Riverbed and Giants painting San Francisco orange

I consider myself a pretty conservative guy.  No tattoos.  No body piercings.  So what was I thinking when I decided to semi-permanently die my hair bright orange?  To make a long story short,an internal movement at Riverbed titled "Team Orange" was started several years ago when we were a much smaller company.  The idea was simple.  When we hit the the "50" milestone then willing participants would have to dye their hair Riverbed orange for 30 days. 

The "50" milestone hit twice recently.  First, Riverbed's stock price recently passed the 50 mark.  Secondly, Riverbed's market share (revenue) in the WAN optimization market was reported to be more than 50% higher than the next competitor, Cisco.

Coincidentally, another San Francisco franchise by the name of the San Francisco Giants, recently passed their own milestone.  The Giants are in the World Series, which hasn't been the case since 2002.  I can't help, but to draw some interesting parallels to Riverbed and the Giants.  The first is that the Giant's team color is strikingly similar to the color of Riverbed's logo.  Secondly, Riverbed's fan base is just as enthusuastic as the Giants.  Last, but certainly not least is the fact that both Riverbed and the Giants overcame major competition to reach a big milestone.  The Giants beat a much more talented and highly favored Phillies team to reach the World Series.  Riverbed also overcame underdog status to beat the mighty Cisco to dominate the WAN optimization market.

For the next 30 days, I will be proudly wearing my orange hair in honor of both Riverbed and the Giants!