Brad is the Program Manager for Cloud Partnerships on the Business Development team, and works from our San Francisco office.
A brief bio
I come from Southern California, where I grew up obsessed with reading, playing music, and trying to figure out how things like small engines and radios worked by taking them apart and (sometimes successfully) putting them back together again. I had an entrepreneurial streak from a very young age as well, and by the time I was 12 I had cornered the neighborhood market on lawn-mowing and car-washing.
Around that same time I also discovered computers when my parents got our first desktop PC, a Tandy 386 with Windows 3.1 and a 14.4kbps modem purchased from Radio Shack. I was totally hooked- the ability to communicate with people all over the world was extremely interesting, not to mention that I could program it to do my math homework!
When I was a little older, I needed some help paying for college so I joined the US Navy. That took me all over the world, working in intelligence for a certain three-letter agency and feeding my passion for experiencing and learning about other cultures. After the Navy, I moved back to SoCal to study economics and philosophy. I met my future wife, Tiffany, and went to work in the motion picture industry after graduating. We eventually decided it was too damn hot in Southern California, and made the decision to move to the Bay Area where Tiff grew up.
Why you joined Bitnami and what excites you about working here?
During my time working in the movie industry, Tiff and I started building websites using WordPress and shared hosting. Before long, I was also hosting our websites to save some money… and not long after that I had a nice little side hustle building and hosting other websites for friends, family, and small businesses.
When we moved to the Bay, I was looking for a way to host WordPress websites in the cloud and happened across Bitnami. I immediately knew this was the company I wanted to work for- they made it so easy to deploy all these open source apps in the cloud, I was kicking myself for not finding them earlier! Now that I’ve been here a couple years, I’ve realized how tremendously exciting open source software is, and how much good Bitnami does for everyone from individual tinkerers to corporate titans by making it more accessible and flexible to use. Now we are doing some next-level s#$& with our application packaging toolchain, Docker, and Kubernetes that is going to have a significant impact on the way big companies adopt tomorrow’s cloud technology. It is almost surreal working at a company this size that can justifiably say that.
When I think back about the things that didn’t exist when I was a kid, and daydream about the things my own kids will take for granted, I get really excited about working for Bitnami. How cool is it that my (currently gestating) child will have the opportunity to start coding around the time he learns to write his name, and that some of the same technologies used to run the coolest tech companies will be at his fingertips to play with on a whim. Imagine the things the next couple generations are going to come up with! I feel that Bitnami’s raison d’etre is removing barriers to that future, and I am excited to be part of it.
The other thing that excites me most is working with such a diverse, talented, and humorous group of people from around the globe, among whom I am very sure many will be lifelong friends. I feel proud to work at a company where people are welcome and accepted whatever their age, sex/sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, etc. I’m not just saying that because it sounds good- it is a very important issue to me, and I feel that as a company we’re getting it right.
What are you working on?
I wear a lot of hats at Bitnami; a little bit of product, a little marketing, some account management, design, you name it. Officially, I am a Program Manager for Cloud Partnerships; formerly I worked in a similar role with ISVs and then Systems Integrators.
It’s my job to be an expert in every aspect of Bitnami’s technology and business. I’ve always got my eyes open for opportunities to help people unlock value in their relationships with us.
What do you like to do for fun?
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| Enjoying the night market in Taipei |
I am really interested in making things to eat and drink that were once made at home but are now almost universally mass-produced. I have become a one-man cottage industry of sorts, producing some fine home-made beer, smoked sausages, cheese, and other delicious treats. I am also obsessed with travel and meeting interesting people around the world, and especially sampling the many wonderful things to eat and drink.
When I’m not chasing new adventures around the globe, there’s nothing better than hanging out with family and friends (and four-legged friends), cooking out and enjoying each other’s company at home.
Interested in working with Bitnami and Brad? Apply for one of our open positions!