[00:41.500 --> 00:41.980]  Hey
[00:55.060 --> 00:56.820]  , everyone.
[00:57.080 --> 01:00.500]  I'm Garrett, and we're going to be talking about the Hacker Mindset today.
[01:00.500 --> 01:04.080]  So let's start off with some movie trivia.
[01:04.100 --> 01:05.400]  Anyone know where that's from?
[01:09.320 --> 01:09.940]  No?
[01:09.940 --> 01:10.160]  No?
[01:10.160 --> 01:10.440]  No?
[01:12.280 --> 01:13.680]  Hey, there we go.
[01:13.720 --> 01:14.260]  Goodfellas.
[01:14.260 --> 01:15.040]  Awesome movie.
[01:15.040 --> 01:18.860]  If you haven't seen it, I'd say add it to your watch list.
[01:19.840 --> 01:25.300]  This is actually the opening statement to that movie, and it sets the stage for the whole movie.
[01:25.600 --> 01:30.960]  And while I never wanted to be a gangster myself, I did always want to be a hacker.
[01:30.960 --> 01:38.140]  And I knew this because I always liked puzzles, I liked building things, and I was curious how things worked.
[01:39.980 --> 01:44.680]  And for me, hacking started when I was 11 in elementary school.
[01:45.200 --> 01:54.540]  At the end of every week during General Assembly, my principal and two teachers drew a name from a weekly good behavior box.
[01:54.540 --> 02:01.820]  It was a simple system where every student's name was in this box so that it was evenly distributed.
[02:02.260 --> 02:08.820]  And every time someone exhibited good behavior, they would get another entry to that box.
[02:09.240 --> 02:14.220]  And since I was curious how things worked, I observed how those winners were drawn.
[02:15.660 --> 02:25.880]  Ultimately, because I wanted that prize at the end of every week, even though at that age it was just a pencil or eraser or a piece of candy.
[02:27.380 --> 02:31.380]  So the drawing came up, and my name was chosen.
[02:31.800 --> 02:35.700]  The next week was coming up, and my name was chosen again.
[02:36.140 --> 02:38.100]  And again, and again.
[02:38.640 --> 02:41.180]  For a record, seven weeks in a row.
[02:41.540 --> 02:42.700]  So how did I win?
[02:42.700 --> 02:49.120]  You know, those are like common hacking traits of curiosity and observation.
[02:49.680 --> 02:56.200]  I noticed that they only drew the paper from the very top of the box and never actually shuffled it.
[02:56.380 --> 03:05.980]  So right before they were about to draw, I just plopped my paper onto that box, and I was literally stacking the deck in my favor.
[03:06.440 --> 03:08.480]  And I consistently won.
[03:10.020 --> 03:14.120]  So I'm going to age myself a little bit, but this was all in the 90s.
[03:14.900 --> 03:17.280]  Computers and the internet wasn't super common.
[03:17.460 --> 03:22.000]  But they were getting more accessible at the time, and so I naturally gravitated towards them.
[03:22.720 --> 03:25.040]  I grew into programming and game hacking.
[03:25.420 --> 03:29.220]  And by 15, I had a job offer from Google and the U.S.
[03:29.220 --> 03:29.940]  government.
[03:30.360 --> 03:34.520]  So can I get a poll of who would take the job from the government?
[03:35.800 --> 03:37.060]  One person.
[03:37.060 --> 03:39.200]  Who would take a job at Google?
[03:39.400 --> 03:40.720]  Pretty much everyone.
[03:41.300 --> 03:45.200]  Yeah, I was that person taking the job at the government.
[03:45.480 --> 03:47.940]  And I'll tell you why in a little bit.
[03:50.020 --> 03:58.140]  But that decision kind of paid off as I was transferred to the cybersecurity group, which is what I really wanted in the first place.
[03:58.700 --> 04:03.280]  It was also brand new to the industry and brand new department overall.
[04:05.580 --> 04:11.960]  And by 20, I was recognized as a hacking expert on national YTV on 60 Minutes.
[04:12.200 --> 04:16.620]  So, you know, fame and fortune kind of was at my doorstep.
[04:16.640 --> 04:21.640]  Except the only person that ever saw that 60 Minutes episode was my grandma.
[04:21.640 --> 04:24.460]  And she thinks computers are useless.
[04:25.280 --> 04:32.560]  So by 25, continuing on, I was working for the Federal Reserve doing pen tests and writing mops.
[04:32.560 --> 04:37.340]  So once again, momentum and trajectory seemed to be on my side.
[04:37.620 --> 04:39.740]  I was off to a great start.
[04:39.740 --> 04:43.400]  Brand new to the industry, doing new and interesting things.
[04:43.400 --> 04:44.580]  Getting promoted.
[04:44.960 --> 04:47.180]  Doing work, interesting work.
[04:47.180 --> 04:50.720]  Securing the nation's financial systems.
[04:51.160 --> 04:54.800]  And ultimately, I was living and breathing that world.
[04:55.360 --> 05:00.000]  So really this kind of checked all the boxes for myself along with my family.
[05:00.000 --> 05:05.120]  Since culturally, I was raised to get a safe and stable job.
[05:05.180 --> 05:09.640]  Along with keeping my head down, doing the work, and rinse and repeat.
[05:11.120 --> 05:21.720]  So then, in January of 2007, I found myself sitting in the front row of the Steve Jobs iPhone announcement.
[05:23.320 --> 05:29.060]  I was in that place because I hacked into the Macworld registration system.
[05:30.560 --> 05:38.580]  So as Steve was announcing the very first iPhone, the excitement was building very much so.
[05:39.640 --> 05:43.700]  And I took a pause for myself to see who else was around me.
[05:44.140 --> 05:47.160]  And that was the moment that changed my life.
[05:47.160 --> 05:55.420]  Because I was really seeing who else was in there next to me because I was in that front row.
[05:55.420 --> 06:03.640]  And two conclusions that I had was I've been really playing small at that time.
[06:03.820 --> 06:06.120]  And I really wanted more for my life.
[06:09.980 --> 06:14.580]  I really came to that conclusion because of who the other people were around me.
[06:14.960 --> 06:17.560]  And I kind of foresaw those decisions.
[06:17.680 --> 06:20.400]  And ultimately, I was just limiting myself.
[06:21.160 --> 06:26.460]  Sure, I've grown into my technical capabilities.
[06:26.600 --> 06:30.600]  But every other aspect of my life was fairly stagnant.
[06:31.180 --> 06:34.700]  And it hit at me because it was all really my fault.
[06:35.340 --> 06:36.540]  I'd settled.
[06:37.100 --> 06:39.940]  I continued doing the work that I loved.
[06:40.320 --> 06:47.560]  And I think that's where a lot of us kind of get stuck in that trap of loving the work that we do, committing to it.
[06:47.560 --> 06:50.560]  And ultimately, that kind of leads to burnout.
[06:52.500 --> 07:05.720]  So, after that Macworld hack, I kind of thought to myself, well, how can I be very proficient in hacking, but so mediocre in my other aspects of life?
[07:07.500 --> 07:13.160]  So, back in my office, I was re-evaluating everything.
[07:13.160 --> 07:19.320]  Kind of taking into assessment all the hacking background and expertise that I had.
[07:19.560 --> 07:30.240]  And kind of came to some conclusions of, like, adding in some buckets of what are the hacker characteristics, principles, and methodologies that we're used to.
[07:31.580 --> 07:33.740]  Eventually came up with this list.
[07:35.640 --> 07:41.880]  And while we don't have enough time to cover all these subjects, I want to go over the most important one.
[07:41.880 --> 07:46.980]  Because it not only helped me in my journey, but hopefully it will help you.
[07:50.080 --> 07:56.520]  And for those wanting to learn more about that, I did write a book about it that goes into all these topics.
[07:56.800 --> 08:05.120]  It's traditionally published, so you can find it in bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Amazon, as well as translated to a few different languages.
[08:07.230 --> 08:08.270]  Okay.
[08:08.770 --> 08:15.970]  So, after that Apple event, my brain was on high, wanting to start taking action.
[08:16.330 --> 08:28.790]  And I realized that the strategy that I had developed several years ago, which was the whole, like, safe and stable environment, safe and stable job, was no longer really serving me at that time.
[08:28.790 --> 08:33.050]  From lifestyle to interest and income alone.
[08:33.590 --> 08:35.490]  So, I needed a new plan.
[08:35.490 --> 08:45.750]  Since my trajectory was completely off at that point, I was in a rabbit hole of researching and thinking about new businesses and different projects.
[08:57.820 --> 09:00.880]  So, at that point, I was still working at my day job.
[09:01.440 --> 09:07.980]  And I was using all the available time that I had to think of the next thing to work on.
[09:08.800 --> 09:11.080]  At the same time, that really didn't get me anywhere.
[09:11.140 --> 09:14.120]  Because I didn't really take action at that time.
[09:14.120 --> 09:18.980]  So, one experiment that I did was get an apartment one block away from the work.
[09:19.400 --> 09:22.140]  So, that would free up two hours a day of my time.
[09:22.180 --> 09:29.280]  Because I had a one-hour commute from the East Bay to San Francisco every day, one direction.
[09:29.540 --> 09:33.460]  So, that would really free up two hours of my time to do other things.
[09:34.260 --> 09:40.220]  So, while that theory was good, that just essentially meant I was working even more.
[09:40.320 --> 09:43.020]  And that kind of led to exhaustion, as well.
[09:43.580 --> 09:47.280]  I did have a killer view of the Bay Bridge every day, though.
[09:49.620 --> 09:57.240]  So, from that experience alone, I came to the conclusion that if you're only focused on strategy, it'll lead to frustration.
[09:57.560 --> 10:02.120]  And if you only focus on execution, it'll lead to exhaustion.
[10:04.380 --> 10:06.120]  You really need both.
[10:06.120 --> 10:09.440]  And that's what I call the hacker versus slacker pendulum.
[10:09.440 --> 10:12.800]  On one side of the pendulum is strategy.
[10:12.900 --> 10:19.120]  It's easy to find yourself into that dreaming, planning state that's like the fun, creative space.
[10:21.200 --> 10:24.720]  And on the other side of that pendulum is execution.
[10:25.960 --> 10:36.660]  And sometimes, like myself, you might get confused in that state because you're working towards the thing that you're working on.
[10:36.660 --> 10:46.980]  And you might hit a max capacity, you might hit a wall, but also, once again, that's kind of like where you just get stuck in a rut and get into burnout.
[10:47.440 --> 10:53.500]  But really, the key here is maintaining that balance between strategy and action.
[10:53.560 --> 10:55.180]  Similar to a pendulum.
[10:56.720 --> 11:01.840]  So, really, the pendulum is not about over-indexing on one side.
[11:01.840 --> 11:08.740]  So, let's take a moment for all you guys to assess where you think you are in life right now.
[11:11.260 --> 11:20.420]  Are you the person that's always dreaming, thinking, and comparing, always in your head, kind of like being stuck in strategy?
[11:20.760 --> 11:28.740]  Or are you the type of person that's always working, heads down, grinding away, and never looking up?
[11:30.400 --> 11:33.540]  I've definitely been on both sides of that.
[11:33.600 --> 11:42.040]  And hopefully, we don't have any, like, typical slackers here of just low execution and low strategy.
[11:45.760 --> 11:53.340]  And when you have high levels of execution strategy, you really, to me, that equals freedom.
[11:54.200 --> 11:56.520]  That's the true zone of being a hacker.
[11:56.520 --> 12:07.980]  Because for myself, leveraging my hacking background, I went from full-time government employee to seven-figure business owner, only working an hour a day.
[12:08.800 --> 12:13.780]  So, many of you might know me from Hacker Warehouse, but I wasn't always entrepreneurial.
[12:14.240 --> 12:17.340]  I'm not even saying that's, like, the right path to go down.
[12:17.540 --> 12:19.640]  But I am a hacker.
[12:19.860 --> 12:21.300]  I know many of you are.
[12:21.300 --> 12:28.780]  And when I put my skills towards a different set of outcomes, that's the freedom that I was seeking.
[12:28.820 --> 12:31.060]  And that's what I really want for you.
[12:33.980 --> 12:38.380]  So, the key is to ask yourself, am I balanced?
[12:38.460 --> 12:42.200]  Or am I over-indexed on one of those sides?
[12:43.480 --> 12:51.780]  One question that you might ask yourself is, is the strategy or decision that I made a long time ago actually still serving me today?
[12:53.400 --> 12:57.760]  And you might not have even made a conscious decision about that.
[12:57.880 --> 13:07.180]  When I told you about me selecting the government job, that was because all of my other family members are civil servants.
[13:07.520 --> 13:11.460]  So, it was just natural for me to go into a government job.
[13:11.460 --> 13:13.260]  I wasn't even thinking about it.
[13:13.660 --> 13:17.580]  So, that was the unconscious decision for myself.
[13:18.740 --> 13:21.780]  But once again, keep the pendulum in mind.
[13:21.780 --> 13:30.940]  So, we covered the pendulum, but how can we implement that into your workflows?
[13:31.340 --> 13:34.840]  In pen testing and red-timing, there's all sorts of methodologies.
[13:35.120 --> 13:39.840]  There's PTES, OSSTMM, NIST, MITRE, etc.
[13:40.480 --> 13:46.320]  And all of these are frameworks to break down the activities into different stages.
[13:46.320 --> 13:55.320]  So, I thought about how that approached to general hacking, like when I hack and find zero days.
[13:55.980 --> 14:02.020]  And came to the conclusion that all of these are success systems.
[14:02.020 --> 14:05.380]  They're structured systems for success.
[14:05.380 --> 14:09.520]  And I wanted to create a success system for myself.
[14:10.140 --> 14:11.820]  As well as others.
[14:11.860 --> 14:14.180]  And I call this the hacker helix.
[14:14.180 --> 14:18.180]  It shares a lot of structure between the technical hacking methodologies.
[14:18.300 --> 14:21.820]  But it generalizes them so that it could be applied to anything.
[14:22.840 --> 14:26.420]  This methodology is also cyclical and iterative.
[14:26.420 --> 14:30.840]  So, it will force you to continue moving forward towards your own journey.
[14:31.780 --> 14:35.660]  The main point is that it's a systematic process.
[14:36.040 --> 14:40.180]  And it goes from one step to another to make sure your goals are achieved.
[14:40.180 --> 14:40.840]  And
[14:45.000 --> 14:54.220]  going back to the pendulum, if you overlay that workflow to the pendulum, every stage is kind of being flipped.
[14:54.220 --> 14:59.380]  So, it's like forcing yourself to maintain that balance between those different zones.
[14:59.560 --> 15:06.060]  So, setting an objective, more strategy, performing reconnaissance, more execution, and etc.
[15:06.280 --> 15:13.040]  So, by using this framework, it really forces you to keep moving forward and work towards your goal.
[15:15.840 --> 15:18.200]  So, why do any of this?
[15:19.180 --> 15:25.360]  Once again, for myself, I think high levels of strategy and execution is equal to freedom.
[15:25.620 --> 15:33.140]  And when I leveraged the hacker mindset, it generated that freedom to spend time intentionally.
[15:34.140 --> 15:38.260]  From consulting on TV shows like Sense8, Jason Bourne, Mr.
[15:38.260 --> 15:43.460]  Robot, to learning about electronics and building badges.
[15:44.260 --> 15:50.220]  I even learned about the cotton industry, which resulted in four patents.
[15:52.060 --> 15:57.160]  And it also allowed me to intentionally spend time with friends and family.
[15:57.660 --> 16:08.400]  For me, the biggest reward was that you intentionally spend time because you never know how much you or others that you love have with us.
[16:08.400 --> 16:12.200]  So, everyone in here is highly intelligent.
[16:12.720 --> 16:17.900]  And I know you have the power to change your own life, but to change those around you.
[16:18.080 --> 16:25.160]  And I encourage you to use the hacker mindset to create the life you deserve.
[16:26.420 --> 16:28.340]  And that is it.
[16:28.400 --> 16:32.660]  Let me know how I can help you and level you up.
[16:32.860 --> 16:36.460]  I'd love to chat with you, whether that's in person or online.
[16:36.600 --> 16:37.500]  Thanks!
[16:45.150 --> 16:47.050]  And I blew through that really quick.
[16:47.050 --> 16:50.930]  So, we've got like ten minutes to chat, if you want.
[16:50.930 --> 16:51.530]  Please.
[16:51.750 --> 16:52.290]  Yep.
[17:16.140 --> 17:19.680]  Yeah, so the question was, when do you know when to quit?
[17:19.680 --> 17:22.260]  When do you know when you want to pivot or change direction?
[17:22.600 --> 17:26.820]  I think there's a good book Seth Godin wrote called The Dip.
[17:27.840 --> 17:29.740]  I would highly recommend reading that.
[17:29.760 --> 17:32.500]  If you haven't already, it sounds like you're familiar with it.
[17:33.340 --> 17:39.980]  At one point, you've got to choose and then continue to actually take action and see where that leads you.
[17:40.720 --> 17:46.460]  I definitely, for myself, have taken lots of different pivots away and just see where it goes.
[17:46.460 --> 17:52.440]  But naturally, I think you have a gut feeling of where your trajectory is and where it's going.
[17:52.640 --> 17:54.000]  And where you can see it.
[17:54.000 --> 17:55.700]  And just following that.
[17:56.340 --> 17:56.900]  Yeah.
[18:07.270 --> 18:13.370]  So, the question was, how did I go from technical hacking to other creative pursuits?
[18:13.770 --> 18:17.350]  To me, like I was saying, they're all creative pursuits.
[18:17.350 --> 18:19.810]  It's just different puzzles and different challenges.
[18:19.810 --> 18:25.330]  So, for myself, I always like learning different systems and doing different things.
[18:25.330 --> 18:28.070]  So, from a technical perspective, I love pen testing.
[18:28.070 --> 18:29.250]  I love red teaming.
[18:29.250 --> 18:31.630]  It always had different new challenges.
[18:31.630 --> 18:36.190]  But after 10, 15 years, it's kind of that same...
[18:36.190 --> 18:40.630]  Even though the technologies are changing a little bit, it's still the same thing.
[18:40.770 --> 18:49.010]  So, for me, the reason why I pivoted is because those were new, completely different areas to hack.
[18:51.510 --> 18:52.950]  Anyone else?
[18:53.870 --> 18:54.670]  Yep.
[18:57.840 --> 19:00.320]  What was my...
[19:04.710 --> 19:07.110]  Sorry, I still can't hear the first word.
[19:08.650 --> 19:10.650]  Oh, okay.
[19:11.470 --> 19:15.050]  What was my thought process between moving businesses?
[19:17.170 --> 19:19.190]  Oh, creating new business.
[19:19.370 --> 19:30.030]  Really, it's leveraging the skills that you have currently and taking assessment of what else, like competition-wise, what people are paying for, what people are interested in.
[19:30.310 --> 19:34.430]  So, Hacker Warehouse, this was, I don't know, 15 years ago.
[19:34.430 --> 19:41.330]  I noticed that there wasn't a single source of verified tools on the market.
[19:42.170 --> 19:47.890]  So, at that time, I was at the Federal Reserve and I needed to source products across everywhere.
[19:48.130 --> 19:50.490]  And pretty much everyone was doing that same thing.
[19:50.490 --> 19:58.310]  So, I knew by creating a single store that I could serve as that function because everyone else would have that problem.
[19:58.310 --> 20:03.770]  So, knowing and kind of seeing where people have problems.
[20:03.770 --> 20:14.890]  So, like, if you're a consultant, I'm sure you could see the trends of what type of problems people are asking about and to identify a solution based upon that.
[20:16.310 --> 20:17.370]  Good question.
[20:17.710 --> 20:18.810]  Anyone else?
[20:21.830 --> 20:23.590]  Yeah, I have a few with me.
[20:23.730 --> 20:25.270]  Happy to hand it out.
[20:28.130 --> 20:29.190]  Thanks, everyone.
[20:29.770 --> 20:30.090]  Thank you .