Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Derick Downs . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Derick, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard
We do many things different the industry standards. Typically digital forensics is performed by law enforcement agencies such as NSA, FBI, and CIA for large criminal cases.
Since we are not affiliated with any of them, we get to help our clients in a variety of outside-the-box techniques that most people would not think could be accomplished.
Derick, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I had no intention of being a forensics dork. I thought industry is fascinating. I’m a big fan of CSI forensic files TV shows however it was never in my plan to go into anything having to do with legal situations or help people with their legal situations. For the past 20 years, I ran a digital marketing agency that builds websites & managed google ads for various clients that ranged from startups to publicly traded companies
Downs Agency quickly pivoted to a marketing/forensics hybrid agency after I worked for a forensics company that lied to me about the owner’s actual identity.
Almost overnight I built a handful of new websites, took the marketing campaigns I was running for them & edited them to Octo Digital Forensics
I quickly registered for courses with Cellebrite and committed to $30k in software licensing fees. Needless to say after spending more on software than your car, I was extremely motivated to make it happen. I hired some of their employees, took the clients I was working with, and hit the ground rubbing full speed.
I had to then get licensed, and I knew enough to be dangerous, so I had to learn everything fast.
In super proud of the various cases that we have helped with. We never make both sides happy in a court case, so I choose the side that hires me and do whatever I can to help them win in court, arbitration, school, etc.
We also help the average person who just in bit very tech savvy. I think the best feeling is recovering a Grandma’s photos after she accidentally deleted them. We help people recovery memories that you cannot recreate again.
We’d appreciate any insights you can share with us about selling a business.
I have sold a few businesses or starter sites/website platforms. I’m a big fan of flipping domains & websites. I sold my first flip “Ship Your Glitter”, where I would send letters filled with glitter. I would allow them to put a note to the friend, or frenemy they wanted to send it to. From there I went a little crazy & started selling any dumb, funny, or clever website that I could. I find new trending social media accounts that do not have a website yet, and build one with their content, then try to sell it to them, or their competitors for profit. I still love to do it as a hobby.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Google ads is provably the best source for us to connect with clients looking got specific things we do. We also have a few contracts with public defenders who seem to have a constant stream of cases that we can help then get better deals, acquittal’s, or negotiating power.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://octodigitalforensics.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/octodf/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/octodigitalforensics/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/octodf/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/octodf
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCgJNlyNaoagkc9xmhpCGyVg
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/octo-digital-forensics-san-diego
- Other: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/octodigitalforensics.com
Image Credits
Brandon Colbert – Photos