Augustus Hellwich

Augustus raised $1.25 million in seed funding, secured backing from Mark Cuban Companies, and built a business now on track to generate four times the revenue it generated last year. He breaks down the early decisions that shaped the platform, how he earned credibility with police departments and sheriffs across the country, what Mark Cuban saw in the business, and the hard lessons that came long before any of the momentum did.

Audience takeaway: A real behind-the-scenes look at building a company in a space nobody has cracked before.

Over 400 hostile acts were recorded against churches in 2024 alone, and between 2000 and 2025 there were 246 shooting events at houses of worship resulting in 307 fatalities. Most congregations respond by putting volunteer members with no professional law enforcement background in the line of fire. Augustus breaks down what it actually costs to put a credentialed off-duty officer on site, why the old process of finding one was so complicated that most congregations never tried, and what a realistic path to professional protection actually looks like for a faith community of any size.

Audience takeaway: A practical path to credentialed protection for congregations of any size.

Over 70% of law enforcement agencies say recruiting has gotten harder in the last five years. The national average fill rate for off-duty officer staffing sits between 40 and 50 percent. Chicago is short over 1,300 officers. LA is down over 1,000. Some towns have shut their departments down entirely. Augustus explains what is actually driving the shortage, why the old manual hiring process makes it worse, and what a modern system has to look like to close the gap.

Audience takeaway: Why the old hiring process is making the staffing crisis worse, not better.

Most business owners assume hiring an off-duty officer directly is simple and safe. It is not. A typical major city's off-duty program runs about $25 million per year, yet the liability exposure for businesses that hire officers outside of a proper compliance framework is almost never discussed. Augustus breaks down exactly what that legal risk looks like, what businesses are getting wrong, and what they should be asking before they ever put an officer on site.

Audience takeaway: The questions to ask before you ever put an officer on site.

American police departments are operating at an average of 91% of their authorized staffing levels and still losing officers faster than they can hire them. Off-duty work has quietly become a financial lifeline for hundreds of thousands of officers, not a side hustle but a necessity, with mid-career officers at major departments earning $20,000 to $50,000 in supplemental detail pay annually just to keep up with the cost of living. Augustus explains how marketplace technology is finally building the infrastructure this system has always needed and what that means for officers, departments, and the businesses that depend on them.

Audience takeaway: Why off-duty work is a necessity for officers, not a side hustle.

Businesses in hospitality and retail are making security decisions based on habit rather than strategy. The national fill rate for off-duty officer staffing is between 40 and 50 percent, meaning nearly half of security shifts go unfilled under the traditional system. Augustus walks through what the compliance requirements look like across different states, what the real cost of an understaffed event is, and what questions every operations or security director should be asking, but usually does not.

Audience takeaway: The questions every operations or security director should be asking, but usually does not.