My Thoughts on the “Washington’s Tech Titans” List

I was a bit puzzled when I found out I made the “Washington’s Tech Titans” list assembled by Washingtonian Magazine. Why in the world would they put me on that list? Well, it is certainly good press and I’m definitely honored that they would consider me. Here is what they wrote:

“Bob Gourley, founder and CTO, Crucial Point. As former CTO of the Defense Intelligence Agency and a prolific blogger at his site, CTOvision.com, Gourley is a respected connector and thinker on government tech issues.”

My consultancy Crucial Point LLC serves some great people and great firms, and I wonder if any of them grabbed the ear of author Garrett Graff? Or maybe Garrett found my through my blog or my use of Twitter? I’ll have to corner Garrett at the upcoming reception and and see if he can shed some light on this.

I can think of 1000 folks who are my tech mentors and leaders and visionaries who should be given this credit. If the criteria is the amount of tech influence in DC an uncountable number have more than me. So I have to admit there must be a flaw in the process that put me in the pages of Washingtonian (but please Garrett, don’t remove me from your list!).

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But one thing is for sure. Now that they put me in the company of those great techies I’m finding it very motivating. I really am honored to be on that list, and that makes me want to work even harder to make a difference in the DC tech world. I have always, like most other human beings, taken great pleasure in working on things bigger than myself, and now this is even more encouragement to keep that up.

Another way to think of this is the succinctly put statement by Tim O’Reilly that we need to “Work on Stuff That Matters.”

So, I might never know how I got on the Washingtonian’s Tech Titan’s list and I’m the first to say I’m really undeserving. But I do know this. It is going to motivate me to keep pressing ahead where ever I think I can make a difference.

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