On the lighter side of things , we ask the industry experts what makes them tick . . . .
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Eduardo Bouças , CEO , Blockbit
wWhat would you describe as your most memorable achievement ?
Selling Cipher , the first cybersecurity company I created , to Prosegur . I founded Cipher at the age of 22 within the PUC Rio incubator while studying engineering and managed to turn it into a leading multinational company with a presence in 15 countries and a significant reference in the cybersecurity market .
The culmination of this work was selling the company I built from scratch in Rio de Janeiro to a European publicly traded giant , which made Cipher its global cybersecurity division headquartered in Madrid .
What first made you think of a career in technology ?
I have always been a technology enthusiast from a young age and I was the ‘ tech support ’ at home for anything related to electronics and computers . When I was just five years old , my father bought one of the world ’ s first personal computers , the Commodore VIC- 20 , which had only 20 KB of ROM memory and 5 KB of RAM . We always had personal computers at home from that point on , even at a time when it was rare .
Additionally , my first job as an intern , from early 1997 to the end of 1999 , was in investment banking .
During that time , I worked on the trading desk and closely followed technology companies – then known as dot-coms – listed on the Nasdaq . I already foresaw the tremendous transformation potential they would bring to the world . By the end of 1999 , I had the vision that cybersecurity would be essential for this transformation to be viable and sustainable . That ’ s when I created the ‘ Cipher project .’
More recently , my passion for technology drove me to found Blockbit , which , in my perspective , represents an evolution of my initial project with Cipher . Blockbit stands out for having an even greater emphasis on technology as it ’ s a company that develops highly innovative proprietary products in a market where I am a pioneer : Cybersecurity .
What style of management philosophy do you employ in your current position ?
At Blockbit , I always strive to promote collaborative management by actively involving employees in
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