I joined Duo Security in early 2015. At the time we were just shy of 100 employees and had around 20 engineers. We had <$10M ARR. We were late in our series B financing and just about to raise series C.

In the 5.5 years to follow I would be a part of Duo’s growth to 800+ employees, over 100 engineers, a $2.35B acquisition by Cisco, and $300M+ ARR.

In 2015, we tripled revenue. Then we doubled it again and again and nearly again.

I got to see firsthand how Duo’s leadership steered the company through an unrelenting pace of change. I ran and invented many plays myself along the way as I led teams doing things neither I nor anyone else around me had experienced before.

Most days it felt a bit like going too fast down a hill on your bike. The handlebars are wobbling despite your white knuckles with control just out of reach.

In retrospect, it was exhilirating. In the moment, it was exhausting and terrifying.

I joined DataGrail in late 2020. We were and still are earlier in our journey than Duo was when I joined. We had 40 employees and just 7 engineers. We were earlier in the T2D3 model. We were late series A and now are series B.

Many days I feel a bit uncomfortable. Not discomfort like growing from 100 to 200 or 200 to 400 people or starting 3 product lines in a year. I know what over there at Duo’s stage should generally feel like. Rather, the discomfort is not yet knowing the course to chart to get there.

In short, I have a gap in my fossil records.

My job over the next 18 to 24 months is to nudge us–my team, the company, myself–bit by bit closer to there.

Then my job is to bring to bear my 5+ years of experience under incredible growth to do it again at DataGrail.

Mind the (fossil) gap. 🦕