I left McAfee to create Black Ice, back in the day. Same story: they didn't believe in my idea, I did, so I left to create a very successful product. However, I'm not sure they were wrong. Just because I could be successful with my idea doesn't mean they could be.

https://twitter.com/WeldPond/status/1144733748367450113

Big companies struggle to innovate new things while simultaneously serving the existing customer/market. A million things conspire within the company to stifle innovation. Smart big companies shouldn't innovate, but should instead just acquire those who do.

For example, the release of a major new version of the old product is late. So they pull engineers off the new product to help with the old. This kills the new product for perfectly reasonable reasons.

The sales force realizes that they'll get their quarterly bonuses pushing the old product. Therefore, they de-emphasize the new product, maybe simply because it takes more work or longer sales cycle than the products they know.

Lots of car companies innovated electric cars, but they can't sell them, because dealers don't like them. For one thing, it doesn't bring customers back for oil changes and other maintenance, where dealers make their money.

QED: Tesla.

The mobile companies had the mobile phone market locked up. You bought your phone form the mobile company, not the manufacturer. No new phone manufacturer could therefore enter the market.

QED: Apple, who took an end-run around the mobile companies.

Anyway, it’s a lesson in “infosec burnout”. You keep banging your head against “wrongness”. But it’s not wrong, it’s the only way “they” know how to be successful. You can be more successful, but that requires more than a simple change.

I’m astonished at SQL injection failures after 20 years, but it’s the only way they know how to be successful.