Secure Ventures with Kyle McNulty: Recent Episodes
Kyle McNulty
Kyle McNulty interviews cutting edge founders in the cyber security space to understand their plights, glories, and revolutionary products.
New episodes are published every other Tuesday.
If you are interested in sharing your story, please contact me at kyle@secureventures.io
Following the podcast really helps! Follow it on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/75106414 Twitter: https://twitter.com/VentureWithKyle
Luigi is CEO and co-founder of Bfore.ai, which detects malicious infrastructure before it is used in an attack. The company has two products today under its broader pre-crime technology umbrella, and we talk about those in more detail during the episode. Prior to Bfore.ai, Luigi was a diehard Dell employee. He started in tech support and worked his way to become a VP for solution sales for the EMEA market. He then led EMEA sales for Quest software, which was a spinout from Dell. He left in 2017 after over two decades under the Dell family and thought he was retiring. However, a year later, he started Bfore.ai after a series of events he describes as serendipitous. In the episode, we discuss the unique founding story, what pre-crime technology entails, and the data supporting its relevance under a broader threat intelligence program.
Website: Bfore.ai
Sponsor: vulncheck.com
Liran is one of the founding partners at Team8, one of the most preeminent investors in Israel with over one billion dollars under management. Team8 started in 2014 with a focus on cybersecurity and enterprise technology, and it has since evolved to include investments in fintech and healthcare as well. Before starting Team8, Liran was in Unit 8200 and then worked in product-focused roles at two high-growth tech companies. In the episode we discuss his story of starting such a successful fund at a young age, the opportunity they saw in a foundry model in Israel, and the areas of cybersecurity that can support standalone public companies as opposed to just acquisition targets.
Team8 website: team8.vc
Sponsor: vulncheck.com
Gil is co-founder and CEO of Orca Security, one of the leading cloud security platforms on the market today. The company was last valued at 1.8 billion dollars in late 2021. Orca has 8 co-founders, and Gil started as Chief Product Officer before taking the CEO reins last year. We talk more about this dynamic in the episode. Before Orca, Gil worked at Check Point for a decade where he gained experience across a variety of different cutting-edge domains including mobile security, advanced threat protection, and cloud gateway.
In the episode, we discuss the commoditization of the CSPM space, the relevance of AI in cloud security remediation, and the strategy for Orca moving forward including regional expansion.
Orca Website: orca.security
Sponsor: vulncheck.com
Chris is co-founder and CTO of Veracode, an application security powerhouse which was last valued at 2.5 billion in march 2022. The company was founded in 2005 as a code review automation platform, and it has since evolved to be one of the gold standard application security tools. Before founding Veracode, Chris worked as a security researcher and engineer for a decade where he grew frustrated with the manual source code review process. In the episode, we discuss how long it took Chris to believe he had really created something special, the important technical decisions the team made both early on and later in the company's life, and how the DevSecOps movement and new entrants impacted Veracode's market positioning.
Veracode: https://www.veracode.com/
Sponsor: https://vulncheck.com/
Shashank is CEO and co-founder of Uno.ai, which is building an AI platform for managing GRC activities such as knowledge base usage and audits. I interviewed Shashank on the podcast back in November 2022, and at the time Uno was focused on using AI to automate activities in the SOC. The AI world has changed a lot since November 2022. The company has since pivoted, and in this episode we focus on what triggered the change in vision, what was wrong with the previous solution, and what is attractive about this new GRC use case.
Website: https://uno.ai/
Sponsor: https://vulncheck.com/
Previous Episode with Shashank (November 2022):
Apple Podcasts
Mike is the CEO and founder of Evo Security, which is building an Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution specifically designed for Managed Service Providers (MSPs). He started the company back in 2018 after leaving behind a private equity fund focused on oil and gas. In the episode, we discuss his transition into cyber from the energy world and what makes Evo uniquely positioned to serve the needs of MSPs given the variety of IAM solutions available on the market today.
Evo Security Website: https://www.evosecurity.com/
Sponsor: https://vulncheck.com/
Diana Kelley is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for ProtectAI. She also serves on the boards of Women in Cybersecurity, The Executive Women’s Forum, InfoSec World, CyberFuture Foundation, TechTarget Security Editorial, and DevNet AI/ML. Diana was Cybersecurity Field CTO for Microsoft, Global Executive Security Advisor at IBM Security, GM at Symantec, VP at Burton Group (now Gartner), a Manager at KPMG, CTO and co-founder of SecurityCurve, and Chief vCISO at SaltCybersecurity.
In the episode, we talk about her involvement with all of these different groups and how that has changed over time, plus how and why she arrived at ProtectAI. She also talks about the ProtectAI product strategy and how their different products play into their broader vision for AI security.
Website: protect.ai
Sponsor: VulnCheck - vulncheck.com
Ben is a serial entrepreneur, and his latest company is right in the middle of an exciting battle between the progress of AI and the defense capabilities to ensure its unethical uses are limited. Ben is CEO and co-founder of RealityDefender, which provides deepfake detection capabilities to determine if visual and audio media is AI generated. This is incredibly relevant right now, as there are news headlines every week with exploits featuring deepfake content. Before RealityDefender, Ben founded Covertix, a data protection company he sold after just a year. Before that, he had experience in banking and with another startup which leveraged blockchain for voting. In the episode we dive into the current world of deepfakes and deepfake detection, along with how RealityDefender is positioned in this space.
Greg is CEO and co-founder of Ghost Security, which is an API and application security platform providing contextualized risk awareness of a company's cloud application profile. Ghost is Greg's third company. He previously founded JASK, a SOC automation tool, which he sold to Sumo Logic in 2019. Before JASK, he founded Anomali, which was an early threat intelligence platform. The company is still alive and strong today, and he still sits as an advisor. In the episode we discuss some of the key inflection points with each of his companies, the challenges inherent with being a category creator, and the value resulting from his role as an angel investor in the ecosystem.
https://ghost.security/
Chris:
- Co-founder, CEO, and CTO of RADICL, which is building an AI SOC analyst
- Was co-founder of LogRhythm, which sold to Thoma Bravo in a rumored billion dollar deal
Check out the episode for our discussion on building with friends and family, collecting enough data to develop an effective AI SOC analyst, and what it took for him to take the leap to start his first company.
Walter:
- Founder and CEO of StackAware, which started as a vulnerability management tool and is now an AI risk consulting company
- Creator of the popular security blog "Deploy Securely" that started his entrepreneurial journey
- Worked in the National Counterterrorism Center for two years
Check out the episode for our discussion on his pivot away from the initial product to a services model, why that might change in the future, and the role of his security blog Deploy Securely in growing StackAware.
blog.stackaware.com
stackaware.com
Rick is CEO of Tidal Cyber, which delivers threat-informed defense to enable security teams to protect against the threats most relevant for them. In the episode we discuss his journey from MITRE, the value of design partners, and how their teams thinks about classifying threats.
This episode was recorded live at Blu Ventures' Cyber Venture Forum event in October. Thank you again to the Blu team!
https://www.tidalcyber.com/
Brian is CEO of Kion, which provides centralized cloud management including compliance, financials, and setup. In the episode we discuss Brian's transition from consulting and how the team thinks about security as just one portion of their solution.
This episode was recorded live at Blu Ventures' Cyber Venture Forum event in October. Thank you again to the Blu team!
https://kion.io/
Marcos is CFO of Huntress Labs, which provides managed EDR services for SMBs. In the episode we discuss Marcos's role as CFO and why Huntress decided to focus on SMBs.
This episode was recorded live at Blu Ventures' Cyber Venture Forum event in October. Thank you again to the Blu team!
https://www.huntress.com/
Mike is CEO of SecureG, which is building cryptography solutions for communications infrastructure. In the episode we discuss their work with root of trust solutions and how the company is evolving towards more unique technology in building a PKI trust infrastructure for wireless.
This episode was recorded live at Blu Ventures' Cyber Venture Forum event in October. Thank you again to the Blu team!
https://secureg.io/
Robert is CEO of Adlumin, which sells a suite of cybersecurity tools designed to be more accessible for SMBs. In the episode we discuss his story building Adlumin while he was getting his MBA and how he navigates channel partners.
This episode was recorded live at Blu Ventures' Cyber Venture Forum event in October. Thank you again to the Blu team!
https://adlumin.com/
Eitan:
- CEO and co-founder of Mobb, applying automatic code remediation fixes for vulnerabilities from static code scans
- Previously head of product for HCL AppScan (spun out of IBM)
- Worked at IBM for 12 years despite previously deciding to avoid working at a big company
https://mobb.ai/
Henry:
- Partner at Dawn Capital, which recently raised the largest early stage tech fund in Europe at $700M
- Previously worked at the Ministry of Justice in the UK
- Started his career as a consultant with Farsight Consulting
Check out the episode for our discussion on regional differences between European cybersecurity markets, expansion overseas, and more.
Mariana:
- Co-founder and CEO of Kikrr, providing on-demand opportunities for cybersecurity practitioners to try new products
- Previously founded a digital marketing agency
- Started her career working as a teacher
Check out the episode for our discussion on transitioning to a cybersecurity founder from teaching, building a two-sided marketplace, and monetizing sales teams as opposed to cybersecurity practitioners.
https://kikrr.io/
Snehal:
- Co-founder and CEO of Horizon3, providing autonomous penetration testing capabilities
- Ex-CTO of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC)
- Ex-CTO of Splunk
- Worked under CIO at GE Capital
- Worked under CTO at IBM
Check out the episode for our conversation about veterans in cybersecurity, how Snehal applied lessons from JSOC to Horizon3, how Snehal thinks about being a late-career founder, and more!
horizon3.ai
Kunal:
- Founder and CEO of dope.security, building a secure web gateway solution that makes security practitioners say "that's dope"
- Previously worked in product management at Symantec and then Forcepoint
- Produces animated videos on Youtube which have gained over 60M views
Check out the episode for our conversation on co-founder compatibility, secure web gateways vs. secure browsers, what it means to build a "dope" product, and more.
https://dope.security/
Andrew:
- CEO and founder of Greynoise, providing threat intelligence classifying standard internet noise
- Previously worked on the R&D team at the cyber intelligence company Endgame (later acquired by Elastic in 2019)
- Dropped out of high school and never finished or attended college
Check out the episode for our conversation on the cybersecurity equivalent of waiting tables, the merits of a high school diploma, and the mechanisms behind the Greynoise threat intelligence model.
https://www.greynoise.io/
Anthony:
- CEO and founder of VulnCheck, going beyond just vulnerabilities to share exploit intelligence
- Previously founded FlawCheck, one of the original container security companies, which he sold to Tenable
- Previously founded Appthority, an early mobile app security company, which was acquired by Symantec
Check out the episode for our conversation on his lessons and themes after founding three companies and why he completely ignores the competitive landscape.
https://vulncheck.com/
AJ:
- Director of the Geopolitics, Technology, and Governance program at the Stanford Cyber policy center
- Previously Senior Director for Cybersecurity Policy at the White House from 2015 to 2017, covering two administrations
- Was an adviser for Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on cybersecurity measures
- Senior staff on the Senate Intelligence Committee overseeing budget and operations for NSA
- Started his career as a National Security Analyst at the Center for American Progress in 2003
In the episode we discuss everything from the effectiveness of our legislators in addressing high tech areas, partisan dynamics of cybersecurity, key focus areas for policy, and the effectiveness of recent policy like the Cyber Trust Mark and the CSRB review of Microsoft.
Cyber Trust Mark
Cybersecurity Review Board Review of Microsoft:
Brian:
- Principal at TLV Partners focusing on enterprise software and cybersecurity, joined when the fund first started in 2015
- Previously worked at Square Peg Capital also in Israel
- Born in South Africa and worked in Australia for Grant Thornton before moving to Israel for Square Peg
In this episode Brian and I discuss the Israeli cybersecurity startup ecosystem. Given the number of founders I interview from Israel, I thought it would be valuable for the audience and myself to dive deeper. We discuss everything from the importance of Hebrew to the revolving door between government and the commercial sector.
https://www.tlv.partners/
Neatsun:
- CEO and founder of Ox Security, providing prioritization insights for software supply chain vulnerability management
- Previously VP at Checkpoint for a decade
- Founded Vanadium, an EDR company, which he ran for 8 years
Check out the episode for our discussion on his lessons from Vanadium applied to Ox and how threat modeling applies to the software supply chain.
Links:
https://www.ox.security/
https://pbom.dev/
This is a rerun of an episode recorded in July 2021.
In the episode, Bruce and I discuss his views on AI and how it may fundamentally change the security landscape for attackers and defenders. He mentions the key steps we need to take as a society to best guide AI innovation. Two years later, it is interesting to reflect on how we have performed according to his guidelines.
Tom:
- CEO and Founder of NetRise, identifying vulnerabilities in firmware through building SBOMs
- Ex-VP at Blackberry after the Cylance acquisition
- Previously worked as a cyber analyst at the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve where he first learned about the gaps in IoT security solutions
Check out the episode for our discussion on software vs. firmware SBOMs, whether tools are valuable if there are no clear remediation steps, and how IoT is addressed differently than other device types.
https://www.netrise.io/
Jon:
- Founder and CEO of Salem Cyber, building a virtual SOC analyst
- Previously Principal at Booz Allen Hamilton
- Started his career at Verizon as a network and SIEM engineer
Check out the episode for our discussion about the automation capabilities available to a moden SOC and what gaps are left after applying SOAR tools.
https://www.salemcyber.com/
Mike:
- CEO and co-founder at Dark Sky Technologies, building a suite of products to address open source insecurity
- Previously VP of Product at Arxan and Microsemi
- Previously Senior Director of Business Development at Cryptography Research Inc
- Previously VP of Marketing at Star Lab
- Combined two decades of experience in cybersecurity!
Check out the episode for our discussion on gaining exposure across a variety of business units, supplementing software composition analysis (SCA) with additional context around package trust, and automating the translation of code into more secure languages.
darkskytechnology.com
Gal:
- CTO and co-founder at Oligo, providing a runtime solution for software supply chain security
- Worked at Checkpoint for 7 years
- Started his security journey in the IDF
- Met his co-founders as a child, and they conspired to start a company together for decades before launching Oligo!
Check out the episode for our discussion of his hack of instagram, how Oligo gets creative with reaching inundated CISOs, and how AI has changed the software supply chain landscape.
https://www.oligo.security/
Maxime:
- CEO and founder at LimaCharlie, middleware for cybersecurity application integration for incident response
- Previously worked for Google, Crowdstrike, and Canada's department of defense
Check out the episode for our discussion on the challenges of building your own security workflows, automation adoption journeys, and how the larger cybersecurity automation world is evolving.
https://limacharlie.io/
Ganesh:
- CEO and founder at Anzenna, providing contextual learning opportunities to improve employees' cybersecurity training
- Previously founded Avid Secure, one of the original CSPM companies, which he sold to Sophos in 2019
- Joined Sophos as a VP of engineering and worked there for the last three years prior to launching Anzenna
Check out the episode for our discussion on the sale of Avid Secure at the very beginning of the CSPM boom, what contextual learning entails in the workforce development space, and how the Anzenna team is going about this challenge.
https://www.anzenna.ai/
Aakash:
- CTO and co-founder at Oak9, helping organizations build secure architecture models using security as code blueprints
- Previously a security architect for major healthcare and health insurance companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Feature speaker at RSA 2023 talking about the security as code construct
Check out the episode for our conversation about the importance of security architecture as opposed to just security configurations and the value stemming from secure cloud infrastructure blueprints.
oak9.io
Tito:
- CEO and Founder of HiddenLayer, securing organizations building or using machine learning models
- Previously VP of Engineering at Qualys
- Previously Senior Director of Data Science at Agari
- Previously Director of Threat Research at Cylance when they were hit by a model inference attack back in 2019
- Fun fact: The HiddenLayer co-founders have worked together for the last five years!
Check out the episode for our conversation about real-world attacks against machine learning models, the current state of AI security capabilities including monitoring and scanning, and the market appetite for this tooling.
- https://hiddenlayer.com/
- https://github.com/Azure/counterfit
- https://incidentdatabase.ai/
Roy:
- CEO of C2A Security, providing a host of solutions to secure modern automobiles
- Previously VP of Foretellix, a leader in autonomous vehicle simulation testing
- Strongly believes increased security is a core requirement for autonomous vehicle adoption
Check out the episode for our conversation about how cars can be exploited, what companies can do about it, and how charging stations and autonomous vehicles present new threats.
https://c2a-sec.com/
Ankita:
- CEO and co-founder at Akto.io, building an API security product for engineers to love
- Previously was Chief of Staff to the CEO at CleverTap, where she met her co-founder Ankush
- Worked at VMware for several years where she developed her knowledge of the cybersecurity space
Check out the episode for our conversation on what it means to build a security product engineers love and how Akto is rethinking the traditional cybersecurity sales cycle.
akto.io
Pete:
- CSO and co-founder at Phylum, securing software supply chains beyond just known CVEs
- Previously founded and led Clever Security, a security focused R&D shop and consultancy
- Ex-VP at Optiv and Accuvant
Check out the episode for our conversation on the range of vulnerabilities in the software supply chain and how major events like the Ukraine war can impact the public trust of open-source packages.
Phylum.io
John:
- Managing director at Datatribe, focusing on applying his success to help build great products
- Three exits from companies he founded!
Check out the episode for our discussion on the Datatribe model and why it was compelling to him as an accomplished founder, as well as some of his top lessons for building successful cybersecurity products.
https://datatribe.com/
Stel:
- CEO and founder of OnShore Security, providing technology-enabled cybersecurity services for companies of all sizes
- CEO of OnShore since 1991, and he has sold off parts of the company three separate times
- Physics lover, artist, musician, and more!
Check out the episode for our discussion on growing a technology enabled services business, managing spin-offs, and staying inspired by a business for over 30 years.
onshore.com
Moty:
- CEO and co-founder of Surf Security, building a security focused browser to replace VPNs and VDI
- Over 25 years of security practitioner experience including three stints as CISO
- Fun fact: I initially stumbled on the company because I’m an avid surfer and was shocked to see the name. Turns out they were working on some neat stuff too!
Check out the episode for our discussion on the secure browser competitive landscape, what features customers are actually using right now, and how Moty thinks about the future of the space.
Links:
- https://surf.security/
Greg:
- CEO and co-founder of BalanceTheory, helping organizations consume security knowledge effectively and efficiently
- Previously co-founded Decision Lab which was sold to Optiv
- Won the 2022 DataTribe cybersecurity start-up challenge which led to a $3M seed round
Check out the episode for our discussion on cybersecurity knowledge bases, shared information across organizations, and focusing on an MVP.
balancetheory.io
Cenk:
- CEO and co-founder of Kondukto, helping automate and centralize application security remediation
- Worked on several businesses with his father, a key inspiration in his career as we discuss in the episode
- Told me after the episode he had been bedridden from food poisoning in the days leading up to the interview!
Check out the episode for our conversation about the cybersecurity market in Turkey, when and why he left the family business to start Kondukto, and how Kondukto is looking to shake up the existing field of AppSec players.
Links:
kondukto.io
Dan:
- CEO and co-founder of CyberOwl, asset management for maritime security
- Previously spent 10 years at KPMG across tax and strategy
- Was courted for months before deciding to help co-found CyberOwl
In the episode, we talk more about why the team decided to target maritime security, targeting a new customer segment via clustering, how they manage their product roadmap with aspirations to expand beyond maritime, and much more.
Links:
- cyberowl.io
- secureventures.io
Shashank:
- CEO and founder of uno.ai, leveraging AI for story stitching and root cause analysis in security operations
- Ex VP of Engineering at StackRox
- Advisor, investor, expert-in-residence, and more!
Check out the episode for our discussion on how uno is rethinking traditional approaches to security operations.
Links:
- uno.ai
- secureventures.io
Eric:
- CISO at Sonrai Security, a leader in cloud native security
- Ex-director of security and IT at Verafin
- Almost 20 years of experience in cybersecurity
Check out the episode for our discussion on the unique elements of his dual-role and his quick-hit thoughts on what’s next for cloud security.
Links:
- https://sonraisecurity.com/
trust.safebase.io
Ron:
- President of Gula Tech Adventures, $100M self-funded VC firm
- Ex-CEO and Co-founder of Tenable, valued at over $7B at its peak in April
- Co-founder of Network Security Wizards, which created one of the first commercialized Network Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS)
- Networking expert!
Check out the episode for our conversation on how to approach networking with a goal-based mindset, the importance of authenticity, and leveraging topic experts.
https://www.gula.tech/data-care
Gary:
- CEO of RealDefense, a consumer security conglomerate with over 100 million users
- Ex-CEO and Founder of CyberDefender, which he grew to over $100 million in annual revenue
- Ex-CEO of Business Hangouts, the #1 enterprise video software for Google Suite
Check out the episode for our conversation on the value of cash-flowing cybersecurity businesses, the strategy of acquiring a portfolio of products, and the opportunities in consumer security.
Links:
- RealDefense: https://www.realdefen.se/home/
- SafeBase Example: https://security.safebase.io/
Mike:
- Founder at FleetDM, helping organizations manage and optimize their OSquery deployments
- Previously founded Sails.js, the most popular MVC framework for node.js, with over 50 million downloads per year
- A strong believer in Open Source and Open Core software products
Check out the episode for our conversation on open source security software, pivoting from an open source contributor to a full-time founder, and more!
Links:
- https://fleetdm.com/
- GitLab article about Open Core: https://about.gitlab.com/company/pricing/
Rob:
- Managing director at Lionfish Tech Advisors, providing security solution advisory services
- 8 year veteran of Gartner, leading Endpoint Security, Remote Access, and more
- 3-time founder
Brad:
- Advisor at Lionfish
- Previously senior product manager at Dell, IBM, and Acquia
- Veteran of Gartner, leading Endpoint Security and Threat Intelligence
Check out the episode for our discussion on the state of industry research via firms like Gartner and how the market is adapting with other alternatives.
Links:
- https://www.lionfishtechadvisors.com/
Girish:
- Co-founder of Sprinto, a continuous compliance and security platform for cloud and on-prem.
- Previously co-founder at RecruiterBox which was acquired by TurnRiver Capital in 2018
- Both him and his co-founder Raghu didn't know how to code when they first started launching businesses!
Check out the episode for our discussion on iterating through product ideas in just a few months, the current state of security questionnaire standards, and much more.
Links:
- Sprinto: sprinto.com
- NorthStar (Sponsor): northstar.io
Alex:
- Co-founder and CEO of NorthStar, a risk-based vulnerability management platform
- Extensive experience in consulting both in security and contracts management (when he had to leave security to avoid a conflict of interest while building NorthStar after hours)
Check out the episode for our discussion on pivoting a consulting business and risk contextualization.
Links:
- https://www.northstar.io/
Yotam:
- Founder and CEO of Cyera, a cloud data security platform
- Graduate of Israel's elite training program, Talpiot, which accepts just 50 people each year from 10,000 applicants
- Backed by both Sequoia AND Accel
Check out the episode for our discussion on deciding to found a company without an idea, customer validation, and data security in the cloud.
Links:
- Cyera: cyera.io
- NorthStar: northstar.io | Reach out at connect@northstar.io
Yasir:
- Founder and CEO of Polymer, a DLP tool for your SaaS ecosystem
- Previously founded DVega, an enterprise consulting business
- Ex-mortgage bond trader
Check out the episode for our discussion on the insecurity in SaaS platforms and how DLP can work effectively in this space.
Links:
- Polymer: polymerhq.io
- Aspiron Search: aspironsearch.com | Reach out at info@aspironsearch.com
Melissa:
- CEO of Lighter Capital, a pioneering firm in revenue-based financing
- Previously a VC Partner for 17 years
- Ex-CEO of 7Software which was acquired by Concur
- Founder of Heads over Heels, a strategic networking group to help female leaders in high-growth companies
Check out the episode for our discussion on revenue based financing as an alternative to traditional VC and how founders can prepare for the upcoming economic conditions.
Links:
- Lighter Capital: https://www.lightercapital.com/
- Heads Over Heels: https://www.headsoverheels.com.au/
- Y Combinator Letter: Business Insider Article
Bilal:
- Co-founder and COO of Enquire, connecting subject matter experts with the individuals making the most important decisions in the world
- PhD from Oxford in political science
- Published author
Check out the episode for our discussion on global knowledge networks, strategic decision-making, and the need for the propagation of cybersecurity expertise.
Links:
https://enquire.ai
Eric:
- CEO and founder of Racktop, providing realtime data protection capabilities by monitoring and restricting activity at the data level
- Was doing zero-trust before it was cool!
We discuss how security mechanisms today are missing a level of depth at the data itself, how Racktop protects ransomware in real-time, building behavioral analytics capabilities for data, and how zero-trust concepts fit into the picture.
Links:
https://www.racktopsystems.com/
Chris:
- CEO and founder of Corsha, providing multi-factor authentication for API requests
- Previously worked at the DOJ as a national security adviser including counterespionage
- Lawyer - still provides legal consulting work
Check out the episode for our discussion on espionage in the tech industry, API security mechanisms, and how API MFA works with Corsha.
Links:
Corsha: https://corsha.com
CFIUS: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/international/the-committee-on-foreign-investment-in-the-united-states-cfius
Sponsor:
rThreat: https://rthreat.net/
Email: hugo.sanchez@rthreat.com
Lisa:
- CEO and founder of nopsec, contextualizing vulnerability information across your entire corporate environment
- Ex consultant from Accenture and KPMG
- Global trekker having been to over 30 countries!
From Blu Ventures' Cyber Summit, we discuss the contextualization challenges with vulnerability management, the role of vulnerability scanners with modern integration platforms, and the future of VM programs.
Links:
https://www.nopsec.com/
Idan:
- CEO and co-founder of Apiiro, securing software supply chains for cloud native applications
- Founder and CEO of Aorato which was acquired by Microsoft
- Founder of a cybersecurity services company
- Fellow surfer!
Check out the episode for our discussion on contextualizing application security risk, acquisition decision-making, and RSA's Innovation Sandbox challenge.
Links:
https://apiiro.com/
Mollie:
- CEO and founder of Perygee, helping companies securely manage IoT devices while still adhering to business constraints
- Previously a mathematician at the NSA - she can't tell you or she'd have to kill you
Check out the episode for our discussion on the NSA's (semi) secret startup incubator, common problems with IoT security, how IoT security differs across industries, and more.
Links:
Perygee: https://perygee.com/
Thomas:
- COO and Co-founder of Tines, simplifying the automation of complex workflows through a no-code platform
- Led Security Operations at DocuSign during their IPO in 2018
- Champion of Ireland's cybersecurity ecosystem
Check out the episode for our discussion on choosing a tech employer, the impact of an IPO on security capabilities, and the fundamental ideas and features that make Tines so compelling to security teams.
Links:
- Tines: https://tines.com
- Tines Jobs: https://tines.com/careers
- Security, Funded Newsletter: https://newsletter.returnonsecurity.com/
Leigh:
- CEO and Founder of TallPoppy, helping protect people from online harassment and related hacks
- Social impact driven, evidenced by her time with the ACLU
- Premier tech company resume including Slack, Microsoft, and Heroku
Check out the episode for our discussion on Leigh's transition from tech to the ACLU to TallPoppy, the overlap between online harassment and targeted hacks, and the responsibility companies have in protecting their employees in their personal time.
Links:
Schneier's site with Public-Interest Technology resources: https://public-interest-tech.com/
The TechCongress Fellowship: https://www.techcongress.io/
TallPoppy Jobs: https://www.tallpoppy.com/careers
Blu Cyber Summit: https://www.blucybersummit.com
Gal:
- Co-founder and CTO at Authomize - now in his fifth run as a founder!
- Founded Cyvera which sold to Palo Alto for $200 million
- Founded Hexponent which was acquired in just 8 months
- Founded and led Intel's software security division where he oversaw 120 people
- Listen to the episode for more!
We discuss consulting as a way of marketing your start-up, Gal's legacy as a founder, and the technical challenges in building Authomize. Enjoy!
Marc:
- CEO of Devo, valued at $1.5B in late 2021
- Previously COO of Logmein, valued at over $4B when they were taken private in 2020
- Co-founder and CEO of IBM's Security business unit (8,000 people)
- MBA from Wharton
Listen to the episode for our discussion on the formation of IBM security, the challenges with taking over a company and team during COVID, and current market conditions in the security space as told by a CEO that lives and breathes this market.
Tim:
- CEO of DomainTools for over a decade
- Previously started four start-ups in a single year
- Ex Wall Street and ex Silicon Valley
Listen to the episode for our discussion on breaking into the technology industry, choosing organic vs. accelerated growth, and leveraging advisors for sound strategy.
https://www.returnonsecurity.com/newsletter/
https://www.domaintools.com
https://www.domaintools.com/resources/podcasts
While the Ukraine/Russia conflict lasts, there is increased uncertainty about what the future holds. In this episode, Karim Hijazi (CEO and Founder of Prevailion) and I discuss the cyber conflict in full. Precedent in previous cyber war, how the cyber conflict has unfolded so far, how attackers (both directly and indirectly involved) are responding, and what might unfold in various escalation paths.
His first episode on Secure Ventures was episode #2, and you can find it on whatever app you are using to listen to this one!
Some additional reading material based on what we discussed:
- Ukrainian Hacktivists: https://www.wired.com/story/hacktivists-pandemonium-russia-war-ukraine/
- Russian DDoS: https://venturebeat.com/2022/03/07/ukraine-weve-repelled-nonstop-ddos-attacks-from-russia/
- India's Predicament: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/india-pressure-condemn-russia-ally-ukraine-invasion/
Scott:
- CEO of BV Systems, a family owned security business for over 50 years
- Started working in security in 6th grade
- Published author
- Fellow podcast host
Listen to the episode for our discussion on his contributions to the family business since childhood, the physical security needs of today, and his contributions back to the community across a variety of media facets.
Philippe:
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Founder and CEO of CrowdSec, the "Waze of Security"
-
5-time entrepreneur
-
Entered cybersecurity after meeting his childhood hero who hacked video games
Listen to the episode for the full story behind his introduction to the field, the factors that make a business idea feasible, and how crowdsourced cybersecurity can revolutionize the industry.
https://crowdsec.net
With me in this episode is Jesper Zerlang. After bouncing around from founder to sales to wealth management, he came in to LogPoint to replace the original founder and has since driven incredible growth. In our conversation we dive into the SIEM competitive landscape, the benefits and challenges of a European grown company, and much more.
Jesper:
- CEO of LogPoint, a Security Incident Event Management (SIEM) company headquartered in Copenhagen
- Ex-COO at a Danish Wealth Management company, Griffin Holding A/S
- CEO of his first start-up in 1992!
https://www.logpoint.com/en/
Johanna:
- Two decades of cybersecurity consulting experience
- Tested the viability of starting her own consultancy through a three month engagement and never looked back
- Nicknamed "the Storm"
Listen to the episode for our discussion of consulting principles, the relevance of customer industries for cybersecurity consulting, and growing a consultancy through word of mouth.
Uri:
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Financial crime and fraud detection expert with 20+ years of experience
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CEO and Co-founder at Biocatch - product was used by major banks like Citi, HSBC, and Barclays
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Previously head of RSA Identity Protection Group
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Six month stint as interim CEO at Funtactix, where one of his tasks was to go from level 1-40 in World of Warcraft
Listen to the episode for a breakdown of the evolution of financial crime over the last two decades as attackers responded to new defensive measures, and how Uri played a key role in developing technology to gain the upper hand as the defense.
https://www.biocatch.com/
Lane:
- Senior Vice President of Presales Systems Engineering at Arctic Wolf
- Previously Systems Engineer at Code42
- Security Operations Enthusiast
https://arcticwolf.com/
Harshil:
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Co-founder and CEO at Tromzo
-
Co-founder of SVCI (Silicon Valley CISO Investments)
-
Previously Senior Director of Security at Medallia
Listen to the episode for our discussion on starting a company in stealth, organizing CISOs as investors, raising money with only an idea, and more.
https://www.tromzo.com/
https://www.svci.io/
AJ:
- Co-founder and CEO at ByteChek - "making compliance suck less"
- Founding Board Member of the National Association of Black Compliance and Risk Management Professionals
- LinkedIn Top Voice in 2020
- SANS Instructor
Listen to the episode for our discussion ranging from his dreams to be in the NBA, his experience with compliance challenges, and his revelation that startup founders do not necessarily have to be geniuses.
https://www.bytechek.com/
Shawn:
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Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at World Fuel Services
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Previously the first CISO at US Marine Corps Intelligence
-
Advisor in the startup ecosystem
Listen to the episode for our discussion ranging from analogies between motorcycles and cybersecurity risk management, growing a cybersecurity team, and specific differences between working in government and the private sector.
Craig:
- 2(!) Master's degrees in Math
- Ex Principal Security Engineer at Raytheon
- Mach37 accelerator graduate with HyperQube
Listen to the episode for our discussions around pursuing academia, automating security consulting, and the traditional problems with spinning up cyber ranges.
https://hyperqube.io/
Corey:
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Security professional for 25 years
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Employee #12 at Cylance
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Advocate for culture emphasis, including time as Chief Experience Officer
Listen to the episode for our discussions around the structural challenges with security services, the value of customer success and retention teams in the absence of services teams, and the dynamics around security monitoring for nascent security teams.
Links:
cyvatar.ai
Troy:
- Creator of Have I Been Pwned?
- Creator of the Troy Hunt blog
- Host and producer of the Troy Hunt Weekly Updates podcast
- Pluralsight course author
- Microsoft Regional Director and MVP
- Never finished a college degree
Al:
- Three-time startup builder including Picmonic (Acquired), Medumo (Acquired), and now Safebase.
- Two-time Y Combinator graduate and Harvard Business School alumni
- Past VC at Comcast Ventures and Investment Banking at Mooreland Partners
- Poker enthusiast
SafeBase:
"The Interactive Security Portal" - SafeBase is a security resume for your organization to share key cybersecurity certifications and capabilities with customers in a streamlined fashion.
Sudesh:
- Serial entrepreneur having developed start-ups across several technical industries
- 30+ years in networking and cybersecurity
- At one point considered professional basketball (listen to the episode for more)
KAPALYA:
KAPALYA empowers businesses and their employees to securely store sensitive files at-rest and in-transit across multiple platforms through a user-friendly desktop and mobile application.
- Recently received a $250,000 grant from the NSF for anti-ransomware capabilities
- Launching a crowdfunding campaign in the coming months (stay tuned by following Secure Ventures on Twitter and LinkedIn!)
Links:
https://www.kapalya.com/
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kapalya-awarded-competitive-grant-national-124400465.html
Achiad:
- Bootstrapped Validize from idea to revenue, and he still has yet to take outside investment
- Incredibly involved in the Israeli cybersecurity ecosystem including being a Cyber Security Advisor for Start-up Nation Central, a board member for the Israel Export Institute, and the head of business development for the Ariel Cyber Innovation Center
- Originally studied Economics!
Validize:
- Validize connects global cybersecurity solution purchasers with the innovative products in the Israeli market. The platform’s technology enables Validize's partners to quickly add pre-screened Israeli cybersecurity solutions to their portfolio, receive prioritized channel pricing, and immediately open new opportunities.
https://www.validize.io/
Reuven:
- Previously head of Israel's cybersecurity red team
- Got a blank check offer for his first job in the private sector (listen to the episode for the story)
- Was mistaken for a janitor on his first day of college
- Has grown Cyesec 100% YOY and is targeting 250% this year in part due to a $120MM funding round earlier this year
CYE:
CYE brings a fact-based approach to organizational cyber defense, managing real business risks and optimizing the cybersecurity investment. CYE serves as a trusted advisor to medium-sized and Fortune 500 companies in multiple industries around the world.
https://cyesec.com/index.html
Bruce:
- Creator and content producer for popular security blog Schneier on Security (see first link below)
- Renowned author with over a dozen books
- Lecturer at Harvard
- Has a wikipedia page (I'm not quite there yet...)
His site: https://www.schneier.com/
His paper on AI+Hacking: https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/coming-ai-hackers
His Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Schneier
Hugo:
- Started his career in pharmacology and now has over a decade of sales experience across several disparate industries
- Born in Mexico, he spent the majority of his sales career focused on Latin American expansion
- Similar to Alex/Archis who discussed Polyverse at a Johnny Rockets, Hugo and his co-founder Jesus first discussed rThreat at another classic chain, The Cheesecake Factory.
rThreat:
- Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) tool focused on understanding security posture
- Incredibly strong team of advisors well-known in the space
Alex:
- 17 year tenure at Microsoft including Bill Gates' Technology Advisor
- Has started 5 companies
- Angel investor
- Board member on several companies
- CEO at Polyverse
Archis:
- Previously a software developer at both Microsoft and Amazon
- Won a computing competition in India
- Board member at the Center on Contemporary Art
- CTO at Polyverse
Polyverse:
- Provide continuous protection to Linux systems from memory-based attacks through operating system controls.
Ike:
- Almost 50 years of experience in tech
- Tenures at Apple, MIT, SAP, Cisco and more
- 20 patents
- Way more knowledgeable than me about computing (and most things...)
TidalScale:
- Rethinking the problem of big data computing by scaling up rather than out through a powerful supercomputer
Michael is the CEO of Virta Labs, a healthcare security company building a platform for medical device management. He also founded his own consultancy to help start-ups acquire funding through traditional and non-dilutive mechanisms like government grants. He’s especially well-versed in the financial and legal aspects of startups which are tricky for so many founders.
With me in this episode is Eric Cole. Eric is the CEO and Founder of Secure Anchor Consulting, where he has provided guidance for companies of all sizes and the Obama administration. He is also an established author who will have a total of 8 published books after the release of Cyber Crisis at the start of June. In the episode we dive into the common themes between entrepreneurship and authorship, and how he became successful in both.
Pre-order the book now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cyber-Crisis-Protecting-Business-Threats/dp/1950665836
The average professional's experience with cybersecurity generally involves phishing training, and that is a brutally dry introduction.
Oz Alashe at Cybsafe is working to revolutionize the world of security training, and he won't stop until he has influenced training across the globe. Listen to this episode for his embarrassing icon that influenced his joining the UK paratrooper regimen and his outlook for the future after raising $8 million earlier this year.
Pete is a guru in the entrepreneurship space. He is currently acting as VP of Business Development for two different companies and CEO of his own consultancy, all while acting as an advisor and board member for several others. Pete is a clear "people person", and his stories of innocent connection followed by subsequent business opportunities are incredulous. Tune in to hear about his recipes for success for start-ups that sometimes go against commonly accepted ideas.
As Wayne put it, security companies are often boring. To his credit, ThreatQuotient is far from it. The company has grown to over 100 employees since Wayne founded it with his coworker, Ryan Trost, back in 2013. The team has raised over $50 million in funding, and some portion of that has gone toward adopting three rhinoceroses, the company's logo and official mascot. On this episode, Wayne discusses his burning desire to become a founder before he succeeded with ThreatQuotient, the time commitment in a new venture, and the decision to step down from CEO in order to let the company continue its incredible growth trajectory. Enjoy!
While episodes so far focused on the stories of founders, in this episode I interview the hosts of the Extreme Uncertainty podcast, Mike Ravenscroft and Mike Leffer, who are prominent venture capitalists in the security space. The episode includes a glimpse into the untraditional routes into VC as well as several tips for founders looking for funding and idiosyncrasies of the security market when looking at potential investments. This is one of my favorite episodes so far, as it provides additional background as to the struggles of every founder I have interviewed on the show.
Their podcast can be found by searching "Extreme Uncertainty" wherever you listen to Secure Ventures, or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/extreme-uncertainty/.
Vladi has been through the gamut of cybersecurity roles including experience with the military, teaching, consulting, product, and entrepreneurship. After quickly rising through the ranks of Israel's cyber security arm, he entered the private sector where he gave up his free time for several years as he worked in consulting during the day and on coursework at night, including founding a security program at his alma mater shortly after graduating. Now, Vladi is leading Lightspin in the red-hot cloud security space with a novel approach to defense through graph visualization. His company has been growing rapidly, and incredibly he has done this while keeping an even balance between men and women despite the male-dominated field.
Sam is the youngest guest to join the show so far, having started his company Kasada while he was still a teenager. After experience working in the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) in high school, basically the NSA of Australia, Sam decided to forgo college ("university" for the Australians) in favor of going directly into the security world. Shortly after, he founded Kasada, which is built around a bot deterrence platform that presents complex quantitative challenges that cost attackers thousands in compute resources. Kasada has seen explosive growth, as it received funding from the CIA's venture group in its 2019 Series A, received a Series B in 2020, and now has over 50 employees.
After an early stint in the Air Force Reserves and then as an Algorithm Engineer, Guy's career then transformed after business school. He transitioned into Business Development, where he led the APAC expansion for Runcom Technologies and later Algosec. He was mentoring in an Australian cyber security accelerator, CyRise, when we was recruited by one of his mentees and now his Co-Founder. After a successful pivot, SecureStack is focusing on its product CloudBuilder, which enables secure templates for cloud deployments so the application attack surface can be rapidly reduced. SecureStack was recently named one of the top 20 cybersecurity firms to watch in 2021 by Forbes.
After starting his career in the music industry including the creation of his own music festival, Festivus, Dean has woven a fascinating career out of his deep marketing expertise. With the new privacy regulation across the globe over the last several years, marketing efforts have become reliant on privacy compliance for effectiveness. Invisit is streamlining privacy compliance to ensure companies maximize the value of their marketing campaigns.
After a tongue-twisting liberal arts degree with two majors and two minors, Chrissa went on to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. After a series of stints in healthcare, she found a passion for healthcare technology where she could influence a much wider landscape within healthcare. Her company, Patientory, is providing secure storage and access to consumer healthcare data through a mobile application so individuals can take ownership of their medical records.
From an early start in material sciences to serial product lead and strategist to trusted adviser in healthcare, Balaji has developed a fascinating career tackling each of his interests. While the healthcare industry is receiving more attention than ever, his company MedStack is simplifying healthcare security by providing an automated platform for deployment and infrastructure management.
In the wake of the recent SolarWinds incident, never has Karim Hijazi been so busy. Karim started his career in photography and then quickly transitioned into starting his own security consultancy. Since then, he has had numerous interesting events including a public battle with Lulzsec in 2011. Now, his company Prevailion is in the spotlight more than ever due to its novel approach to supplier security.
Ari Jacoby went to college thinking he would enter politics, but he soon found the entrepreneurial itch. Many years later, he has now led four successful exits as he embarks on his first venture into security, Deduce. Deduce is democratizing account takeover detection and prevention capabilities, such as notifications after logins from a new location, so smaller businesses can leverage similar functionality to that at major technology companies such as Apple, Facebook, and Google.