TAMPA – His least favorite four-letter word is “wait.” The only time he’s been to Silicon Valley is to buy one of their companies. And the cyber security advice he gives his family: Don’t click on anything.
Those were the advice gems ReliaQuest founder Brian Murphy shared at Thursday’s Conversation with a CEO event hosted by the University of South Florida Muma College of Business.
During the hour-long conversation, Murphy fielded questions from Interim Dean GJ de Vreede, as well as queries from the audience.
He happily doled out professional advice to young executives — “You have to be maniacal on who you allow to coach you.” — and college students just starting their academic journeys — “Don’t build your resume. Build your knowledge.”
In 2007, Murphy founded the global cybersecurity company ReliaQuest. He grew the boot-strapped startup into a high-growth unicorn with a valuation of over $1 billion, with backing from firms such as FTV Capital and KKR Growth.
Since 2018, the company has partnered with the Muma College of Business to host the ReliaQuest Labs, an intensive training lab where industry experts teach students how to detect and neutralize cyber threats. More than 350 students over seven cohorts have completed the program, with the latest cohort graduating next week.
Among other key takeaways from the Conversation with a CEO event:
He encouraged students, especially those just starting their college careers or those looking for their first full-time jobs, to go all in.
“It’s all possible. Play wide open. Be open to an opportunity when someone brings it to you and go head first in everything. Don’t be afraid to sell out. Don’t be afraid to look foolish,” he said.
Murphy said to stop worrying about external appearances and to just worry about what you learn.
“If you’re good enough, you’re old enough. Don’t waste a minute. Don’t work from home. Go get around people. If you’re sitting in your side bedroom, I guarantee you you’re not learning what you need to be learning. You don’t put a limit on yourself,” he said.
On how to increase personal cyber security and not get hacked:
“Do the simple things savagely well. Don’t click on anything. Your bank is never going to send you an email with a link in it that you need to click. They never will. They will never have you confirm a wire transfer. Be as skeptical digitally as you are in person,” he said.
Technological advancements have only made it cheaper and easier for bad actors to be bad.
“We’re all going to get beat in cyber. It’s just did they get in the bank lobby or get in the vault?” he said.
When asked about the broader tech ecosystem, Murphy said he doesn’t put much thought into it.
“The community needs to realize it’s about that business growing and not about the organization in that community,” he said. “It’s not about the nonprofit. It’s not about the chamber. It is about that company growing because that’s what’s going to create jobs. That’s what’s going to create income.”
On the reasons why he’s kept the company headquartered in Tampa:
“For me, Tampa had everything that we need and it’s been a great jumping off point. I think too much is made of where you live. We make too much of geography and success of businesses. I just never bought into, I have to be from a certain place or go to a certain school.”
With hindsight as 20/20, he was asked if there is anything he would do differently as CEO:
“No, because I think you need to take the punches you need to take. I think what I would probably go back and just tell myself, ‘Good. That’s OK. If you can just keep moving forward and operate within our values, it’ll all work out’. But I wouldn’t necessarily change anything. I think it happened for the right reasons.”
Murphy also described the origins of the mental performance program at ReliaQuest, where every meeting starts with a 10-minute “Mindset Moment.”
In 2012, as ReliaQuest was growing exponentially, he invited sports psychologist Trevor Moawad, who has worked closely with famed college football coaches Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher, to visit Tampa and to help create a mental performance group, he said.
“It seems silly, but it’s just to get your mind in the moment. That “mindset moment” is don’t let your last meeting bleed into the next meeting. Be in the room. Clear your mind. What are we here for? What’s the clarity and how do we make this the most actionable amount of time possible?” he said.
Murphy ended the conversation by saying he wishes he had a better story about how he came up with the company’s name. He said he knew he didn’t want to call it Brian Murphy and Associates. He sat down with a friend who owned a marketing firm and ReliaQuest was the name that stood out.
“A name is never going to mean anything until you make it mean something,” he said.