You Should Meet Hector Monsegur, Formerly @ Anonymous

My dad loves Charlie Rose, and he sent me this video of a recent episode which features Rosario Dawson (wow – she is incredible) and Hector Monsegur, a former hacker with Anonymous. If you work in tech as a founder or investor, I would really encourage you to hear Hector’s story. The segment with him starts around the 30-minute mark and is just under 20 minutes total. It’s worth the time, and if you watch the whole video, you learn more about Dawson, too. Bonus.

Monsegur’s personal story is nothing short of incredible. Grew up in a Puerto Rican section of New York, wasn’t educated, started learning how to use a computer and taught himself to be genius. He tried to build a security startup but it failed. He found his way into the decentralized network of Anonymous and was hooked. He bought into the vision. And, it provided a purpose for him. Eventually, the Feds found him and threatened to separate him from what matters most to him — his two daughters. He ended up working with the FBI and other agencies as a plea, and people say he’s helped stop nearly 300 cyber-attacks on a variety of U.S. Government agencies.

He is a genius at what he does. Near the end of the interview, Charlie Rose asks him what would’ve happened if he ended up in Silicon Valley instead of Ithica, New York as part of Anonymous. You have to hear Monsegur answer the question, and it will reinforce what a privilege it is to be here.