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My Dad
“Show me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are.”
My dad was my best friend, always there for me and my sister. He worked late each day but always had time to help us with our math homework at night.
He worked for IBM as a programmer for over 25 years, starting back in the 1960's when everyone there wore a classic suit and tie to work, which was expected. But not my dad, he would roll into work wearing a leather jacket and blue jeans each day sporting a beard and looking like a hippie.
I did not know all the details until recently, but he was part of building a project very similar to Radix over 50 years ago! It was (and still is) called IMS (Information Management System), which runs on a mainframe and can process over 100,000 TPS! Unbelievably IMS is still the backend of many financial systems today. It is used by over 95% of Fortune 1000 in some capacity and by the largest five U.S. banks. I see this legacy system one day being replaced by Radix as the financial world begins to shift from TradFi to DeFi.
Here is a quick video on IMS and how it is still used today:
https://mediacenter.ibm.com/media/Intro+to+IMS+-+What+is+IMSF/0_beoagp8k/139456202
My dad's job was to help design and maintain the data communications part of IMS. When a customer site would go down they would call IBM and ask for someone to fly out and fix the problem. IBM would then send out their guys in suits to try and fix the problem but to no avail. The customer would call IBM again now angry and complaining that the guys IBM sent knew nothing. IBM would then send in my dad looking like Jesus in blue jeans. Upon arrival at the customer site, after one look at my dad the entire customer's office would start cheering. My dad asked why they were so excited, since he had not done anything yet. They answered, "the last time we had a guy show up looking like you he fixed the problem" and they were right!
Although my dad's job was strictly programming, he had a passion for investing and financial markets. Every weekday he would stay up until 3 am in California waiting for the European stock markets to open. He watched CNBC all the time and listened to many financial radio shows in the car. As a kid I watched CNBC a lot with him and even wanted to be a stock broker when I grew up. I would open the newspaper each day and track the stock prices from the previous day (crazy how things have changed).
Sadly my dad unexpectedly passed away in February 2021, just one month after I discovered Radix. I never got to explain Radix to him, but I think he would have really enjoyed learning about Radix and how just like IMS it would revolutionize the financial world.
He worked for IBM as a programmer for over 25 years, starting back in the 1960's when everyone there wore a classic suit and tie to work, which was expected. But not my dad, he would roll into work wearing a leather jacket and blue jeans each day sporting a beard and looking like a hippie.
I did not know all the details until recently, but he was part of building a project very similar to Radix over 50 years ago! It was (and still is) called IMS (Information Management System), which runs on a mainframe and can process over 100,000 TPS! Unbelievably IMS is still the backend of many financial systems today. It is used by over 95% of Fortune 1000 in some capacity and by the largest five U.S. banks. I see this legacy system one day being replaced by Radix as the financial world begins to shift from TradFi to DeFi.
Here is a quick video on IMS and how it is still used today:
https://mediacenter.ibm.com/media/Intro+to+IMS+-+What+is+IMSF/0_beoagp8k/139456202
My dad's job was to help design and maintain the data communications part of IMS. When a customer site would go down they would call IBM and ask for someone to fly out and fix the problem. IBM would then send out their guys in suits to try and fix the problem but to no avail. The customer would call IBM again now angry and complaining that the guys IBM sent knew nothing. IBM would then send in my dad looking like Jesus in blue jeans. Upon arrival at the customer site, after one look at my dad the entire customer's office would start cheering. My dad asked why they were so excited, since he had not done anything yet. They answered, "the last time we had a guy show up looking like you he fixed the problem" and they were right!
Although my dad's job was strictly programming, he had a passion for investing and financial markets. Every weekday he would stay up until 3 am in California waiting for the European stock markets to open. He watched CNBC all the time and listened to many financial radio shows in the car. As a kid I watched CNBC a lot with him and even wanted to be a stock broker when I grew up. I would open the newspaper each day and track the stock prices from the previous day (crazy how things have changed).
Sadly my dad unexpectedly passed away in February 2021, just one month after I discovered Radix. I never got to explain Radix to him, but I think he would have really enjoyed learning about Radix and how just like IMS it would revolutionize the financial world.
First Computer
In the 1980s, when I was a kid growing up in silicon valley, my dad got an IBM employee discount and brought home the first generation IBM PC (model 5150), with no joke a 4 MHz (not GHz) processor and 64 KB (not GB) of RAM for $3,500. With this new machine I taught myself how to use DOS, play games, and even some April fools jokes on my parents. One such joke I played was placing a glass of spilled water next to the computer and running a program from a 5.25" floppy disk that would make the computer beep non-stop and read out on the screen, "Water Damage - Computer Malfunction!!!". That almost gave my mom a heart attack since PCs were not cheap back then.
Years later my mom brought home an original Macintosh (model Macintosh 128K) and one day found out her hard drive crashed for real! She did not have any backups of the years of work she had done for a non-profit group that she poured all her heart into. I was too young at the time to do anything about it but wish I could have saved her data somehow. It was the first time I had ever seen one of my parents cry, after my mom realized what had happened.
Years later my mom brought home an original Macintosh (model Macintosh 128K) and one day found out her hard drive crashed for real! She did not have any backups of the years of work she had done for a non-profit group that she poured all her heart into. I was too young at the time to do anything about it but wish I could have saved her data somehow. It was the first time I had ever seen one of my parents cry, after my mom realized what had happened.
Lessons Learned
I learned much from my parents and they made me into who I am today. For over the last 20 years I have run my own IT business in San Diego. I've been the "IT guy" for many small/medium-sized businesses doing everything from desktop support to running servers. Just like my dad did, I work in casual attire, but usually shorts and a t-shirt for me. It brings me joy every day when I can solve someone's computer problem. One major part of my business is providing an online backup service for my clients, which I have done now for about 15 years. I will never forget the data loss my mom experienced and do my best to protect my customers from ever experiencing it.
Radix
During the pandemic lockdown I started to research crypto currency after hearing about how much new money was being created in 2020.
At first I learned about Bitcoin and the idea of having a money supply that cannot be inflated. Later I stumbled upon DeFi and its goals.
Currently I am passionate about DeFi as a whole and believe that Radix can be the foundation to making the financial world more accessible and equitable. If you would like to learn more about why I think Radix is the future of DeFi please read my Why Radix? page.
I believe 100% in the Radix team. You cannot read about Dan's story and not believe. He has true passion and focus in what he does and is a real genius.
Matt, Piers, and the rest of the team are also brilliant. Years ago I was involved in a tech startup similar to Radix and have seen what greatness can be achieved. I have no doubt that the hard work and long hours that the Radix team has continually shown will pay off in the near future. I am grateful and proud to be a small part of their journey.
I am in my 40's and live in San Diego with my wonderful wife and daughter. They do not understand what I am doing with Radix or even what it is.
Hopefully one day as the world starts adopting crypto currency for transactions and DeFi starts to flourish they will finally understand what I see.
Thanks for reading about me and my journey to finding Radix!
At first I learned about Bitcoin and the idea of having a money supply that cannot be inflated. Later I stumbled upon DeFi and its goals.
Currently I am passionate about DeFi as a whole and believe that Radix can be the foundation to making the financial world more accessible and equitable. If you would like to learn more about why I think Radix is the future of DeFi please read my Why Radix? page.
I believe 100% in the Radix team. You cannot read about Dan's story and not believe. He has true passion and focus in what he does and is a real genius.
Matt, Piers, and the rest of the team are also brilliant. Years ago I was involved in a tech startup similar to Radix and have seen what greatness can be achieved. I have no doubt that the hard work and long hours that the Radix team has continually shown will pay off in the near future. I am grateful and proud to be a small part of their journey.
I am in my 40's and live in San Diego with my wonderful wife and daughter. They do not understand what I am doing with Radix or even what it is.
Hopefully one day as the world starts adopting crypto currency for transactions and DeFi starts to flourish they will finally understand what I see.
Thanks for reading about me and my journey to finding Radix!