Kyle J. Tobin has a high school diploma. No college degree.

He taught himself enterprise IT while bartending, became an engineer, then an advisor to executives at major corporations. He got into the rooms where the decisions in this book were made because he could do what they needed—before they started requiring credentials from people who could do what he did.

He entered technology in the early 2000s, when the deal still held. When demonstrated capability still outweighed diplomas. He watched that path close behind him.

He builds furniture with his hands. He lives in the country this book describes.

He wrote it because he made it through before the door closed, and stayed long enough to see how it works.