Meet our Team: Shawn Rose, aka “Bucky”, CIO

As one of Ecovent’s “Founding Four,” Shawn has seen Ecovent grow from a concept to reality. Working in contract defense before Ecovent, Shawn holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Colorado and an MS in Telecommunications and Network Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He grew up with a computer on his desk and has been working in IT and software ever since.

In our third “Meet Our Team” interview, Shawn tells of how Ecovent began, what superpowers he would like to have, and (almost) reveals how he got his nickname “Bucky”.

Q: Describe your job at Ecovent in five words.

A: Lead, Innovate, Change, Solve, Fun.

Q: So you’re the CIO. What do you do day to day?

A: Chief Information Officer is a role that keeps changing as our technology progresses. It’s about more than just the PC on your desk. Our daily lives now involve the “cloud”, “big data”, and “cyber security.” We even hear about these things all the time on the evening news. Ecovent executes exceptionally and to make sure we keep that pace means our team having access to tools, like on-demand software (SaaS), and communicating information effectively. One of the most important things to my job is security since we’ve all seen how a single cyber-attack can be devastating to a company. Doing the simple items like encrypting information between two devices can go a long way. You’ll be surprised how many items you use every day still send clear-text data. I also get to work with a fantastic team that upholds our values: (1) Execution is our constant, (2) We love all feedback. Transparency is the key, (3) We are family and (4) Every day is awesome.

Q: So, you’re from Denver originally? What brought you to Boston?

A: Ecovent! Boston is the place to grow a business from an idea, to having it in everyone’s home.

Q: How’d you get involved with Ecovent?

A: Dip, Nick, and myself all used to work together in a previous lifetime. So when the time was right we all got together and started to make this idea happen.

Q: You went from working with weapon systems to working with vents. Was that a big shift?

A: From a consumer and product point of view, yes. Vents do not blow up bad guys! But the engineering practices and development processes are very similar.

Q: What’s the worst job experience you’ve ever had?

A: The first project I led, with a team of 5 people, because of the final results. It was a great success from a technical point of view, but an overall complete failure from a business standpoint. The project died after we completed the technical part. I learned that communication with your stakeholders- the people taking the “big risk”- is just as important as communication with the end-user and your technical team.

Q: Where’s the most interesting place you have traveled?

A: I’ve been to Barrow, Alaska, the most northern point of the United States. If you go any farther you can visit Santa Claus. And I’ve been to the most southern points of the US too, in Key West and Hawaii.

Q: What’s the best gift you ever got as a kid?

A: Legos. I loved Legos as a kid. They were my building blocks of engineering. I would make cars, houses, and airplanes.

Q: If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?

A: I want to be able to speak every language in the world.

Q: What’s been the most surprising thing about working at Ecovent?

A: I don’t know if its sunk in yet, but being able to grow an awesome team so quickly. Within one year we went from 4 great founders to a fantastic team of 14.

Q: So, how’d you get the nickname “Bucky”?

A: Dip and Nick had a helpful hand in giving me the name “Bucky” when we first met. So you’ll have to ask them, but I would say Bucky is a true nickname. My core friends call me Bucky so the name is forever written in the history books.

Lightning round:

Favorite movie?

James Bond, Goldfinger.

Favorite book?

Rising Sun by Michael Crichton.

Favorite band?

Metallica.

Winter sports or water sports?

Winter sports.

Hockey or football?

Football, but hockey’s number 2. Baseball’s 3.

Fly at the speed of sound or run at the speed of light?

Fly at the speed of sound, so I can still be able to see behind me.