When Marcus Carey was 18, he joined the Navy. Tests showed he had an aptitude for cryptography and he was given the highest clearance in the land.
The National Security Agency was called out in the early ’90s for having the worst minority hiring record in the federal government. Only 11 percent of its workforce was minorities and just 2 percent were senior executives, according to a 1993 Washington Post article. The Defense Intelligence Agency, by contrast, had 19.3-percent minority workforce.
During this time when minorities were lacking in the government security sector, Carey — a young man from the hood — formed the foundation of his career which would lead to him start his own cybersecurity tech company.
A first-generation college graduate and first in his family with a master’s degree, Carey now has two patents. He’s the founder of Threatcare, which builds, measures and maintains cybersecurity programs with software automation to expedite how organizations prove they’re secure.
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Also an author, Carey wrote “Tribe of Hackers,” a book with insights from over 70 information security experts that
We had to self-publish the book because I got turned down by publishers. So for the book to be on Amazon and multiple weeks in a row at No. 1 is amazing. All the proceeds go to charity.
Marcus Carey, founder of Threatcare
Moguldom spoke with Marcus about how he raised more than $4 million dollars in funding, became a security expert and what people don’t understand about Black entrepreneurs.
Moguldom: Why did you start Threatcare?
Marcus Carey: I had worked in cybersecurity for 20 years. I found that after all these billions of dollars people are spending on cybersecurity, organizations still aren’t secure. What I’ve built with the company and my team is automated testing of a company’s cybersecurity capabilities. We can imitate hackers on your network with what is called white hat hacking. We automated it to give you results at lightning speed instead of the typical week to do the assessment. We’re able to quickly help organizations build out programs and make recommendations of tools and processes needed for ultimate security.
I was able to build my own hacking software because of the years I wrote software for the government. I’m just super lucky.
Marcus Carey, founder of Threatcare
Moguldom: Did you build out a tech team to create the product or did you build this platform yourself?
Marcus Carey: I’m very, very blessed because I wrote all this out myself. When I was 18, I joined the U.S. Navy. I took the aptitude test and they put me in cryptography. At 18 years old, I had the highest clearance in the land. I was working telecommunications, networking system administration, and was actually coding and writing software for the intelligence community. I also worked for the NSA (National Security Agency) for eight-and-a-half years. I come from the hood and I have been blessed to work for the NSA and the Navy doing intelligence work. For Threatcare, I was able to build my own hacking software, because of the years I wrote software for the government. I’m just super lucky.
Moguldom: I wouldn’t call that lucky. You have two patents. Are they actively being used?
Marcus Carey: I have one with a software company I worked for and the latest patent is with Cyph, a company where I’m an advisor. That patent is for asynchronous encryption, ephemeral encryption. I’ve been pretty fortunate to be able to do that stuff.
When it comes to a Black entrepreneur, we don’t have some kind of safety net or support or somebody who can just write a check. We don’t have the opportunity like most to intern for somebody, let alone in a family business learning on the job. I’m from the poorest of the poor.
Marcus Carey, founder of Threatcare
Moguldom: What do you feel people are missing when it comes to B
Marcus Carey: The first accelerator I participated in is an example. It was an in-residence accelerator where you go 90 days and, in the end, start a company. In the cohort with me there were people who had already sold their first company, already had money from investors or family members they can obtain the money from. I didn’t have an uncle who could give me a quarter million dollars, right? For me, my family thought I was the rich one. I don’t have friends and family that can just cut me a check. I think that’s one thing a lot of people don’t think about when it comes to a Black entrepreneur. We don’t have some kind of safety net or support or somebody who can just write a check. We don’t have the opportunity like most to intern for somebody, let alone in a family business learning on the job. I’m from the poorest of the poor. I’m the first person in my family to graduate from college and get a master’s degree.
Moguldom: What was a challenge you had starting and scaling Threatcare?
Marcus Carey: I would say my personal challenge was understanding that I could be a CEO. When I was starting my company, I would hear, “you need to hire a business person” or “somebody that knows more than you.” So, I did. I hired a CEO. I wish I would have known I was a CEO earlier in my journey. I wasted the first two years of the company not believing that I could be the CEO of it. I realized I’m actually a good leader. So the biggest challenge for me was really believing in myself and taking on the role of CEO.
Moguldom: What do you feel are some of your notable wins?
Marcus Carey: We have three Fortune 500 publicly-traded companies we service. We just did a book called “Tribe of Hackers”. The book has been No. 1 on Amazon for multiple weeks in several technology categories. It’s awesome because we had to self-publish the book because I got turned down by publishers. So for the book to be on Amazon and multiple weeks in a row at No. 1 is amazing. And what’s awesome about this book is all the proceeds go to charity. We have already raised over $10,000 for several charities.
I’m a Christian. God tells us to be of service to others, right? And no matter what religion you practice, basically, it’s good karma to help others. I’ve met all my investors by helping other people.
Marcus Carey, founder of Threatcare
Moguldom: How much have you raised in capital and how did you meet your VCs?
Marcus Carey: We have raised over $4 million dollars. As for how I met our VCs, well, I’m a Christian. God tells us to be of service to others, right? And no matter what religion you practice, or whatever, basically, it’s good karma to help others. I’ve met all my investors by helping other people — by being a blessing to other people and people seeing that I’m a good person and not some crazy ruthless hustler. By being a servant first and helping people out as well as being coachable, has allowed me to be blessed. When somebody wants to be a blessing to me with wisdom, I allow them to. I will listen to their advice and I will try to implement some of the wisdom they give me. So, in essence, I think I have been able to raise the money because I’ve been good to others. People see that and investors come to me. I’m not kidding you. Investors have come to me and offered to write checks. I would recommend to other entrepreneurs to be amazing to others because you don’t know who is a financial investor or is connected to one. I truly believe you should not chase the money but let the money chase you.
Moguldom: Where do you see Threatcare five years from now?
Marcus Carey: I see us making $100 million in revenue.
I would recommend to other entrepreneurs to be amazing to others because you don’t know who is a financial investor or is connected to one. I truly believe you should not chase the money but let the money chase you.
Marcus Carey, founder of Threatcare
