People often ask me how Villari came together. In the startup world, there’s a stereotype that companies are built by strangers who meet at a networking event, shake hands, and decide to build the next great thing together over coffee. Sometimes that works.

But that’s not our story.

Villari was built by three friends who have known each other for a very long time — Lou, Mike, and me. Three mensches whose paths have crossed through different chapters of life and somehow brought us back together to build something that matters.

Mensching

For those unfamiliar with the term, mensch is one of the great words in the Yiddish lexicon. It doesn’t simply mean a “good person.” It describes someone who does the right thing, treats people with respect, keeps their word, and shows up when it matters. 

Throughout history, the world has been shaped by people who lived that way. Think about individuals like Fred Rogers, whose kindness and decency influenced generations of children. Or Jimmy Carter, who spent decades after leaving the presidency building homes and advocating for human rights. Or Jonas Salk, who chose not to patent the polio vaccine so it could be shared with the world. None of them set out to become “famous for being a mensch.” They simply lived by a set of values — integrity, humility, responsibility, and care for others. 

In my experience, you can accomplish a lot in life if you simply surround yourself with mensches.

Mentoring

Lou and I go back decades. Long before there were companies, plans, or ideas about building something together, there was mentorship. I was in my early twenties working at my first “real” job providing communications support to a startup online brokerage in downtown Chicago. Lou was the founding Chief Marketing Officer.

Lou has always been one of those people who sees possibilities where others see obstacles. He understands people, relationships, and how to bring the right individuals together to build a successful company. Over the years he has helped grow businesses from startup to IPO and onto the Inc. 500 list — something he has done more than once.

But what I admired most about Lou had nothing to do with marketing or business strategy. Despite the fact that I was always the youngest person in the boardroom, he always made sure I had a seat at the table with the big boys. He made me feel included, valued, and trusted. He treated me as an equal alongside the executive team, the investment bankers, and everyone else in the room. No one in my career has ever made me feel more committed to the work we were doing.

Maturing

Mike and I go back even further. We’ve known each other since we were kids. My dad was our Boy Scout troop leader back in the late 1980s. We went to high school together, stayed close through college, and ended up working together at several companies over the years. Our kids went to preschool together. Our wives are friends.

Over time our careers took different directions — mine in security and Mike’s in technology and software development — but we’ve always shared the same core values: curiosity, integrity, and a belief that if you’re going to do something, you should do it right.

Startups are hard. There are long days, tough decisions, unexpected setbacks, and plenty of moments when things don’t go according to plan. In that kind of environment, trust matters more than almost anything else.

Making a start

When the three of us started talking seriously about Villari, one thing became clear very quickly. If we were going to build something meaningful, we wanted to do it with people we trust and care about. Life is simply too short to spend your days building something important with people you don’t respect or enjoy being around.

Startups are hard. There are long days, tough decisions, unexpected setbacks, and plenty of moments when things don’t go according to plan. In that kind of environment, trust matters more than almost anything else. You need to know that the person sitting across the table shares your values and will have your back when things get complicated.

Trust doesn’t appear overnight. It grows over years of shared experiences, conversations, successes, and mistakes. Villari is a product of that kind of trust.

In many ways, Villari is the product of those relationships. Lou brings a deep understanding of people and storytelling. Mike brings the technical expertise and engineering mindset to turn ideas into systems that actually work. My background has been in security, risk management, and crisis response — high-stakes thinking about how to anticipate problems before they happen.

Three different skill sets. Three different perspectives. But the same foundation: friendship and trust. A team looking out for each other more than we are looking out for ourselves.

Making it work

There’s also something that comes with building a company alongside people you’ve known for decades — perspective. None of us feel the need to impress each other. None of us are trying to prove something. We’ve already seen each other through different stages of life and career. That allows us to focus on the work itself rather than the egos that sometimes come with it.

We simply want to do our best work. And we want to do it with people we genuinely care about.

Since the three of us came together to build Villari, something else remarkable has happened. We’ve been joined by an extraordinary group of people who share the same vision and commitment to protecting others. Engineers, designers, communicators, advisors, and partners who believe deeply in what we’re trying to accomplish. What makes it special isn’t just their talent — it’s their character. They care about the mission, they care about the people we serve, and they care about each other. 

As leaders, Lou, Mike, and I feel a responsibility not only to build a company that keeps people safe, but also to create an environment where the people who have chosen to join us can grow, succeed, and do the best work of their lives. Our team’s success matters to us just as much as the mission itself.People sometimes ask me what I want to do at this stage of my life. My answer is pretty simple: I want to build an amazing company focused on keeping people safe — and I want to do it with people I absolutely believe in. Together, we are building something far bigger than any one of us. It’s why being CEO of this company is the honor of my career.