As a high schooler, Aaron Coles remembers eyeing the exit by the door out of paranoia. What would he do if there was a school shooting? Later, at the age of 19, Coles hears about yet another high school shooting and it deeply weighs on him. He observes how the security services relied upon by schools hadn’t progressed since the 90’s. Coles, as a self-taught computer programmer since the age of 12, tasks himself with building the security system that every school should have. He created using thermal cameras, artificial intelligence, and mapping technology, a way to show exactly where people were people are in the building. His idea would be the basis of his company: Drift Net Securities.
Aaron Coles was offered double digit figures in the millions but chose to turn the offer down. He explains that the goal is not about the money but about saving lives. He reasons that he wants the companies system to be so affordable that schools don’t have to choose between safety and their budget. Coles turned what was once a fear of his own, sitting in class, into a very successful business. Coles thinks of himself as a problem-solver and states that this is what is really at the heart of entrepreneurship.
Coles saw a problem: the shootings. He used his passion for solving this problem as well as his technical skills to reach a solution. As with many successful entrepreneurs, Coles explains that the focus was more about people and less about money. (Note: Sometimes I wonder if many entrepreneurs say this for good publicity or because it is truly their mindset. The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and many others have said that same sort of thing: “I don’t care about money, I care about the people…”. As a successful entrepreneur, one needs to hold their positive public image. I would speculate that successful entrepreneurs, regardless of their true intentions, will always pronounce that their ideas are on behalf of the public interest, regardless of whether or not they entirely believe that.) But in the case of Coles, I have to admit that the company has the noblest of causes: to protect innocent lives and I cannot help but respect Coles for achieving what he has done.
It is really inspiring to learn about how Coles turned down the offer of millions of dollars. It shows how much he cares about the original problem and his passion for solving school safety. I do wonder if he had taken the money or a donation how much further he could have developed his idea to create an even safer technology for schools. So not taking it for his own personal gain but to further develop his idea. However, I do think it is really cool that he did not sacrifice the price of his product so that it could be affordable.
I agree that this is quite a large issue that should be addressed differently, not that there aren’t precautionary measures already in place, but there needs to be more security. Also, I agree, the fact that Coles turned down the million-dollar offer is encouraging to me. It affirms that there are people out there truly trying to make a difference and put everyone else’s lives above their own. I think this would be an excellent idea to implement in schools and making it affordable would be amazing. This again has inspired me to go after my ideas and don’t be greedy, just serve the people.