Mike Sheward on Nostr: I’ve told this story before but it’s one that I think does a good job of ...
I’ve told this story before but it’s one that I think does a good job of conveying the level of integrity with which some companies operate so imma tell it again.
Darktrace. A few years ago, every few days I’d get a new Darktrace LinkedIn connection request from a different person at the company. I made a bet with my team - if I got 50 requests from different people I’d reply to them and come let them demo their stuff.
It took a few months but sure enough, I got 50. They were invited in. A salesperson came and demoed everything. I wasn’t blown away, mainly because it looked more like a video game than something an actual SOC would want to use. They offered a demo with our actual network, a POC, to demonstrate what they could see. Ok, I said, I’ll give you a small slice of network to show me what you can do.
We started the backwards and forwards of that process and then suddenly they went radio silent - whatever, I thought, I wasn’t that interested anyway.
Out of the blue, outreach from another person at Darktrace. “Huh, we were already working with $person,” I said.
“Oh right, well unfortunately they were in a really bad car accident and have been away for a while,” the new Darktrace person said.
Oh crap. I thought. That’s terrible. Although I hadn’t thought much of the product, I had no issues with the sales person. I sent them a quick note to say I hope they were doing ok.
Fast forward a couple of months, and I hear back from the original Darktrace person, who was now at another company.
“Erm, how are you doing following the really bad car accident?” I asked.
“Oh, there was no car accident, that’s just what they tell folks when one of us leaves to go to a competitor,” they replied.
Darktrace. A few years ago, every few days I’d get a new Darktrace LinkedIn connection request from a different person at the company. I made a bet with my team - if I got 50 requests from different people I’d reply to them and come let them demo their stuff.
It took a few months but sure enough, I got 50. They were invited in. A salesperson came and demoed everything. I wasn’t blown away, mainly because it looked more like a video game than something an actual SOC would want to use. They offered a demo with our actual network, a POC, to demonstrate what they could see. Ok, I said, I’ll give you a small slice of network to show me what you can do.
We started the backwards and forwards of that process and then suddenly they went radio silent - whatever, I thought, I wasn’t that interested anyway.
Out of the blue, outreach from another person at Darktrace. “Huh, we were already working with $person,” I said.
“Oh right, well unfortunately they were in a really bad car accident and have been away for a while,” the new Darktrace person said.
Oh crap. I thought. That’s terrible. Although I hadn’t thought much of the product, I had no issues with the sales person. I sent them a quick note to say I hope they were doing ok.
Fast forward a couple of months, and I hear back from the original Darktrace person, who was now at another company.
“Erm, how are you doing following the really bad car accident?” I asked.
“Oh, there was no car accident, that’s just what they tell folks when one of us leaves to go to a competitor,” they replied.