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When I first entered the technology business, I was learning a new language.
I had spent time selling insurance, but I did not have a technical background. I did not know the products, the acronyms, or how the pieces of a technology solution fit together. Suddenly, I was expected to speak with people who understood systems and products far better than I did.
I got an opportunity with IGX Global, a technology reseller, after persistently following up with the VP of Sales even though I had initially been turned down. I had no real technology experience, but I was willing to work, learn, and prove myself.
That did not mean the transition was easy.
I was making calls and trying to earn conversations with customers while learning the products myself. I was surrounded by people who knew more than I did, and there were plenty of moments when I wondered how I was going to catch up.
About six months in, I was frustrated enough to consider quitting.
Then I got an opportunity to work with TippingPoint, a company focused on intrusion prevention.
At a dinner, a challenge was put on the table: generate 15 meetings and win a flat-screen television. I was still learning the technology, but I understood sales. I understood how to pick up the phone, start a conversation, handle rejection, and keep going.
I started calling.
Three days later, I had booked 15 meetings. A week after that, I booked another 15.
I was lucky to have a great mentor during that stretch. He helped me understand the TippingPoint pitch and kept encouraging me to keep my head up. Less than a year later, TippingPoint recruited me to take over their New York City territory. That was a life-changing moment for me.
That experience changed how I thought about my place in the technology industry. I did not suddenly become an engineer. I learned that I did not need to know everything to create value. I needed to understand the problem, learn enough to communicate it clearly, and connect with the people who could benefit from solving it.
As I spent more time working with TippingPoint, I began to understand the technology and, just as importantly, how to explain it.
Intrusion prevention can sound complicated. There are technical details involving network traffic, performance, threat detection, and how a product fits into an existing environment. Those details matter, especially to the engineers responsible for making everything work.
But the person making a business decision also needs a clear answer to a basic question: What does this do for me?
I learned to simplify the message. The technology works inline and at wire speed, with the goal of stopping threats without disrupting legitimate traffic.
That simple explanation opened the door to a deeper conversation. Once someone understood the core value, we could discuss the technical details, the competitive differences, and whether the solution fit their needs.
I began to realize that my job was not to impress people with technical vocabulary. It was to make the value understandable.
The engineers needed to understand the engineering. The customer needed to understand the risk, the business impact, and why the solution was worth considering. My role was to connect those worlds.
That started with listening. The engineer, the product team and the customer each had different motivations, needs and priorities. When I took the time to understand all of them, I could help them connect.
That ability became one of the most valuable skills I developed in my career. I could work with technical people, learn from them, and translate what they were building into language that mattered to executives and customers. It helped me build relationships, create opportunities, and grow in an industry where I had started with very little technical knowledge.
It also changed the way I thought about learning.
You do not have to master an entire field before you can contribute. Start with the fundamentals. Ask the questions you are afraid might sound basic. Listen to how experienced people explain the problem. Learn the terms, but do not hide behind them. Then practice explaining the idea in plain language until someone outside the field can understand why it matters.
I am using that same approach as I build KARSA.
Product development brings together engineering, materials, manufacturing, intellectual property, software, and customer experience. Each area has its own vocabulary and its own set of trade-offs. I have to learn enough to make informed decisions, recognize what I do not know, and work effectively with the people who have deeper expertise.
That means asking manufacturers the right questions, working through design and production challenges with engineers, explaining the opportunity to investors, and listening carefully to the people who might use the product.
But the same principle applies to every conversation about KARSA. I can talk about the product’s components and how it works. Those details matter. But the bigger question is simpler: What problem does it solve for people?
KARSA is being developed to help people sanitize, dry, transport, and store the equipment they use for the activities they love. That can mean a yoga mat, hockey gear, soccer equipment, or other gear that takes time and effort to care for.
The technology enables the experience, but the value is giving people time back and making the routine easier.
No matter what you are selling, you are really selling life’s most precious resource: time. Time back in someone’s day, so they can focus on what truly matters to them.
That is the lesson I keep returning to: learn the technical details, respect the people who know them, and never lose sight of the human problem you are trying to solve. A feature only matters when it makes a meaningful difference to someone.
If you are entering a new industry, do not let the vocabulary convince you that you do not belong. Learn the language one conversation at a time. You do not need to know everything on day one. You do need the curiosity to keep learning and the humility to ask for help.
Looking back, I am glad I did not quit when technology felt overwhelming. That experience taught me far more than how to sell a technical product. It taught me how to enter an unfamiliar world, learn from people who know more than I do, and make complicated things understandable.
That skill helped me build a career in technology.
Now it is helping me build KARSA.
The goal is not to sound technical. The goal is to understand well enough to make the complicated clear, and to help people see why it matters.
