The Software Industry’s Unsung Heroes
At Gemalto, we attribute the success of our award-winning software monetization solutions not only to core technologies, but also to human capital. After all, without the talent and expertise of our staff, we would not have been leaders in software licensing and entitlement management for more than 30 years.
This realization got us thinking: What makes a technically gifted up-and-comer pursue a career in software monetization when all his friends are developers, programmers, and engineers? We put this question to the VP of Product Development, Software Monetization at Gemalto, Jake Fox, who was only too happy to share his journey into this niche area of the software market.
LEAP: So Jake, what turned you onto licensing in the first place and made you such a passionate advocate for software monetization?
JF: Growing up, I was a stereotypical kid who aspired to the American Dream – and I wasn’t about to let my lack of business experience stand in my way. In junior high, before I was old enough to know better, I dabbled in basic software hacking. I remember hacking a bunch of science programs so that my teacher – who couldn’t afford to purchase software licenses – could install them on the school’s computers for free. Sure, this earned me some extra credit and the respect of my teacher, but, ironically, it planted the seeds of a deeper appreciation for software licensing.
LEAP: Software piracy is so ubiquitous. Does it feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle and are you ever tempted to throw in the towel?
JF: To answer that, I have to go back to 2005. I was working for a small startup (later acquired by SafeNet) that provided anti-piracy technology to companies in the motion picture, music, publishing, and software industries. While we understood that it’s never possible to completely stop consumers from pirating copyrighted content, our aim was to frustrate their efforts long enough to save the copyright owners greater financial loss. On one occasion, we were performing a routine search for early leaks of our customers’ content, when we discovered a serious breach: the latest Star Wars movie had gotten out two weeks ahead of its scheduled release! Within a couple of hours, I had a full copy of Star Wars in my hands. Being a huge fan of the series, this put me in a very difficult position; I had been really looking forward to seeing the movie in the theater, and yet suddenly I had this overwhelming urge to watch it in my living room with my sons. Ultimately, I passed up the opportunity to be the world’s coolest dad, reported the leak to the studio, and assisted the FBI with a lengthy investigation. It was only then, in the cold light of day, that I began to realize the true impact piracy has on business.
LEAP: There’s nothing like an FBI investigation to put things into perspective! You must’ve been a real licensing expert by the end of that experience.
JF: At the time, I was hardly an expert; however, I did know a thing or two about helping businesses make money. On balance, that’s probably the reason I enjoy working with customers and driving our business ever forward.
LEAP: What have been your observations regarding the way customers approach software licensing?
JF: One thing I’ve noticed is that customers trying to solve problems on a tactical level tend to miss the bigger picture. It’s my job to help them view licensing from a strategic perspective; both in terms of how they can optimize their revenue and the value they offer the end user. It’s only when these value statements line up that customers can derive the most benefit from a partnership with us.
LEAP: If you had to pinpoint one advantage of using Gemalto’s software monetization solutions, what would it be?
JF: One of Gemalto’s core objectives is locking down your software. Our Sentinel Envelope technology secures your application by “wrapping” a protective layer around the source code, safeguarding it from reverse engineering and tampering. Having this additional layer of protection ensures that your algorithms, trade secrets, and professional know-how are kept safe from hackers, which is not an easy thing for our customers to do on their own. In that sense, Gemalto’s solutions are really quite invaluable to customers planning a comprehensive software monetization strategy. Obviously, if our consultants are able to help them become self-sufficient, that’s a bonus. As the proverb goes, “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. However, our primary focus is and always has been on providing technology that enables monetization of our customers’ core values.
LEAP: Finally, do you think that software licensing and monetization providers get their due credit?
JF: Having come full circle since my days as a naïve young hacker, it’s clear to me why I chose to tread the software licensing path and why it still holds fascination for me all these years later. It might not be the most glamorous work, and hackers may curse our name, but when you consider that IP theft costs businesses hundreds of billions of dollars a year and robs the global economy of jobs and tax revenues, it kind of validates everything we at Gemalto do. That and the warm, fuzzy feeling we get from helping our customers maximize their profitability. As far as superheroes go, we might be of the unsung variety, but we’re super nonetheless.
