15: Running a Successful Cyber Security Company with Clint Bodungen

We have members of CSA who are service people or recently left.

So let's talk about your decision.

You gain this experience.

We could talk an hour and we can't on just your military, you know, the things you the formative stuff.

You're touching early Internet.

You're touching early networks.

That clearly is very formative.

But you're somewhere along the line.

You start thinking about getting out and what you're going to do.

Maybe you share what you did that you think worked, but also what you would have done differently at that time.

Because there's people right now at that time for them.

And they're like, okay, do I leave now? Do I get some certs? And obviously now is not the same timeframe.

But there's still things that you'd say, yeah, I would be thinking about doing this as my paving my way out.

What are those things? What were the decisions you made? And what would you recommend someone do now if they're at that juncture?

So...

The turning point was I started learning some programming while I was in the Air Force, right? And that got me interested to learn more.

That's where I started learning to program.

There was a McGraw-Hill company at the time called National Radio Institute, which is basically a distance learning, learning how to program.

And I started doing that because…

Are you on your own or is your military unit supporting you getting the trainings?

No, this was all stuff I did on my own because I found an interest in it.

But however, at the time, the MCSE was was becoming a thing.

And that's when I and this is what was relevant to your top your your question about certifications is that at that time.

I decided that – and I was taking some classes at Louisiana Tech University and computers and trying to figure out which way I wanted to go.

And I decided at that time that a formal bachelor's degree was not the path for me.