I wasn't alone. FTX’s customers lost some $8 billion and its investors had lost $1.7 billion. Many were my friends and colleagues — builders, founders, engineers, investors. Overnight, trust in entire institutions evaporated.

What struck me most wasn't just the personal loss — It was the realization that this collapse — this communication and transparency failure — was a problem I was uniquely positioned to solve.

At the time, I was working on security challenges in enterprise communications— helping our company prevent sensitive data leaks inside chat tools like Telegram, Slack and Teams. We had built prototypes. We had traction. But something was missing. Then came FTX. Then Silicon Valley Bank. Then Signature Bank. Each failure shook confidence across industries. It became clear: crises don’t start with spreadsheets — they start with messages.

Private chats. Encrypted channels. Unmonitored DMs where decisions are made faster than security teams could react.

That's when it clicked: this wasn't just my problem. This was everyone's problem.

Finding the Real Problem

I started making calls. Dozens of them. CISOs, compliance officers, regulators, auditors — anyone who would talk. I listened. What I heard was the same story repeated across Fortune 500s, hedge funds, crypto exchanges, and law firms:

“We can monitor email perfectly… but we have no visibility into what’s happening in non-email channels like Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, or Teams.”

That was the gap. A trillion-dollar blind spot sitting at the intersection of security, compliance, and human communication.

And that’s when Aten SecurityTM was born.

The Reality of Building

People often glamorize startups — the headlines, the valuations, the “hustle culture.”

The truth? It’s mostly rejection.

I’ve heard “no” from investors, from prospective hires, from customers who loved the idea but weren’t ready to move.

The investor “no’s” sting. But when a potential customer walks away — that’s your validation leaving the room. You keep going anyway.

For me, resilience was built long before Aten SecurityTM .

I was the first Google intern from Francophone Africa, then went on to get a Silicon Valley sponsorship from Meta. I’ve spent my career proving that borders — and doubters — don’t define possibility. Aten SecurityTM is simply the next chapter of that mission.

Why This Matters

I founded Aten SecurityTM because enterprises are flying blind on the communications platforms their teams actually use. They've got sophisticated security tools for email, but Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, SMS — these are security black holes. 

The result? Companies are spending over $2 billion a year on fragmented, reactive, and non-integrated tools that fail to deliver visibility or security in real time.

At Aten SecurityTM , we’re not just building another security tool.

We’re building the world’s trust layer for modern communications — ensuring every message is authentic, secure, and compliant across every channel.

The Road Ahead

Our vision is ambitious — as it should be.

I’ve turned down competitive salaries, endured countless rejections, and worked through every obstacle because the mission is clear: Restore trust in the way the world communicates.

If you’re a CISO or compliance leader navigating this challenge, we’d love to show you what we’re building.

If you’re an investor who believes the future of security is conversation-native, let’s talk.

And if you’re someone who wants to build systems that protect truth at scale — join us.

Because the next financial crisis or next malicious insider won’t start in an email.

It’ll start in a message — and Aten SecurityTM will be there to catch it before it spreads.