Fishtech Group LLC started with a "dangerous combination" — deep industry relationships, capital and prowess in scaling and selling cybersecurity companies.
"I always said we have an unfair advantage, given the two companies that we had built in the past. ... It's unimaginable how quickly we were able to get up to speed," co-founder Gary Fish said.
In six years, the Kansas City-based cybersecurity company grew to about 250 employees and nearly $150 million in annual revenue. In 2019, Fishtech was one of only four companies picked by Google cousin Chronicle as initial partners to be trained and licensed to deliver managed detection and response services for the new Backstory security platform.
Fishtech now has entered its next growth phase: merging with fellow cybersecurity company Herjavec Group. As part of the deal, Fish is trading his CEO title for chairman and director. He retains a significant stake in the combined company and will be actively involved, he said.
Fish has no hard feelings about stepping down as CEO. He gladly gave up the role when Herjavec Group founder Robert Herjavec expressed interest in running day-to-day operations. Fish likened his career to being an architect who revels in the process of designing and constructing a building, but after a while, he's itching for the next project.
"My whole career, I've been a builder. I build things so far and, frankly, I get bored," Fish said. "(Robert) loves the day-to-day in-the-weeds stuff, and that's the stuff that bores me, so it was a really good fit for he and I when we came together."
Fish previously founded FishNet Security Inc. (now Optiv Security), which had revenue of $700 million and 300 employees when Fish stepped down as CEO in 2013, and spinoff FireMon LLC, which sold to a New York venture capital firm in 2014.
Does Fish plan to launch another company down the road? Although it's "never say never," he probably won't jump into forming another startup, he said.
"It's a lot of hard work to build a company, and oftentimes people see the end result, they see the end success, but they don't realize what goes into building a company," Fish said. "This is my third company, and this was my retirement company. ... This was the company that I needed to start and build to tell myself that it's OK if I don't want to build another one."
Despite the Fishtech team's deep experience, it was tough being the small guy again, he said.
"At FishNet (Security), we were the 800-pound gorilla. You forget about all the luxuries you had just from being the biggest in the industry. We basically went back to ground zero," Fish said.
This time around, Fish made it a point for him and his team to note the small milestones along the way — from the company's first copier to its Starbucks machine in the break room. It can be easy to forget those small victories as a company grows, he said.
In addition to lending his expertise to the combined company, Fish will be focused on area startups and entrepreneurs. He's already invested in several local companies: Realto, Pepper, DataLocker, DisruptOps and CloudSaver. With most of the companies he invests in, he also sits on their board.
"My ideal situation is to help emerging entrepreneurs get to scale not only with money but with advice," he said. "I'm trying to get outside my box a little bit and invest in non-cybersecurity companies. It helps me learn and stay active and help other people realize their dreams."
