"The Guy in The Van"

"You know those spy movies where there’s the computer nerd character hacking the security cameras from inside a van? I wanted to be that guy."

I have a friend who surprises me with great questions at unassuming times.

One day, he asked me, “when you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?”

I thought for a moment and then answered — “You know those spy movies where there’s the computer nerd hacking the security cameras from inside a van? I wanted to be that guy.”

After thinking some more, I realized that’s still what I wanted to be.

Not literally a spy in a van, but rather in spirit, chasing the same sense of curiosity and excitement.

But was I?

In this post, I’ll take you through my journey in answering that question up to this point in my life. And hopefully it can inspire some reflection in your own journey.

Password Cracking, Runescape, & Bad Advice

As a kid, I was really into computers.

My Dad and I would build computers in the garage together, swapping out graphics cards, motherboards, and power supplies.

We’d also download password cracking software and break into each others computers and play pranks. I’d crack his password then change it on him or set his desktop images to something funny. And he’d do the same to me.

But my real interest in computers was Runescape and World of Warcraft.

I loved those games.

I took World of Warcraft as far as joining one of the top ranking guilds on my server and raiding dungeons with a bunch of Australians at 2am on school nights.

One night, my Dad caught me playing “past my bedtime” for the 4th or 5th time and decided that WoW would no longer be part of my life.

Sad day, but probably for the best.

In high school, I was still really into computers so I took an AP computer science class.

We learned Java and it was horribly boring.

I was also told during this time that, to be a great computer hacker, I would have needed to start much younger (I was 15 at the time).

Yeah, terrible advice.

But it was this advice and the boring computer science class that made me let go of the vision I had of myself as “the guy in the van.”

Debt, Building Businesses, & Hacking Google

I went to college, had way too much fun, ended up with an Economics degree, and then found myself in $100k worth of student loan debt.

I got my first job as a data analyst that paid $55k per year, which was a great job for a new graduate like me at the time. But it wasn’t going to make a dent in my debt.

So I started trying to figure out how I could make more money.

I started a lot of different businesses:

• A Christmas light installation company

• Affiliate marketing websites

• Amazon products

It was through these businesses that I learned about internet marketing, specifically search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO is what you do to rank a website at the top of the Google search results.

I started doing SEO for my own websites. Then I started helping other people with their websites.

I eventually started a company doing SEO for people and it took off.

I paid off all my debt and then, 5 years after starting it, sold it to another SEO firm.

The main reason I sold was because I was extremely burnt out. I was always on Zoom calls talking to clients, doing sales, or delegating things to the team.

Very little time was left for me to do the fun stuff, which for me was figuring out the best ways to manipulate Google algorithm to get websites to the top of the search results.

SEO is a game of learning how Google’s algorithm works and then finding ways to manipulate it. There were some really cool hacks that were considered “grey hat” or “black hat” that always got me really excited.

Looking back, this was the part of me that wanted to be “the guy in the van.”

Finding My Way Back

After selling my company, I fumbled around for the next few years.

I took a Head of Growth role at a startup and positioned myself for a promotion to the C-suite.

Then I had a near death experience.

It made me reconsider how I was living my life.

I realized I was chasing titles and status, but was enjoying the work I was doing less and less.

I’m a tinkerer. I like solving hard problems and playing with cool stuff. But when you’re a manager or a leader at a company, you sit in a ton of meetings, spend a lot of time hiring, and a lot of time managing the people you hire.

The week after the near death experience, I told the company I didn’t want the C-suite role and would be leaving.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do next, so I took an interesting data role at a fintech. It was a fun job, great team, and cool product, but I was still sitting in too many meetings for my liking and there was a lot of red tape because of the size of the organization.

I did the math, realized I had plenty of cash runway to float me for awhile, so I left.

I told myself I would give myself a couple years to tinker and explore.

A few months into this “tinker and explore” period, I get a text out of the blue from a friend I used to work with. We go to breakfast and he tells me about this “hacking” thing he was doing in the blockchain space.

It sounded super cool.

So after breakfast, I went home and started doing some research which led me to Sherlock and Code4rena.

I couldn’t believe it.

There were hacking contests where people were making tens of thousands of dollars.

Even more intriguing, all the hackers were using anonymous profiles that were ranked on a leaderboard in order of how much money they had earned.

The gamification aspect turned on some reptilian switch within me that reminded me of the days where I used to play Runescape and World of Warcraft.

It was exciting and I wanted to play.

Treasure, Omens, & Personal Legends

I started learning the skills I would need to compete in these hacking contests.

About a month into studying is when my friend asked me the question about what I wanted to be when I grew up.

When I answered, “the guy in the van,” I realized that the same childhood vision that inspired me back then was now driving my desire to learn and compete in these hacking contests.

It reminded me of Paulo Coelho’s book, The Alchemist.

The Alchemist is a fictional story about a boy who’s in search of treasure.

The treasure is a metaphor for his “Personal Legend.”

Your “Personal Legend” is synonymous with your destiny — fulfilling ones unique purpose, which brings happiness and fulfillment.

Paulo writes:

“Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend.’

As a kid, I knew I wanted to do something that made me feel like “the guy in the van.”

But some bad advice, debt, and title chasing derailed the vision I had.

I think my experience is actually really common.

As we get older, our educational institutions, society and culture, religion, and “adulting” make it difficult to keep pursuing our own Personal Legends.

But luckily, we can find our way back.

In the book, whenever the boy would lose sight of his Personal Legend, an omen would present itself, showing him the way.

“In order to find the treasure, you will have to follow the omens. God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you.”

I believe “omens” come from within. If you create space to really listen to yourself, you’ll know what you need to do and where you need to go.

And every Personal Legend has its challenges that must be overcome.

These challenges are a crucial part of our journey.

But sometimes they make us doubt whether we can really achieve what it is we’re aiming for.

So keep in mind what Paulo writes about that:

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

I’m not sure where this new obsession with web3 security contest will take me, but the energy, excitement, and childlike curiosity I feel tells me I’m on the right path.