Security Confidential S10 E7 Joel Beasley

Manoj Tandon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Dark Rhiino Security’s Security Confidential. Today we have a fantastic guest joining us, and we’re honored to have him—Mr. Joel Beasley. Joel has a passion for creating engaging content that informs, inspires, and entertains, and he’s done that quite well. He is the founder of the Modern CTO Podcast, the author of the Modern CTO book, and one of the founders. So welcome to the show, Joel. Thank you so much for being here.

Joel Beasley: Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Manoj Tandon: It’s great to have another podcaster on—that way I don’t have to do all the talking. I know you’re used to talking, so you got this. I can shut up.

Joel Beasley: One time I did an episode, I asked one question, and the guy spoke for the full hour. I didn’t say anything else. My producer took the voice spike screenshot and shared it on our Slack.

Manoj Tandon: You know, those are some of the best shows because ultimately people don’t want to hear me—they want to hear the guest and their knowledge. So today you’re it. Yes, you are. And we really appreciate you being here. There is so much to talk about, especially with the fantastic series of guests you’ve had on your show. But would love to start off with hearing your origin story, Joel—how did you get into this?

Joel Beasley: Yeah, so my dad was in the Air Force. He learned both software and hardware design by putting GPS systems into the B-32 stealth bomber. And then he left the Air Force and went into private work. He started doing freelancing gigs, and since I had several siblings, he would take me around with him. My mom didn’t want to handle all the kids at home. So I got interested in computers and programming.

Then at age 12, I got hit by a car. I was in a wheelchair for a year. The positive to that negative situation was I got to come out of school, had a bunch of free time, and I invested that in programming—writing code, understanding things. I was doing what we now call Upwork. They didn’t care I was 12 or 13—they just needed a project done. I had reviews and made money.

Fast forward—I built software all through high school, and right out of high school I sold some real estate software I built. Made a bunch of money, lost a bunch of money—that’s what happens when you give an 18-year-old money.

Manoj Tandon: Roads on the path of entrepreneurship do not lead directly to profit.

Joel Beasley: No, but they lead to experience. From there, I met lawyers, venture capital people, founders—had the same conversations over and over. So I thought, why not write a book or blog posts so I could point people to it?

Before releasing the book, I started calling CTOs I knew to validate the content. Those conversations were really fun, and I wanted to keep them going. So I started a podcast as an excuse to keep having them. Now it’s been six years and 650+ episodes.

It started as an expensive hobby. I sold my interest in a financial software company, got $250K, and put that into the podcast. Burned through it in two years. Then we figured out sponsorships, built content for brands, grew to about $1M a year. Then sponsors asked us to build podcasts for them—and now we produce about 20 shows.

Manoj Tandon: That’s fantastic—you’ve gone into broadcast production.

Joel Beasley: Yeah, unintentionally. I never planned it. I did software for 17 years—enterprise logic, financial systems. Never intended to be here, but here I am.

Manoj Tandon: That’s something our listeners should understand—have a plan, but it might change.

Joel Beasley: The person you have to become to achieve your goals is almost always different than who you are when you start.

Manoj Tandon: I’m stealing that quote.

Joel Beasley: Here’s a better one—Jim Rohn said: “The most frustrating thing in the world is expecting above-average results without being an above-average person.” That changed my life.

Manoj Tandon: Wow. Your story reminds me of others—like Eddie Van Halen turning adversity into greatness. How did you stay positive after your accident?

Joel Beasley: I was young—10 or 11. It humbled me. I had to rely on others. I spent more time around adults, which helped me mature faster. I also got comfortable talking to adults—that’s a huge advantage.

Manoj Tandon: That makes sense. So why “Modern CTO”?

Joel Beasley: I didn’t want to anchor it to a time period. “Modern” is subjective—it evolves. That’s why I chose it.

Manoj Tandon: What role does a CTO play?

Joel Beasley: Generally, CTOs are outward-facing, focused on product. CIOs are inward-facing, focused on operations. But it depends on the company. The structure should match what you need to deliver.

Manoj Tandon: Not one-size-fits-all.

Joel Beasley: Exactly.

Manoj Tandon: What backgrounds do CTOs have?

Joel Beasley: Anyone can become a CTO. Most I’ve talked to started in technical roles. Maybe 80%. The rest come from business backgrounds. Both can succeed or fail.

Manoj Tandon: So not all geniuses.

Joel Beasley: Actually, the geniuses usually work for the CTO.

Manoj Tandon: That’s well put. What about innovation—any common threads?

Joel Beasley: Self-awareness. Knowing what you’re good at and structuring your team around it.

Manoj Tandon: That’s rare.

Joel Beasley: You get there by doing hard things repeatedly.

Manoj Tandon: Getting comfortable being uncomfortable.

Joel Beasley: Exactly. Growth equals pain.

Manoj Tandon: Do people talk openly about failure?

Joel Beasley: Usually they give highlight reels. But I learned from reading biographies—success is the sum of failures. So my job became to go fail a lot.

Manoj Tandon: Like Edison.

Joel Beasley: Exactly.

Manoj Tandon: How do you stay motivated?

Joel Beasley: You’re going to die anyway. The time will pass regardless—so you might as well do something meaningful.

Manoj Tandon: That’s profound.

Joel Beasley: Watching my mom pass away reinforced that. It gave me clarity and removed fear.

Manoj Tandon: I’m sorry to hear that.

Joel Beasley: It’s a crossroads—you either become a victim or grow from it.

Manoj Tandon: You don’t like the victim role.

Joel Beasley: Not at all.

Manoj Tandon: There’s a lot of that today.

Joel Beasley: Yeah, and we try to counter it by raising our kids with strong values.

Manoj Tandon: Responsibility is key.

Joel Beasley: Exactly. I learned from a book called Extreme Ownership: the moment you take responsibility is the moment you gain power to change outcomes.

Manoj Tandon: That’s powerful.

Joel Beasley: I always ask, “How was that my fault?” because that’s how you grow.

Manoj Tandon: That’s a huge takeaway.

Joel Beasley: Talking to hundreds of people also changes your perspective.

Manoj Tandon: I can vouch for that.

Joel Beasley: Everyone should have 100 meaningful conversations—it changes how you see the world.

Manoj Tandon: Any standout guests?

Joel Beasley: A few—someone working on resurrecting woolly mammoths, an astronaut who’s been to space three times, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and CTOs like the one at Napster or Salesforce’s security CTO who helped create SSL.

Manoj Tandon: Incredible.

Joel Beasley: Yeah, lots of variety.

Manoj Tandon: Before we wrap, what do you want to plug?

Joel Beasley: Check out the Modern CTO Podcast. We also split content into three shows: full episodes, short leadership clips, and tech/science content.

If your company is thinking about a podcast, go to proseriesmedia.com—we build podcasts for companies.

Manoj Tandon: Fantastic. Joel, it’s been a pleasure. Thank you so much for being here.

Joel Beasley: Thank you.