When I was 13 somebody stole my 3 way ruler.

I thought I had misplaced it – but it was stolen. Thankfully I had marked one edge with indelible red ink, ensuring the ownership was unmistakable.

My friend Michelle Honig spotted it. Despite the thief’s desperate attempts to erase my mark with pencil scribbles, Michelle recognized the ink and confronted the thief.

For me, she reclaimed the ruler.

This was the first time I learned the hard lesson that, sadly, too many of us have come to know:

“People lie, cheat, and steal.”

That was the beginning of my determination to protect my belongings. Especially as I prepared for college at Wharton.

Safeguarding my CDs collection (hundreds!) was a must.

I ingeniously etched his initials—SM or SAM—into the inner rings of the discs and the edges of their jewel cases. Allowing me to discreetly reclaim any misplaced CD amid the chaos of dorm life.

Whenever I spotted a disk with my initials, I would take it back.

Sometimes other students wouldn’t even know.

But I did.

This clever method of marking his property was just the beginning of my innovative approach to ownership, eventually evolving into something revolutionary:

digital watermarking.

I immersed myself in the study of hiding information in plain sight. Merging this knowledge with my understanding of finance and retail from experiences in the US and Japan, I laid the groundwork for a transformative technology.

In 1995, I filed his first patents related to digital watermarking, a field then considered an academic curiosity.

Fast forward to today, my company Blue Spike stands at the forefront of this technology, boasting over a dozen patents that are revolutionizing how digital content is marked and protected.

Our digital watermarking technology is engineered for robustness and security, able to withstand tampering and compression while remaining invisible to the human eye. Even as ownership information is embedded.

Blue Spike offers customizable solutions tailored to specific use cases—be it music, video, or images—ensuring creators can implement watermarking strategies that suit their needs. Our commitment to shaping industry standards positions them as a leader in the field, driving the conversation about copyright protection in the digital age.

It’s amazing how we end up in the careers we do.

In my case,

it all started from a pivotal childhood incident.

My friend Michelle’s act of reclaiming my ruler was not merely a moment of friendship;

it was the inspiration behind a technology that would define the future of digital ownership.