The office is literally buzzing in anticipation. It's the weekend before ISC West 2013, the largest trade show for security and home automation products and location where we will launch our company. There's so much to do, so many moving parts to align perfectly, but spirits are high and people are smiling. Employees are boxing up dozens of IQ panels, placing them carefully in their cases for the shipment to Las Vegas. Each one has been fully tested, updated with our latest software drop and customized with the screensaver we created specifically for our company launch at ISC West.
It's been a long road, and for many in the room, this means a payout of a 3 year investment. Qolsys formed as a team back in 2010 with the concept of bringing the security and home control industry back to our century. With generations of antiquated behavior and equipment built on ancient architecture, the industry needed a shot in the arm, and we wanted to administer it.
Mike Hackett, VP of Sales and Marketing sat back in a chair and smiled to CEO Dave Pulling. "We've done it." He said as though it was the definitive moment we had all been waiting for. "Done what?" Dave asked, assuming Mike was referencing something different. "We've done it, everything is ready!" Mike's confident smile is contagious. It what makes him so good at what he does. They've been friends for years and have no secrets between them. It was on long bike rides in the mountains above Silicon Valley that our company was born. Conversations about technology and improving the quality of life coupled with hours of pedaling and fresh air.
Mike's eyes are locked on Dave, waiting for a response. A murmur from the rest of us affirms Mike's statement, but Dave sits silently. He and Mike have put their hearts into this product. The culmination of years of research, development, testing, retesting, and more development. They had felt they'd been close to a finished product in the past, only to find some wrinkle that opened a door to something that would take months of work to achieve. I can see Dave's mind is fixed on this fact. Is this really it? Are we really done? Or is this simply another plateau before a difficult hill? He sits silently, contemplating Mike's statement. Whether running through the code in his brain or simply contemplating the veracity of Mike's statement I cannot tell.
Dave is a genius. On the surface he seems like a regular guy but his IQ is off the charts. He doesn't dress differently than other men his age, doesn't have any noticeable quirks or erratic speech, doesn't use language to enforce superiority or to establish his intelligence. He's so down to earth that most people don't have any clue how intelligent he truly is. If you watch carefully you can see it though. You can hear it in the pauses. While carrying on a completely normal conversation he'll suddenly make some statement that gives away his brilliant mind. In that moment he'll look at you, his eyes locked on yours, trying to determine if you understood his subtle intonation, then quickly smile and change the subject or walk away completely, laughing or joking with someone else.
Around the table we are all nodding, agreeing with Mike's statement but waiting for Dave's opinion. It feels like every detail has been attended to. There is always work to be done, but we were ready. The sound of the traffic on Stevens Creek Boulevard rushed past the window on the street below, and the breeze softly cooled the late afternoon sun making its last attempts to heat the windows. Dave looked at the last light of day pushing its way through the blinds. In that same subtle way he distracts you from his brilliance, he suddenly stood up. "I guess we'll see." His casual smile was like a period on a sentence, and he began to leave the room. "Let's eat at my house tonight" he said. "I want to BBQ."
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