CyberWire Daily Julian Waits: Find a way to help society. [Serial Entrepreneur] [Career Notes]
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Aug 24, 2025 Julian Waits, Senior VP at Rapid7 and Chairman of Cyversity, shares his inspiring journey shaped by childhood heroes like Superman. He discusses transitioning from aspiring musician to tech leader, fueled by a desire to impact society positively. Julian highlights the importance of mentorship and diversity in cybersecurity, breaking stereotypes about necessary skills. He recounts his early tech experiences and emphasizes finding one's niche in a competitive landscape while advocating for inclusive learning opportunities in the field.
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From Church And Sax To VAX Mainframes
- Julian Waits started as a Baptist minister and aspiring musician before shifting to technology after taking college classes in computing.
- He began his tech career at Texaco on VAX systems and moved from maintenance programming into networking as PCs arrived.
Training, ADD, And A Move Into Presales
- At Compaq (now HP) Julian moved into systems engineering where training and exposure let him blossom across hardware, OS, and networking.
- He discovered he disliked coding due to ADD and preferred talking with customers, leading to presales work and a passion for protecting systems.
DC, First CEO Role, And Serial Entrepreneurship
- Julian moved to Washington, D.C. seeking diversity and experienced his first CEO role before co-founding Bravian and raising $10M.
- He now describes himself as a serial entrepreneur who helps early-stage initiatives and internal ventures at Rapid7.