This week, we officially celebrate eight years of Secure Code Warrior. On the one hand, that’s 350 times the length of the Apollo 11 mission, as well as the equivalent of 45,000 games of football, or playing Super Mario Odyssey 5696 times to the end. On the other, it’s just one-thirtieth the lifespan of a Giant Tortoise (250 years, if you’re wondering). In the world of a high-growth startup, it represents a journey of many twists, turns, lessons, and accomplishments, many of which were unimaginable when we were first inking our business plan. 

Between the ever-present threat of recession, military conflict, and some of the most disruptive data breaches we have experienced to date, 2022 wasn’t the most positive year for many, myself included. It would be disingenuous for me to say it was anything but a grind to the finish line, but I remain proud of our resilience in the face of ongoing global challenges. We have an exceptional team, and each one of us is truly dedicated to driving success in enterprise security programs, by placing developers at the heart of a transformational, defensive approach to problems that have existed for a very long time.We have forged our own path and prevailed. While we might not be the only “gamified” cybersecurity education option on the planet, one thing is sure: nobody else has our vision, persistence, or our founding team, and we have been through a lot together.
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Our birthday milestones are often utilized to reflect on key events from the past year, but this time, I want to highlight just how special it is that we have achieved such growth while retaining the same six people we crammed into a tiny office on day one.

We found our niche, and work together every day to execute a vision that we believe will change the way developers view their role in security. It’s a big job, but we haven’t forgotten our roots and the importance of our bond.

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We have a long road ahead, but with this core and a growing team of enthusiastic, empathetic, and dedicated individuals, I truly believe we can have a hand in changing the status quo of security in software development. 

And you know what makes me so confident? From the beginning, we placed emphasis on diversity and considered it a pillar of strength in the team. The best organizations are built with the contributions of people from varied backgrounds, cultures, and walks of life. We added over one hundred new people to the team in the past year, and I am proud to say we are a melting pot of approaches that culminate into a formidable, talented group of human beings that can launch us into the proverbial stratosphere. 

If the past three years have taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected, but the constant that I can rely upon is that we’ve got each other’s backs, and slowly, but surely, we’re helping make software safer. And we’re doing it without losing our sense of adventure.