About the Builder
I Solve Expensive Problems
Fast
I help cybersecurity and technology companies close the gap between strategy and execution — the gap where revenue stalls, expertise stays locked in people's heads, and playbooks collect dust. Twenty years of building, shipping, and verifying. From the server room to the boardroom.
I started my career in a Navy data center in San Diego, learning that the best security posture comes from people who understand both the mission and the machine. That conviction hasn't changed in twenty years.
I've spent two decades in the space between technical depth and business outcomes — network engineering, solutions architecture, sales engineering leadership, executive partnerships. The throughline is the same at every level: find the real problem, build something that solves it, and make sure it holds up when conditions change. The tools evolve. The approach doesn't.
Today, I work with enterprise leadership teams to turn strategic intent into operational reality. That means building the systems that connect a cross-sell playbook to actual pipeline, converting institutional expertise into repeatable workflows, and compressing what normally takes a quarter into a week — using every tool available, including AI, to get there.
The Diamond Standard is where the work becomes visible. It's a platform for technical leaders and ambitious operators who refuse to choose between strategic thinking and technical fluency — delivered through articles, code, video, and the occasional experiment that breaks in interesting ways.
"Trust, but verify. And if you can't verify, learn enough so that you can."— Charles K. Johnson
What I Build On
Brand Pillars
Builder's Credibility
Every piece of content originates from real experiments, not theory. If I haven't run it, broken it, or shipped it, I don't write about it.
Executive Authority
The perspective of someone who closes partnership deals and reviews P&L statements — combined with the technical depth to read the pull request.
Radical Transparency
Sharing system prompts, configs, bugs, and failures. The process is the product. Every claim gets a receipt — a code block, a screenshot, a config file.
Multi-Modal Delivery
The same insight delivered as a blog post, a code snippet, a TikTok reel, and a YouTube deep dive. One framework, every format.
Where I Work
What I Solve
Pipeline Conversion & Cross-Sell Execution
Your playbook exists but your reps aren't executing it. I build the operating system between strategy and revenue: signal detection from your CRM, account prioritization by motion, rep assignment, and the measurement framework to prove what's converting and what's stalling. Working systems, not slide decks.
Expertise Bottlenecks
Your best people's knowledge is locked in their heads. I extract institutional expertise — from delivery patterns, engagement learnings, and client outcome data — and turn it into structured, repeatable workflows that make your mid-tier team perform like your top tier.
Pricing & Delivery Model Transitions
You know per-seat and time-and-materials pricing is under pressure but you haven't figured out what replaces it. I help define the outcome, build the delivery model that supports outcome-based pricing, and prove it works on real deals before you roll it out.
Operational Time Compression
You don't need an AI strategy. You need three processes that currently take weeks to take days. I find them, build the workflow, and hand it over working — using every tool available, including AI, to deliver a leverage ratio that didn't exist two years ago.
The Arc
Career Timeline
2021 — Present
Vice President, Solutions Architecture
Coalfire · Houston, TX
Senior leader for enterprise pre-sales strategy, executive technical engagement, and solutions architecture across cloud security and managed services. Directly supported $50M+ in incremental revenue. Led Solution Architects and Field CISOs advising regulated-industry customers on cloud-native security posture.
2021
Solutions Engineer, Global / Major Accounts
Palo Alto Networks · Houston, TX
Enterprise SE supporting two major global accounts with over $100M annual security spend. Primary technical advisor in 1:1 partnership with Global Account Managers.
2015 — 2019
Global Vice President, Sales Engineering
Alert Logic · Houston, TX
Responsible for global Sales Engineering function supporting $200M+ in MRR. Owned POV strategy, technical win-rate optimization, and competitive positioning. Managed $5M annual budget. Scaled teams across US and UK.
2013 — 2015
Solutions Architect
Set Solutions · Houston, TX
Pre and post-sales engineering across endpoint security, threat detection, and security assessment practices for enterprise customers in the Southwestern United States.
2008 — 2013
Network & Security Engineering
Frontier Drilling, EnerVest, The Broadleaf Group
A decade of hands-on infrastructure — network engineering, systems security, and enterprise architecture across energy and professional services.
1998 — 2003
Information Security Officer (IT2 / E-5)
United States Navy · San Diego, CA
Where it started. Information security across classified and unclassified networks. The discipline, verification mindset, and mission-first orientation that shapes everything since.
Domain Expertise
What I Know
Connect