As a founder of five dozen startup companies, QuSecure co-founder and chief operating officer Skip Sanzeri shared some sage advice Monday to potential entrepreneurs.
“This is one of the lessons I’ve taught my students,” said Sanzeri, who teamed with QuSecure head of federal operations Pete Ford as the featured speakers at the T.W. Lewis Speaker Series at Sunset Auditorium.
“The most important thing out of all the startups I’ve done, which is about 60 different startups, is don’t fool yourself, right? Don’t fool yourself and think this idea is better, that it is doing fantastic. What you have to do is you have to test it.
“You have to take your idea, and you have to go out, and you have to talk to people that might buy that product. You have to ask them, ‘If I built this, would you buy it?’ You have to get a lot of those people who would say, ‘Yes.’ That's how you start, right?
“Because your idea might be good, it might not be good. I don't know, but you've got to go out and start testing it.”
Sanzeri and Ford know of the perils of risk. Their company produces software designed to eliminate the quantum threat, and their clients include defense departments.
Ford warned of relentless attempts from China to unencrypt quantum computers and turn it into a weapon.
“We’re ready to protect what’s unprotected,” Ford said.
Sanzeri said the market for hiring is “warming up,” along with cybersecurity. Specifically, Sanzeri identified enterprise software as the biggest market. “We need this for our defense department.” He suggested any student interested should invest their time and money now.
What’s missing?
“Operational software,” Sanzeri said. “I want to keep the lights on, I want to keep water running, I want the toilets to flush.”
Several IDEA Club members in attendance received some insight from Sanzeri on seeking funding for a business at a higher level.
“Take this as far as you can with your own money and your own time before you go out,” said Sanzeri, mapping out a methodical plan. “If you can invest your own capital and time, maybe get some family members and friends that will do the same, then you have a chance to get it off the ground.
“The further you progress (your idea), then the more value you’re going to create before you go out and get asset funding. I’ve seen companies that were whole, and now they’re off to the races.”
Sanzeri suggested young entrepreneurs seek advice from angel investors after their businesses get “a little traction.”
“Don’t be caught with a venture capital trying to make money,” Sanzeri said. “Take it as long as you can.”
Ford, a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, worked for missile and defense companies such as Raytheon and Northrop Grumman and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory before joining QuSecure.
He disclosed the seriousness of the quantum threat from China toward the end of the hourlong discussion.
“The guy who is running China’s quantum computer (system), his code name is Oppenheimer,” said Ford, referring to J. Robert Oppenheimer, a physicist whose team developed the atomic bomb.
“That lets you know the price is no less than domination.”
As for any student interested in pursuing a career in quantum computers, “Jump in with both feet,” Ford said. “It’s an emerging market that’s not going to stop.”
GCU News Senior Writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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