Solving Real Problems

FILE:
Solving Real Problems
STATUS:
Build-and-ship; some shipped, some in pilot
CONTENTS:
OSTRAQ · IQualify · eTrax + eCombine · ConManagement
PRIOR INCIDENTS:
CDC / Ebola · Microsoft x Activision M&A · Call of Duty / Diablo 4 launch days · U.S. Bank Churchill Downs
CALL CADENCE:
Same-day intake; engagement scope within 24 hours

// The board

OSTRAQ

Private, accurate, tamper-proof. Elections were told to pick two. OSTRAQ refuses.

  • Prove you can vote without giving yourself away: establish eligibility without handing over your identity to do it. (Cryptographic identity proofing, built on IdNFT.)
  • Every vote counted right, and provably so, counted correctly and verifiable after the fact without exposing how anyone voted. (Zero-knowledge proofs.)
  • Results nobody can quietly change: once it's recorded, tampering doesn't survive contact with it. (Hash-chained, tamper-evident ledger.)
  • Runs on cryptography built for the threats that are coming, not the ones we already beat, while most of the country still votes on decades-old staleware.
[ Open the file ]

IQualify

The résumé-screening industry is a keyword racket. IQualify is the honest version.

  • Tells you why you got screened out, before you waste the application.
  • Built to audit its own bias instead of hiding it.
  • Stops failing good people for the dumbest possible reasons.
  • An honest alternative to the keyword theater that automated hiring turned into.
[ Open the file ]

eTrax

Where's the gear, and whose name is on it? eTrax always knows.

  • Tracks athletics equipment and its chain of custody, so nothing walks off without a name attached.
  • Built for school athletics, where the gear budget is real and the accountability usually isn't.
  • FERPA-clean from the ground up, because it touches student data and that's not optional.
  • The ledger half of the equipment-and-athlete problem nobody wanted to own.
[ Open the file ]

eCombine

Roster decisions based on something real, not a gut call and a stopwatch.

  • Scores and evaluates athletes so roster and recruiting decisions rest on real data.
  • Built for the combine: the measurable, comparable, defensible side of athlete assessment.
  • FERPA-clean from the ground up, student data handled the way student data has to be.
  • The evaluation half of the equipment-and-athlete problem.
[ Open the file ]

ConManagement

Run a convention at real scale and the tooling is either ancient or held together with tape. This is the replacement.

  • The operations, the schedule, and the commerce, in one system instead of six that don't talk.
  • Manages the volunteers who actually make the event run, the part everybody forgets until it falls apart.
  • Built by someone who has actually run the floor, not guessed at it from a product spec.
  • For events past the scale where a spreadsheet and good intentions still work.
[ Open the file ]

// THINGS THAT NEEDED BUILDING

OSTRAQ

Elections are stuck with a problem nobody's solved: you can have private, accurate, or tamper-proof, but never all three at once. OSTRAQ is what happens when you refuse to accept that trade.

Prove you can vote without giving yourself away. A voter should be able to establish they're eligible without handing over their identity to do it. (Behind the scenes: cryptographic identity proofing built on IdNFT.)

Every vote counted right, and provably so. Not "trust us." Counted correctly, and able to prove it after the fact without exposing how anyone voted. (Behind the scenes: zero-knowledge proofs.)

Results nobody can quietly change. Once it's recorded, it stays recorded. Tampering doesn't survive contact with it. (Behind the scenes: a hash-chained, tamper-evident ledger.)

And all of it runs on cryptography built for the threats that are coming, not the ones we already beat. Meanwhile most of the country votes on decades-old staleware running on hardware my teenage self would've been embarrassed to be seen with. We can do better than that. OSTRAQ is what better looks like.

IQualify

The résumé-screening industry is a racket built on keyword grift, and it fails good people for the dumbest possible reasons. IQualify is the honest version: it tells you why you got screened out, before you waste the application, and it's built to audit its own bias instead of hiding it.

eTrax + eCombine

Two halves of the same problem nobody in school athletics wanted to own: where's the equipment, and how good is the athlete. eTrax tracks the gear and its chain of custody so nothing walks off without a name attached. eCombine scores and evaluates athletes so the roster decisions are based on something real. Both built FERPA-clean from the ground up, because it's student data and that's not optional.

ConManagement

Run a convention at any real scale and you find out fast that the tooling for it is either ancient or held together with tape. This is the replacement: the operations, the schedule, the commerce, and the part everybody forgets until it falls apart, managing the volunteers who actually make the thing run.

[ Start the conversation ]