In April 2020, the company Banjo was a high-growth tech startup based in Utah with hundreds of millions of dollars in funding.

Damien Patton, its founder and CEO, was a self-acknowledged formerly homeless gang member who went on to become a Navy vet, NASCAR mechanic and then a self-taught coder. 

His story was an inspiration.

“How do you break into NASCAR–the most successful spectator sport outside of the NFL–especially when you’re sitting in Desert Storm in the Middle East?” That was the question Banjo CEO Damien Patton asked himself while serving in the first Gulf War. He had seen his first NASCAR race during his years in the military. He saw the speedy crews servicing the racers and told himself he was going to do that one day. “Everyone made fun of me and said ‘How are you going to get into that? It’s like getting into the NFL.’”

Damien Patton, founder of Banjo, explains why both investigators and entrepreneurs need to use deductive reasoning to choose the best path forward.

In the last decade, we’ve seen a troubling surge in the radicalization of minors online, leading to violent acts in cities across America, from Charlottesville, Va., to our most prestigious universities. Many of these young individuals are capable of leading productive lives if given the chance to reform. Yet, their current paths, fueled by hate, could irreversibly destroy their futures. We must act now. 

Banjo founder Damien Patton explains how he decided to focus on building the world’s first “crystal ball” after identifying a suspect during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

The Redwood City company analyzes social media data by location and time.