Comment by donkeyd
7 years ago
> the resulting article was a hatchet job
Was that the forbes article linked above?
> You can’t unfuck the goat. C’est la vie.
That goat laid you golden eggs though. It takes me over 15 years to earn a $1m paycheck, and I wouldn't mind dealing with some people moaning at me for it. People always find something to complain about anyway, so I wouldn't be too concerned about it.
> The conversation about vulnerability sales has been as even handed and rational as the conversation about marijuana in the 50s.
Sure, you're right, but this is true for many new things, you're just smack in the middle of this discussion. It's good to have these discussions though, because it makes people aware that otherwise weren't. Comparable hysteria is currently happening with 'company X is listening to your conversations' and 'self driving cars might kill you to save a baby'. People in the field have been discussing the ethics of these things for a long time, but now it's becoming a public discussion. This happens when things grow.
Personally, I prefer the black/grey zero day market over back doors being proposed by some. Those would be permanent vulnerabilities, while zero days are (usually) temporary and probably only used while absolutely necessary, opposed to just eavesdropping on anybody. I also see the need, because the internet gives bad people too many places to hide.
So, from me, thanks for your services, you probably helped keep us safe from bad actors.
Yeah, that’s part of the hatchet job. I said I was projecting sales of $1M over the year. At 15% commission that would be $150k. You can make a lot more money than that, I’m sure. Also, don’t predict your sales funnel in February when you have no historical data to compare it with. I was off by about $900k.
So yeah, that $15k golden egg. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
At thetime I did not know about phrases like “off the record” or that you could have corrections made to articles that had false information. Had I known I would have OTRed at the beginning although I should never have spoken in the first place. And I should have made them correct the inaccuracies.
But, c’est la vie.
> I was projecting sales of $1M over the year. At 15% commission that would be $150k.
That's a pretty big difference indeed, that's more like a normal SV salary than a 'live for ever in Thailand' amount of money.
Yes. It is less than any salary I could make at a company if I could get a job. But that article was a career limiting move. C’est la vie. Never talk to reporters unless you have a specific reason to. Definitely don’t talk to reporters who burn their sources.
I understand that he is writing a book now, and I doubt many insiders will speak to him. I don’t expect it to be very accurate.
I had a lot of problems because of that article. Not just the death threats and such, but ... do not ever become interesting to states. They have a lot of resources.
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