfully to such missions, and I look forward to doing the same at Shift5.
Shift5 is a unique company – from its DNA and its technology to its mission, and I’m excited to join at this critical juncture for many reasons, including:
The Right Time, the Right Place
The proliferation of tech companies is astounding, yet it’s rare that you find a startup focused on a particular problem that has yet to be treated by a host of entrants. Cutting through the hyperbole and the hype, Shift5 entered the market at the right time, in the right place. Headlines over the past two years describe breaches of oil pipelines and cyberattacks targeting key transportation sectors – these bring timeliness and urgency to decisionmakers in companies and on the Hill. As a result, key leadership are seeking solutions to maintain critical infrastructure – keeping the threats out, and their services running.
The problem Shift5 solves comes at a time of increased regulatory attention to the industries it serves, and as industry players are ready to adopt. Shift5 is not only at a clear inflection point in its growth trajectory, but also boasts a winning combination of tech experts, a dedicated team, and a tech solution that fills a specific, timely need. Shift5 is positioned ahead of the curve and on a path to remain ahead of it.
Founder-Driven, Mission Alignment
The Shift5 team and its aligned focus, stemming from the co-founders, is of a quality and depth that’s difficult to find. The company’s origin story and the potency of the opportunity has attracted like-minded individuals who are motivated to make meaningful change, quickly. The team is collaborative, decision-making is aligned, and Fivers are more focused on getting to the right answer than creating and perpetuating silos. The passion of the founders bleeds into the daily motivation and strategic decision making of the team.
Shift5 has a fast-growth opportunity, in a particularly underdeveloped realm of technology. The criticality of the product has a direct impact on the ability of our nation to amplify the safety, security, and intelligence of fleets that drive our economy. I’m passionate about the problem, aligned with the approach of the founders, and enjoy being surrounded by those who share similar values.
Cutting Edge Legal Opportunity
As the onboard data company, Shift5 is tackling a novel problem in the market, which results in interesting and cutting-edge legal issues. Our technology gains access to data from heavy vehicles that has not been accessed or made useful before. As a company, we must be on the frontlines of determining how to manage that data in ethical, secure, and compliant ways. This opens the door to challenging questions. What would Shift5 do in the event of discovering a vulnerability in such a piece of technology infrastructure? What does ethical disclosure look like in this case? In the world of information technology, these questions have been addressed; but at Shift5, we’re breaking ground. I’m excited to take on the challenge of helping Shift5 to navigate these issues.
Shift5 is a mission-driven company. What makes the company unique is that it will leave a mark not only on the industry, but on national security and critical infrastructure. Our opportunity is rich, and we will make aviation, rail, and defense smarter, safer, and more secure.