At Dad's Business Gala, My Badge Said 'IT Support'—Then The Keynote Speaker Bowed скачать в хорошем качестве

At Dad's Business Gala, My Badge Said 'IT Support'—Then The Keynote Speaker Bowed

At Dad's Business Gala, My Badge Said 'IT Support'—Then The Keynote Speaker Bowed ‪@RevengeReturn-s3n‬ The name badge they'd given me read "Maya Patel - Guest (IT Support)." My father's assistant had printed it without asking what I actually did. At his law firm's annual gala, surrounded by attorneys in thousand-dollar suits, I was labeled tech support. "Maya! There you are." Dad approached with two senior partners, his martini already half-empty. "Gentlemen, this is my daughter. She does something with computers. We don't really understand it." The partners smiled politely, already losing interest. In their world, if you weren't a lawyer, doctor, or banker, you didn't matter. "Nice to meet you," one said, his eyes already scanning the room for more important conversations. I was twenty-nine years old. I'd founded SecureNet Systems six years ago—a cybersecurity firm specializing in protecting legal and financial institutions from data breaches. Last year's revenue: $52 million. This year's projection: $78 million. Our client list included twelve of the top twenty law firms in the country. Not including my father's firm, Harrington & Associates. They'd dismissed my pitch three years ago. "We have IT handled," the managing partner had said. "But thanks for thinking of us, Maya." Two months ago, they'd suffered a ransomware attack. Lost three weeks of billable hours. Paid $400,000 to decrypt their files. The story had spread through legal industry circles like wildfire. "Dad," I said quietly, "I actually need to talk to you about—" "Not now, honey. I'm networking." He turned back to his partners. "Maya's very sweet, but she never wanted a real career. Computers are her hobby. We keep hoping she'll go to law school." Law school. I'd turned down Harvard Law to build my company. "Excuse me," I said, and walked away before I said something I'd regret. The gala was held at the Ritz-Carlton, four hundred attorneys celebrating another profitable year. My father's firm specialized in corporate law, handling mergers and acquisitions for mid-sized companies. Respectable. Traditional. Completely unprepared for the digital transformation of their industry. I found a corner table and checked my phone. Tomorrow was the National Cybersecurity Innovation Awards in San Francisco. SecureNet had been nominated in three categories. The ceremony would be livestreamed to industry professionals worldwide. Including, I'd discovered last week, the keynote speaker: James Chen, former FBI Cyber Division director and current Chief Security Advisor to the Department of Justice. He'd been one of my earliest mentors, back when I was a graduate student at MIT presenting research on encryption protocols. He'd also personally invited me to speak on a panel about the future of legal cybersecurity. The same panel that would be broadcast tomorrow night at 8 PM Eastern. Right in the middle of Dad's gala. #aita #reddit #redditstories #redditstory #revengestory #revenge