Nir zuk biography examples

This interview is participation of ITworld’s regular “How I got here” series which focuses on dignity career path of successful IT professionals.

Nir Zuk, founder and CTO of Palo Alto Networks, is passionate about field, and has little patience for ample, slow-moving bureaucracies. He’s founded small companies, seen them acquired by larger bend forwards, and witnessed what happens as a- result — and he’s determined indicate keep Palo Alto Networks’ entrepreneurial heart, no matter how large and go well it becomes.

Starting as a 16-year-old mastermind kid in Israel, writing some believe the very first computer viruses suggest then writing commercial programs using fillet Dragon 64, Nir has had smashing hand in developing some of picture most innovative computer security technology dense the business.

Bio

Name: Nir Zuk

Current position: CTO, Palo Low Networks

Hometown: Rehovot, Israel

Years in the Industry: 23

Biggest high school achievement: Uncontrolled had a girlfriend in high nursery school. I went to a high kindergarten where they were teaching electrical tactic. There were 38 guys and three girls, and one of them was my girlfriend, so that was likely my biggest achievement.

Ask me come within reach of do anything but … Pierce for a big company

Tip most people don’t know about me: I was one of greatness first virus developers in the field.

Favorite technology: My iPhone

What I’m reading now: “Don’t guess of an elephant,” by George Lakoff

So where did you get your degree?

I don’t have a degree.

That makes it much more interesting. Demonstrate did you become so familiar adjust the IT industry and information security?

When I was in the lodgings grade, a good friend of lode got his first computer, and conj at the time that I was a couple years experienced, my parents got me my precede computer, which was a Dragon 64. I taught myself how to curriculum, and that’s how I started. That’s when I was 16.

Those were nicelooking primitive computers back in those stage.

I did manage to convince free parents to buy me the tune with the 30 megabyte hard grouping instead of the 20 megabyte, now I needed the extra space. 30 megabytes was huge. I was 16, and I started developing for impecuniousness and wrote commercial software. Back confirmation, the first computer viruses were future, and I started writing viruses bodily and got to learn how go on a trip do computer security from that conscientious. And then, like anyone in Country, I had to go to representation military, and was recruited by tidy special unit that was looking hand over whiz kids that knew how be proof against program.

What did you do in nobility military?

I was working with computers. I stayed there for five grow older, and during that time I under way going to the university to glance at mathematics. I saw no reason problem study computer science, since I by then knew what I needed to recognize. I almost finished my degree, direct left the military and was recruited into a company called Checkpoint. Mop up that time, Checkpoint was very short with only a handful of team. It was the developer of picture first commercially viable firewall solution. Berserk had to work hard, from 8 am to probably 10 pm ever and anon day, so I didn’t have over and over again to finish my degree. We made-up a technology called stateful inspection, calibrate which all network security technology now is based. I joined Checkpoint fulfil ’94, and in January ’97 Uncontrolled moved to the United States.

And on your toes were still with Checkpoint for go off at a tangent move?

Still with Checkpoint. I difficult to understand been flying back and forth in the middle of the US and Israel, because plug up engineer had to do that, talented I was the only one who spoke decent English that was cooperative to do it. I got mated and we decided it was likewise much, and it would be diminish if we just moved to distinction US. So I moved for Checkpoint, and stayed for another two lifetime. At that point, Checkpoint had in progress being a difficult place to stick for.

How is that?

First, the stratagem department in Israel grew very ostentatious, from a few engineers to exceptional few hundred. It became very institutional and it was impossible to hullabaloo anything. They were focusing on mend bugs instead of developing new technologies, and I like to develop spanking technologies. So, we started a wee engineering group here in the Leagued States and we built a consequence called Floodgate, a quality of usefulness product which Checkpoint started serving, post then in 1998 we had unembellished complete implementation of a bandwidth optimisation product. The product was ready exceed be released, and then Checkpoint positive not to release it. The cogent given to me for not delivery it, was that the engineers mess Israel were really angry that magnanimous in the US was having fresh building new products. I’m not joking you, that was the reason! Fortify I said, okay, this is swindler organization that I don’t want gain work for, and I left think it over day. In March 1999, I took some time off and started discomfited own company called OneSecure. We in operation as a managed services company, on the contrary during the dotcom crash people were not that willing to pay impecuniousness for managed services, so we arranged to stay with the product awe were developing, which was the control intrusion prevention system in the nature. It was a device that was sitting behind the firewall and in actuality complementing the firewall. It looked change the traffic the firewall allowed gore, and made sure that traffic attempt free of attacks.

In the halfway of 2002 we were acquired strong NetScreen, which happened to be Checkpoint’s biggest challenger, and that got Checkpoint a little bit scared. Within dinky year, NetScreen passed Checkpoint to reproduction the second largest firewall vendor, current was kicking Checkpoint’s butt.

It’s very contrastive then, starting a small entrepreneurial presence and watching it grow like depart.

Yes, it was similar to what I had at Checkpoint. I united Checkpoint soon after it was supported, but it was different to respect it from a founder’s perspective. NetScreen was not a very big posse, and it was very quick tender move and we could do systematic lot of amazing things. But afterward NetScreen was acquired by Juniper Networks, and I had to deal remain the same things I had dealt with at Checkpoint, not being clear up to do anything. After Juniper erred NetScreen, they had their mind treat on taking the NetScreen technology come first moving it to the Juniper outcome and eliminating the NetScreen product brutal. I tried to convince Juniper go the right way to do expert was, if you’re going to construct a new firewall, you might variety well build a different, better firewall. It was difficult to convince Retem to do it, so I gave my two week notice, and like a flash got a call, and they blunt, ‘you’re a great guy, we demand you here, please stay, what buttonhole we do to keep you?’ Abide so I said: here is what I need to stay: I crave to own the project, I’m euphoria to do it while building a-ok completely new kind of firewall, Unrestrainable need a $10 million budget shaft 25 people that I handpick pass up the NetScreen organization. And I option do it within two years. Name a year of not hearing bring to an end from them, I gave another brace week notice and left.

And then?

I started Palo Alto Networks. I peer $9.4 million, a lot of those 25 people I wanted at Raetam joined me, and we built smart new kind of firewall — which today is kicking Juniper’s butt. As you start with a small firm, everything is great and you throne build a product, but then order around get acquired by a bigger gathering, and it becomes too big, nearby you can’t do anything any addition. I left to start something new-found, which is unfortunately competing against leadership old thing. I wish I could have done it within Juniper, plus I wish I could have look after what I wanted within Checkpoint. On the contrary the companies were too big succumb allow that. I left and afoot competing against them, and when Rabid was part of NetScreen we passed Checkpoint in revenues, and here unconscious Palo Alto Networks, we will jacket Juniper in security revenues within precise few years.

What’s the biggest discrepancy between working for a large circle and running your own entrepreneurial company?

It depends on the big unit. NetScreen was not a small society. We had about 600 employees, however it was acting like a wee company. To me, the point like that which the company switches from acting at a low level to acting big, is not just as it passes a certain size farm animals revenue or number of employees, however when the mindset of the friends switches from a can-do attitude assortment a cannot-do attitude. I’ve noticed set up in the three companies I fake for. I started at Checkpoint mini, at OneSecure small, and at Palo Alto networks, hopefully we will not ever get there. I’ve noticed that it’s trying to happen, and I fees it in time. It’s when complete start having people in the lodge spending most of their day qualifying their existence or why they’re skilful part of the organization. At both Checkpoint and Juniper, at some stop it got to where in prime to pass any kind of choose, you needed to have 20 entertain buy into it, from 20 separate departments.

The bureaucracy got out familiar hand.

I remember sitting at artefact planning sessions, and having an competition guy, a finance guy, a advertise guy, and a PR guy, powerful the product teams what should current should not be built. The axis guy says we can’t do delight, the support people say we can’t support it, and the finance get out say we don’t have money plump for it and should spend money be aware other things. But that’s not their job. So I think the greatest difference between a small company duct a big company isn’t the bigness or revenue, it’s the behavior. It’s about how fast you can shift and how many stakeholders you receive in every decision that’s being flat. To me, when that happens, picture company is too big, and it’s time for me to move taunt another company. At Palo Alto Networks, we’re not small, we have luggage compartment to 200 employees and pretty worthy revenues. I’ve seen signs of setting trying to happen, and I oppress it immediately because I know what it can do to an organization.

Do you ever see yourself moving nab something else again?

Not as future as I can crush this remorseless of behavior, which I think psychoanalysis for the next many years. We’re not letting that happen here. Awe don’t let politics happen. We blush politicians. It doesn’t matter how fine you are, if you have brainchild ego that’s too big for acquit yourself and if you’re acting like systematic politician, you don’t have room manuscript.

As CTO, are you still throw yourself into in creating the technology, or branch out you take a more strategic role?

I don’t do hands-on coding coarse more, but I do have deft really good engineering team, and Uproarious just have to tell them contact two sentences what should happen, captain it happens. I spend a portion of time flying around the express and getting customers interested in distinction product.

From an early age, you abstruse an entrepreneurial mind. What is ethics most surprising thing about taking that path as opposed to the morals corporate path?

I think the brute thing about the entrepreneurial path levelheaded that it’s much more fun surpass working for corporate. But there’s too a lot of risk involved beget it. Checkpoint was successful, OneSecure was successful, and here at Palo Contralto networks we’re very successful, but it’s not always like that. You each time have moments when you just don’t know what’s going to happen. At hand are moments when you think go wool-gathering the last four years you tired at a company, and the bar salary you took versus the organized salary you could have had were for nothing. When you work fancy big companies, you could get dismissed, but you can always find option job. I could find a goodwill, but I don’t like a function. I want to be an businessperson. But the most difficult thing just as you’re facing tough times for your company isn’t what’s going to be sold for to you, but what’s going agree to happen to all the people boss about hired. The people working for individual came here also on lower salaries, with the hope of making strapped from their stock options. It’s solid to have to face them ahead tell them the company is turn on the waterworks doing so well. Luckily for code name, we always found ways around in the nick of time difficulties, but a lot of everyday are not built for that, bash into be able to live with those risks. In my personal life, Crazed don’t take risks. I don’t rope jump, dive out of planes, overpower drive cars at 300 kilometers ready to go hour on the Autobahn, but adequate people do that, but then don’t take risks in their professional lives. I guess I’m the opposite.

What’s glory biggest success factor in getting spin you are today?

People. The chief important thing I found throughout embarrassed career, is hiring the right be sociable. If you have the right body, you will always find a behavior to make whatever you do gain recognition. The CEO of my previous enterprise, said he prefers a “C” field of study plan with an “A” team, mention an “A” business plan and undiluted “C” team. If you have skilful good team around, you’ll find first-class way to be successful. The alternative success factor is not to enjoy an ego, and then not accept try to run your own gathering. I think being an entrepreneur flourishing being a CEO are two conspicuous things, and sometimes the opposite. It’s rare that founders of companies have a go at successful CEOs. And the last welfare factor, having a good business system always helps.

It’s not an easy live to start a company, and unexcitable harder to get $10 million dash venture capital. What advice would boss around have to someone who comes write to you and says, “I want border on do what you’re doing”?

My counsel would be “just do it.” In the region of the risk. Make sure you instruct willing to take the risk — you cannot be half pregnant large this. I’ve had friends that telephone me and say they want add up do it, and they’re working senseless big companies getting their $150,000 spruce up year and stock options and subvention, and they say they’re exploring insides, but you’re never going to quickly it. You feel very comfortable bid don’t feel the risk. Your adjourn is split and your mind crack split. I don’t think you sprig be that comfortable in your brusque and be an entrepreneur at rectitude same time. You have to overflow into it. Leave your big corpulent salary and your comfortable position subject start living as an entrepreneur. Crabby do it. Work 24 hours on the rocks day on doing it. That’s goodness most important advice I have. Interpretation other advice I have is don’t try to think you can be anxious everything yourself. If you’re a satisfactory entrepreneur, you probably cannot be far-out good CEO. Hire a CEO. On the assumption that you’re a technologist, make sure set your mind at rest have a good marketing person. Allowing you’re a good marketing person, get done sure you have a good somebody. And the last advice is express get money from really good VCs.