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NYC Founders Club
Feb 25, 2026
Scammers Hate Him ft. Mohammad Eshan (GhostEye)
Scammers Hate Him ft. Mohammad Eshan (GhostEye)
00:00
34:38
Transcript
0:00
Yeah, what's up, guys? Yeah, let's do it. Um, yeah, just to start off, you know, typical question, just give us a quick intro. Who are you? What does your company do? Yeah.
0:09
Um, I am Ishan, and my company does a lot of things. Mm-hmm. Starting with protecting your brain. I, I don't know, like,
0:21
I don't know how to put this but, you know, we're operating in the space of cognitive security, and it's very different from what people are used to.
0:30
So, you know, you're spending a good chunk of your time on social media. You're getting your news from social media.
0:37
You have, you know, your dopamine receptors are getting fried, and you are not able to pay much attention to anything anybody is saying. So, you know, you kind of become a zombie with your thoughts.
0:51
And if somebody says, "Hey, let's go do this," you're gonna mindlessly say, "Yes, let's do it." And I don't know, Mike, you agreed to the interview because I totally get it. Yeah. Ishan, I need this right now.
1:05
My brain is fried. How do you protect brains? How do you do this? And protect from what? Yeah, so I mean, there's a lot of manipulation that you can...
1:18
Like, we live in a very big, I guess, surveillance state at the moment, right? Like, you see a camera on every block of the street. You see so much stuff just happening, and
1:32
your social media algorithm, you know, when you're on your phone and you're talking about, like, a toaster or something, you see an ad for a toaster.
1:40
What we do is we build a profile on you as a person, and we figure out, like, okay, how can this person get attacked?
1:49
So what are Mike's first, second, third degree connections across Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok? Like, we map out everything. What do you like? What is the algorithm feeding you?
2:01
And we'll say, hey, this is his likeliness to fall for this link click, or hey, this is his, like, likeliness to, you know, fall for like a... One of the most recent experiments we've done is, like, a romance scam.
2:16
Uh-oh. Because that's been, that's been really big. I'm not falling for those. Don't tell my wife, I'm good. I'm safe. Yeah. Um, we did, we did a romance scams.
2:26
It was like, hey, we're gonna, we're gonna go map this person out. We're gonna go map out their LinkedIn. We're gonna go map out their Twitter. We're gonna go map out, like, every other aspect.
2:35
And then your dating life is very different from everything else. So we go there, we build a cognitive profile, and we're like, okay, he's more vulnerable on these apps because he's trying to make a connection.
2:47
And you see what you can, like, kind of get the person to do. And the kind of scary part about it is, you know, most people really don't know who they're talking to. So
3:04
the scary part there is just, I don't know, man, I have like three apps left on my phone, and it's, like, LinkedIn. Like, I don't have anything installed anymore. I'm, like, scared. What, what are the worst apps?
3:17
What, what should we get rid of first? Um, definitely Instagram, TikTok, and, like, Facebook. Oh, man. Great. [laughs] Those are all my favorite things. Come on, man. You need to be able to pay attention to us. Yes.
3:28
All right. So LinkedIn, what else is safe? Um, my Notes app. Okay. [laughs] All right. And Slack. Wow. Yes. All work. Ishan, all work, all seriousness. I don't know if you count WhatsApp, but, like, WhatsApp too. Got it.
3:43
Okay. It's funny you're saying all this. I think the name of your company is very fitting, which you also haven't shared yet. Um, do you want to tell us about, like, the name and how you got it or? Yeah, sure.
3:52
So the company is called Ghost Eye. And, um, I was a negative 8, like, prescription in my eyes, and my eye doctor looked at me and he was like, "Dude, you need to, like, get surgery, man." Yeah.
4:04
[laughs] And I was like, "Okay, dude, I'll do it." I walk out of that room. My mom looks at me and she's like, "You have fucking ghost eyes." [laughs] And I was like, "Yo, that's sick." [laughs] And then- Good.
4:17
[laughs] And then a couple months after the surgery, I will not share any pictures of my eyes after surgery, but um, it looked like just blood. It was terrible.
4:28
But um, yeah, I think after a couple months, I was like, "Okay, I'm starting a company. What do I call it?" And then we were like, "Yo, let's call it Ghost Eye."
4:38
And now we're doing, like, intelligence, so you know, very fitting. Oh. [laughs] That's great. Yeah, that's a, that's a funny story. I didn't know that. So what exactly, like, inspired you to start the company, though?
4:51
Like, take us back to that. Yeah, it's actually how I grew up. Um, my mom came to the US for medical school and got a call or, you know, communication from somebody claiming to be IRS.
5:03
It's like, "Hey, if you don't give me your Social Security number, I'm gonna make sure you get deported." And you know, being an immigrant, you typically,
5:14
if you're threatened with deportation, you're gonna do what the person says. So- How long ago was this? She gave that up. When was this? Uh, like, late '80s, early '90s. Wow, so these scams have been going on forever.
5:29
Yeah, man. The FBI did not do much to help anybody. And like, you know, you don't want to give it, you don't want to go to somebody for help when you're an immigrant because you just got threatened. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
5:39
Wait, so what happened? What happened to your mom? And, like, what did they do with the Social Security? Oh, man, she's like, she's like several million dollars in debt. So like- What?
5:46
Um, they basically took out a bunch of loans in her name and, like, just did a bunch of random things, like, just as her. And um,
5:56
you know, she never finished med school, so I'm first in the family to actually finish s- any school. That's crazy. Which is cool. Um, and then- Congratulations. But still, what? Yeah. That's crazy. Thank you.
6:09
Yeah, shit sucks, man. Uh- Is she still dealing with it? Like, does she still- Um-... have the debt? What happened to it? Oh, no, man, I paid it off. We're good. Wow. All right. Nice. All right. Amazing.
6:21
But yeah, I mean, like, it affected me a lot growing up because we would just move around to, like, wherever her job was because she'd be, like, a desk assistant or, like, an assistant at mostly anesthesiology places, so like the sleep doctors, the people who help, like, people that can't sleep.
6:41
And we go from there, and she's like... We were in Queens, and she had to go to, like, the Bronx, so she had to take a train through Manhattan, go up to the Bronx, and she would be there from like 1:00 AM to, like, noon,
6:56
and it would be rough. So, you know, just seeing the pain struggle that she went through, it didn't really click for me until, like, you know,
7:06
I didn't realize what and why I was doing it until very late, but I was always attracted to some level of security. Right. So my dad had a pizzeria,
7:19
and there's a really funny story there, but he basically got an education and part-time was working at a dollar store. And one of his customers used to come in and be like, "Hey, you should come work for my pizzeria.
7:34
You should come work for my pizzeria." He handed it down to my dad after he retired, and my dad did that for 14 years.
7:41
But there was a four-year gap in those 14 years where my dad was like, "Hey, can you come help me at the pizzeria?" And I was like, "Dude, sure, man." So I was in high school at the time, and
7:58
it was, like, an hour and a half away from where I went to school. Oh, wow. So I used to get on the bus every day and, like, just totally, like, just mess around on my, like, phone, not do any actual homework.
8:10
So, like, I graduated high school with a really shitty av- like GPA or whatever. And, uh, yeah, like, I got into... I, I applied to, like, 27 colleges.
8:19
I got into two, and one of the schools I got into was, like, for cybersecurity, and it was RIT.
8:27
So, you know, I had started building companies that, you know, bypassed anti-bot, bought sneakers, bought this, like, tons of crazy things. And then we got into the part where it was like
8:43
my dad was giving me money, and I was saving it to just buy random things. I bought Pokemon cards- Okay... from Target, and I was like, "Dude"- Those are investments... "I'm gonna open, I'm gonna open these packs." Yeah.
8:58
I was... This is my, this is my early sign, like, of a gambling addiction with Pokemon. Please don't do this, by the way, whoever's listening to this. Um, so I open my first pack, and I get, like, a shiny Charizard.
9:12
I get it graded, and it's, like, 600 something bucks at the time, and I'm like, "Dude, I just hit the jackpot. I'm gonna sell this, and I'm gonna buy more." [laughs] And- How old were you then? I was, like, 17. Okay. And
9:29
I, like, started just writing Python to automate checkouts on, like, Target's website. And then I was like, "Shit, there's other people doing this too" because- Yeah... it was going out of stock fast. Yep.
9:42
So it was perfect timing because, like, COVID and all the crazy stuff happened, and everybody was just buying pools, buying graphics cards, buying shoes. Like, I was already reselling shoes.
9:54
So, you know, just doing all the other stuff and owning a product, that was just very eye-opening, and it was, like, my very first exposure to entrepreneurship.
10:05
And I didn't even know I was doing, um, like, an entrepreneur. I was like, "Dude, I'm ju- You were just hustling... I'm fucking, I'm fucking around, and I'm just making money." [laughs] Yeah, yeah. [laughs] Yeah.
10:14
That's incredible. Yeah. So you were, you were so young then, and so then this is, like, your first intro to entrepreneurship. When did you start Ghost Eye? How old were you then?
10:23
Um, this one's boring, but, uh- [laughs]... I started Ghost Eye when I was 23, and I am still 23. Right. Nothing's changed there. Yes. Yeah. [laughs] Got it.
10:36
Um, yeah, so you're still very much, like, in the early days, so can you tell us, like, some more about that? Like, how did you get your first customers?
10:42
Was there any important learnings in those first literally, like, few months or...? Yes. So this is gonna be, like, super contrarian.
10:52
There are players that establish categories, and, you know, people think those categories are gonna solve your problem because people are able to raise in it. People are able to do this.
11:01
Like, the VCs can give you customers. Okay, whatever, man. Like, I think that we're genuinely onto building something new because we're taking a completely different angle.
11:11
We're applying human psychology cognitive science to how interactions work in the modern day. We interact so much more online than we do in person nowadays because we were conditioned through that year of COVID, right?
11:26
Yep. We were sitting home. Now we prefer working from home than seeing our peers, and that's actually quite damaging to the brain. Typically, human interaction helps
11:38
s- like naturalize and ser- like normalize your, your dopamine. Yeah. And when you are home, you're just gonna be, like, doing other things.
11:47
You're not gonna be able to focus, and there's a lot of misdiagnosis for H- ADHD because of this. So
11:54
a lot of people are spending their times Instagramming, TikToking, doing all of this kind of stuff, and they're just going on, like, crazy, crazy rampages on, like, all these platforms. And- Right. Right...
12:07
what they're not realizing is they're just, instead of doing what they're do- like supposed to be doing or, like, what they're, what they set out to do, they're actually wasting a lot of time.
12:17
And they're wasting that time, and it's affecting how they think and how they perceive things. Because if I wanted to manipulate you, I could totally geotarget you, and I could put specific ads or specific reels.
12:29
Like, I could influence your algorithm. And the problem that comes with that is just, like, if we look at how our generation, Gen Z, is getting news, they're getting most of their news through social media. Yep.
12:46
And, you know, everybody's formulating opinions based off of what their algorithm says. Yep. So who says somebody can't manipulate your algorithm? So really, that is what we're protecting against.
12:56
I want to genuinely protect our ability to form opinions and think and, you know, continue living as a society and being able to voice our opinions.
13:08
Eshan, is your target customer or user, is it individuals or is it enterprises? Like, are you protecting co- like, companies from, I don't know, ransomware and people giving away logins?
13:20
Are you protecting your mom and, and my mom and maybe even me from, like, romance scams and Social Security and, and, and even, like, your, your algorithm being, um, biased in one way or another? Yeah.
13:32
So at the moment we're just testing it out in, like, commercial, like, that space. So we're giving it to enterprises. We're kind of getting feedback. And we're planning on giving...
13:43
We're, we're planning on building this app. It's, uh, called Reaper. So it will reap all of the dopamine that you've lost. [laughs] And, um, and basically it will serve there to screen for, you know, incoming...
13:59
I mean, this is an add-on, but, like,
14:01
incoming deep fake calls, texts, all these, like, fake personalities because, you know, there's security awareness and then there's, like, being cognitively aware and being secure here.
14:14
At the moment, we are selling to enterprises and after maybe a couple months we're gonna be going into, you know, the consumer space and we're gonna be protecting your mom, my mom, Jordan's mom, and, like, everybody.
14:33
Cool. This is great. I mean, excited to hear more about all of that later. And yeah, I know you just had a really recent launch. Maybe we can dive into that a little bit at the end.
14:41
Um, I think it would be good to pivot a little bit into more about, like, you as a founder and, like, how you kinda deal with all this. It sounds like you have a lot of thoughts and maybe rituals that you do.
14:50
So I guess first question is just, like, you know, do you have any habits or rituals that keep you productive or sane just, like, in this founder life? Yes.
15:00
So I am a very firm believer of brain points and, you know, setting yourself up for the next day the day before. Mm. And the entire thing goes into just, like,
15:13
I have a whiteboard that I, like, line up in front of my, like, desk and I write down everything I need to do- Do you have it in front of you now?... the next day. What? Do you have it in front of you now?
15:26
Dude, I'm in SF. I haven't- Ah, yes. You're- I have my Notes app. [laughs] Right now, right now it's my Notes app, man. Yeah. I would love to see it. Describe it to me. Like, what's on it?
15:35
How big of a whiteboard are we talking about? [laughs] I don't know, man. Like, hold on. It's, like, a little bit bigger than this TV. I, I can't flip my camera. Like, it's a little bit bigger than this TV. Wow. Okay.
15:45
Oh, so you're writing a lot on there. Okay. And what do you write there? Like, d- describe to me your process. What do you do? That's like, okay, as a CEO you have so many things to do.
15:54
What do you have to do on development? What do you have to do on outreach? What do you have to do, um, with your, you know, team? Like, what does your team need? Where do you unblock your, you know, entire company?
16:05
Like, 'cause for me leadership is making sure everybody is able to sit down and do their jobs without blocks.
16:15
So, you know, what I wanna do is just I wanna sit down with you, I wanna figure out what's blocking you, and I wanna figure out how to unblock that and how I can help do that. Right.
16:24
Because I think that at the end of the day that's my job. Eshan, you sure you're just 23? Yes. You seem, you seem, like, very mature. [laughs] Well, I mean, you work in a large enterprise, very... Like, I, I, I got a...
16:38
Like, I, I went into BlackRock when I was 21 and, you know, navigating a very large enterprise like that, it's just very...
16:48
The way you describe it, you mature so quickly because you realize you're just an absolute immature idiot. Sure. And you take, like, all of those lessons and you just say like, "Okay,
17:00
this is like, this is the real deal now." I mean, that was the real deal, but, like, this is the realer deal to me.
17:06
And just applying all of that and saying like, "Okay, this is how I'm gonna build the next, you know, frontier of how humans are able to continue thinking." I don't know. Yeah. I'm still working on that one-liner.
17:20
So your whiteboard's just, like, a brain dump. It's just, like, you thinking through every single piece of, of your to-do list and, and, like, your priorities and the company's priorities. Yeah.
17:30
I had, I had, like, a friend over a couple weeks ago and she was, like, visiting New York and she's like, "Dude, what the hell is going on here?" Like, "Are you, like, are you schizophrenic?" I was like, "No, dude.
17:43
I, [laughs] I'm just thinking." It's good to get it out, definitely. Nice. I mean, you solve 50% of the problem by writing it down. Yeah. Yeah, I find that to be true. Yeah, it's a good quote to live by. Yeah, yeah.
17:54
Honestly. Nice. That's a good one. I know, I've realized a lot of the founders that we've talked to say that, like, sometimes simplicity is almost better, you know?
18:03
Like, a lot of them say, like, writing out things on the Notes app or, like, our last founder was saying, like, writing on pen and paper is super helpful. So yeah, I think- Mm...
18:11
I think y'all are onto something with that. It serves as a to-do list to me at the end of the day. Whether or not, like, I get...
18:18
Like, I set absolutely unachievable goals every day- And it's like, if I even get to, like, half of that, I've done great. Mm-hmm. What's your unachievable goal today? Um,
18:33
go get another customer by sitting in front of their office and waiting until they let me in. I love it. Are you doing that? Yeah. Oh, I love it. I'm, I'm dressed up all snazzy for it. Yeah, [laughs] yeah. Nice. Cool.
18:46
Okay. Cool. I mean, a few other questions, kind of just about, like, founder lifestyle stuff. Um,
18:51
um, yeah, I mean, next one just being kind of like is there any facts or something that you think someone would be surprised to learn about you?
18:58
I feel like we've learned a lot already, some very interesting stuff, so I'm m- I'm excited to see what else you have to share. Um, facts about me. I have lived in all five boroughs of New York City. That's a good one.
19:14
I don't know if that's a good one. [laughs] I'm sure... Like, Jordan, you've heard that 1,000 times from me. Yes, every dinner, yeah. [laughs] I think it's so funny. It's a good fun fact.
19:21
It's such a New York thing to say. Y- people will be like, "I've been all over," comma- Mm-hmm... "I've lived in all five boroughs of New York City." Mm-hmm. Dude, you're- Very true... you're using proper grammar.
19:31
I don't even do that. Mm-hmm. [laughs] An important follow-up question, which is the best borough of the ones you've lived in? Uh-oh. Oh, I'm not gonna lie, man. Controversial. This, this one's kinda rough. Yeah.
19:44
Um, I'd say, like... Yeah, this is gonna be very controversial, but it's... I'm, I'm gonna say Queens. Yeah. All right. Mm-hmm. Not bad. Yeah. Best food. Best food. Like, and obviously there's a inherent bias.
20:00
A good chunk of my friends live in Queens, and my entire family lives in Queens, so it's like- Mm-hmm... and I guess the culture there is just amazing.
20:09
There, you go to different neighborhoods, and you just see kind of different cultures spread out, different cuisine everywhere, and like, just a different way of living.
20:19
And I, I don't think you find that in any of the other, like, neighborhoods, like, in any of the other boroughs. Typically, it stacks. Mm-hmm. Yeah, for real.
20:31
Yeah, so you said, like, all your family, a lot of your friends are here. Is that, like, why you would say you're in New York right now, or are there any other reasons?
20:40
Well, I think, like, being in SF, I might, like, consider moving here. But, um, yeah, I think being in New York, it's just... We're still very early in our journey, but I do think when we do have, like, more of...
20:55
I mean, we have a great product built out so far, and I'm very proud of the team, but you know, when we have more and more people, like, getting onto the product and more engineers just,
21:07
it's gonna be an amazing place to build because we are gonna be working with the banks, we're gonna be working with their customers, and we're gonna be working with everybody that needs to keep their brains secure. And
21:18
in my opinion, I think that's everybody. Social media's evil, man. [laughs] I know. I feel like we could do a whole other podcast just about that, honestly. I, I'm on the same page.
21:27
It's really interesting kind of being, you know, our age and seeing more and more people in their early mid-20s kind of, um, thinking that as well. So I'm curious what the next years, next few years ago.
21:39
Do you have any predictions about how the sentiment towards social media is gonna change? Well, I do think that Gen Alpha is not gonna be able to formulate actual thoughts because- Heard it here first...
21:49
you know, they are growing up with these apps. We grew up with them being created. We got used to them. We understand the kind of like... Some of us understand the bad, right?
22:03
But you look at Gen Alpha, they're growing up with this stuff, and they g- they're growing up with AI.
22:10
So I have a friend, she's an eighth grade teacher in New York, and she says a lot of her students are submitting AI slop for papers and, like, homework. Yeah, they can, like- It's...
22:23
Uh, like, they have no respect for, like, education anymore. Right. So taking a look at that and just really seeing like a yes, you know, it, they're not being taught how to question things. They're not asking questions.
22:39
Nobody's teaching them to ask questions because- Right... if the parents... I mean, it's on the parents too, and, like, it's on a lot of us. But you need to be like, "Hey, go figure it out." Like,
22:54
I learn best in trial by fire. Like, everything that you do in a startup is like, okay, this could make or break you. I've done everything that broke me, and you know, that's how you get better. What are something...
23:08
Is that broke you? Give me some examples. Um, yeah, man, I'll, I'll tell you this story. So we had built,
23:17
like, very early stages of GhostEye back in YC, and we, you know, were about to go on our fundraise. And I get on this call with the CISO, and the CISO's like, "Hey, man, like, um, I wouldn't pitch it as this.
23:33
I'd pitch it as that." And you know, I was very stressed out, and I was like, you know, he knows what he's talking about. He's like, he's in the job. He's the buyer. And, um, he didn't buy it, and I pitched...
23:47
So I had product A built out. We had traction on product A, but I was pitching product B. And product B did not line up with anything we were doing, any s- like, nothing made sense.
24:00
So I mean, we walked out of the gate with, like, zero dollars basically 'cause, like, nobody understood what the hell I was trying to say, and respectably so, honestly.
24:10
Like, if it looks like I don't have a grasp on it, I probably didn't. And the biggest lesson I took out of that was just genuinely like, hey, man, look, do not listen to... Like, in my head, I'm just like,
24:25
unless they're paying for it- Don't listen to them. I mean, like- Right... it's just a, it's just a mentality you have to have. Right. And I guess I got that lesson the really hard way. Hmm. Ishan, I'm super curious.
24:39
So other than deleting all the apps, what else do you do to make sure your brain is, is tight? That, that, that your dopamine and everything is, is on the right levels? Um, honestly, man,
24:53
I'm gonna need you to repeat that 'cause, like, you just bugged out. [laughs] Okay. All right. So you mentioned you deleted most of the apps on your phone, like social media.
25:05
Yeah, man, my phone's in black and white, too. So my question is- Like, you guys are black and white right now. It's amazing. Yeah. My question is... Black and white's a great tip.
25:13
So my question is, are there other tips, like having your phone in black and white, that help you with your focus and help you keep, uh, your brain in good health? Yes. I mean, this one's gonna be a little controversial.
25:27
Okay. But- I love it... I intermittent fast. So I wake up, I get ready. I don't really eat until, like, 3:00 or 4:00 PM because that's, like, when your focus is, like, going down and it's degrading.
25:44
But the reason that I skip lunch is primarily because the dopamine that you get from eating. So [laughs] it imbalances your dopamine, and it's just, like, you feel tired because- Yeah... of typically what you're eating.
26:01
And that kind of hurts your focus and your productivity and abili- like, ability to just formulate the same thought you were able to formulate before lunch.
26:10
So it's a little bit of conditioning your body, but that is something that I would very highly recommend doing because it has changed me for probably the better.
26:21
Like, I would not be able to come onto this call and just be like, "Yes, this works," unless, like, it genuinely worked. So does that include, like, no caffeine or no tea in the morning? Anything like that, or?
26:33
Oh, man, I hate, like... So I mean, I, like, hate the energy drinks 'cause they, like, suck, but... And they, like, probably will kill you. But, like- Mm-hmm [laughs]... yeah, no, I don't do caffeine in the morning.
26:44
Unless, like, sometimes it's, like, a black coffee. Mm-hmm. And, like, I have, like... Back in New York, we have, like, a... You can buy, like, those gallons of, like, Gregory's coffee. Yeah.
26:54
So, like, I just keep one in the fridge- [laughs]... for whenever I need it, and then I pour, like, a half a glass. Interesting stuff. I haven't heard the interm- intermittent fasting thing in a while, actually.
27:07
So when is your, when is your period of eating from? So it starts at, like, 3:00ish, and then when do you end? 3:00 until I go to bed, basically. Or, like, I, I don't eat, like, four hours before going to bed. Mm-hmm.
27:20
Because it's, like, just not healthy. Yeah. Um- That too... but yeah, between, like... Sometimes I sleep really weird. Mm-hmm.
27:28
Also, like, I hate the people that say, like, "You need to wake up at 5:00 AM to, like, succeed." It's bullshit. I wake up at, like, 7:30 and, like, sometimes, like, 9:00. Sometimes I wake up at, like, 9:30. Yeah.
27:42
And I just go into it, and I start at 10:00. It's just, like, holy shit, like. I love your drive. You're like, "I sleep in. I wake up at 7:30." [laughs] I think most people consider that to be early. I'm more realistic.
27:54
Like, sometimes it's, like, the times of, like, 8:00 to 9:30. Sure. And those are the nights I'm working really late. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I feel like there are two types of founders, you know?
28:07
It's like there's the kind that are, like, exact same sleep, exact same wake-up every single day, and then there's the Ishans, you know? Just kind of whatever works. You can't be on a routine, man.
28:18
[laughs] Like, being on a routine just makes you, like... You gotta go... Like, I, I try doing something that's out of place every day.
28:26
So, like, last week in New York, this is kind of stupid, but, um, I basically bought, like, just... Why was I doing that? [laughs] Hold on. I'm, like, trying to figure out why I was doing that.
28:43
To break the routine, right? No, no, no, no, no. This is, like, genuinely, like, the dumbest thing in the w- It was pretty nice. But, um,
28:52
I, like, went to Whole Foods before work, and I, like, walked down, like, the entirety of Broadway, and I was just handing singular flowers to people in the morning as I was walking. Sure.
29:03
And you know, it just changes- Hey, guys... they just, it just changes their, like, expression. I was like- Mm... "Hey, have a good day." 'Cause, like, people are freezing.
29:11
They're like, "Holy shit, somebody just did something nice for me." Like, it changes that entire person's day. Wow. Do you- Super random... you try, you try to do something like that every single day?
29:21
Something super random. Yeah. And, and why? What, what do you get out of it? Um, honestly, it keeps me, like, super extroverted because, like- Yeah... I'm not gonna lie, like, I
29:36
suffer from a level of anxiety because I'm running a company. Right. But, you know, it's just, it helps me overcome it because it's like, "Oh, you can't talk to that person." No, I can definitely talk to that person.
29:48
Yeah, that one was super random. I, I, like, I thought of it w- like, as I was walking to the train, and I was like, "Shit, I should probably do that. I haven't done that yet."
29:58
And yeah, it was really well-received, so I might do it more frequently. Nice. That's, that's so sweet. Love that one. Um, okay. Well, yeah, that was really great learning some more about you.
30:08
I think maybe it'll be good to kinda, like, wrap this up. Um, so next big question for you is just about, like, the ask. So yeah, just, like, what's your biggest need right now? How can people help?
30:17
Um, if you wanna talk about the launch a little bit now too, that could be a good time, so. Yeah. So if you're currently using a security awareness product, I'd love to talk to you.
30:28
And I would love to get an understanding of, like- What you are looking for out of it, because one of it's just check the box. The other one's like, "I want to help my people do better."
30:41
If you are on the I want to help my people do better side, please just reach out. I will happily come talk to you. And yeah, we just launched last week, so completely new platform.
30:56
We have a suite of tools that we've launched. So Overseer, uh, it's the product that's called Beacon for the last beacon of hope for people. You're good at naming. Ghost Eye, Reaper, Beacon. Beacon. [laughs] Yeah.
31:14
I just... The way I come up with this shit is so stupid. Like, something stupid always happens, and I'm like, "Maybe." [laughs] So we're sitting there and I'm like, "Okay, I don't want to be a normal awareness product."
31:32
Like, there are so many normal awareness products on the market. What do we do differently?
31:38
Well, you go outside of the industry and you talk to the people doing the stuff with your brand that understand your brand, and you partner with them, and you understand how you can secure the brand.
31:49
So with, for us, we're working with the Cognitive Security Institute, and I just gave a talk about, like, the romance stuff, like, last week there, and I'm gonna give another talk tomorrow if you guys wanna come. Wow.
32:01
But- Yeah. Send us the link. Yeah.
32:05
We're basically getting into that, and it's just showing you that all of your data could really just be used against you, and getting you to do something that you would never actually want to do if you were act- like, building your own thoughts.
32:20
Yeah. So at the end, like, for... You mentioned, like, what am I selling to at the moment? To get some further clarity, it's the enterprise, because they're gonna be using this awareness tool to check the box,
32:34
and really it's gonna... Like, I want this to be a benefit to, for employees, right? I want the company to give this to the, the users, the employees, and say like, "Hey, look, go find your map.
32:47
Go find the map for your family, and make sure it's, like, locked down." Because you have... Everybody has their own digital footprint, and yours is very different than mine. So
33:00
if I'm able to find that with IRIS, which is our integrated reconnaissance and intelligence suite... That, that was, that was good. Um, it's named after, like, the iris in your eye. Iris, yeah.
33:18
But- Talk about themes. Yeah. It's, um... It maps out everywhere you're exposed, so past addresses, like, where, what your commute is to work. Like, where's your office? How long does it take you to get there?
33:35
Can you fall for something? Like, "Hey, Mike, saw, saw you wearing this shirt, man. Like, really love the company." You're gonna be like, "Oh my God, I can convert somebody off of TalkUsine, man."
33:46
And, and you just look at them and you're like, "Okay, I can talk to this person." Right. Because in your head, the idea's been planted that, like, this person knows who you are and who your company is.
33:57
So I mean, that's a very small example, but at scale this gets really scary. So we're protecting you by showing you a map of where you're exposed and helping you figure out what's real and what's not. That's a good one.
34:14
I like it. I say that's a great TLDR. That's perfect. Like, that's kind of a good spot to end on. Yeah, I think that's good. Yeah. Thanks, thanks so much for doing this again. This was a great conversation. Um, yeah.
34:26
So much like- Dude, it's so much fun. Yeah. We learned a lot, honestly. Yeah. So, uh, tech stack pool- Your, your mother's story was, was amazing. I enjoyed that. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks guys.
34:35
Thank you for sharing.
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