SSWEpisode36

Startup Security Weekly - Episode 36

Hosts

Paul Asadoorian[1], Embedded device security researcher, Security podcaster and CEO of Offensive Countermeasures

Michael Santarcangelo[2], founder of SecurityCatalyst.com, author of Into the Breach, and creator of the leadership-driven Straight Talk Framework - with our favorite question, "What problem are you trying to solve?"

Featured Interview/Opening Discussion

Interview: Roger Courville, EventBuilder

Roger Courvile of EventBuilder (A.K.A."the Michael Jordan of online presentations and virtual classes") [3]

Roger Courville has been called “the Michael Jordan of online presentations and virtual classes” and “the ultimate content marketing weapon.” Most of the time, though, he’s a just an exceedingly normal guy who speaks, trains, consults, and writes about psychosocial effectiveness when communicating via web/audio/video conferencing (e.g., webinars/web seminars, virtual presentations, webcasts, virtual classrooms). A veteran of the conferencing industry (since the modem days of 1999), Roger has taught tens of thousands people worldwide, and he’s reached tens of thousands more with writing appearances, interviews, and while sitting in airports.

• http://www.eventbuilder.rocks/roger-courville-csp/

• What is unique about running a security startup?
• How about moving from a services/consulting company to a product company?
• What are some unique things investors are interested in when talking to security startups?
• Where are the best opportunities in the market for security startups?
• What advice do you have for those who may have an idea and want to create a security startup?
• What are some of the most exciting security startups in the industry right now and why?
• What advice do you have for enterprises looking at solution and considering (or not) a solution for a security startup?

Startup Articles & Discussion

• Babson College Professor Shares the Number One Characteristic of Successful Entrepreneurs ==>
• 4 Things You Didn't Think You Would Need When You Scaled Your Business ==> ‘’Business owners often believe that figuring out how to grow their business will be their biggest challenge. But that's just the start.’’
• The Art of Capital Allocation ==>
• The myth of the ‘store of the future’ ==>
• Steve Case: Future innovation is outside of Silicon Valley ==>

Startup & Security Notes of Interest

Jeff Bezos Annual Letter

• https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000119312517120198/d373368dex991.htm
• ‘’Here’s a starter pack of essentials for Day 1 defense: customer obsession, a skeptical view of proxies, the eager adoption of external trends, and high-velocity decision making.’’
• ‘’A common example is process as proxy.’’

SoftBank leads $16.5 million investment into cloud infrastructure security startup Dome9 (series C)

• ‘’Dome9 Security provides multi-platform firewall management as a service for cloud and hosted virtual private servers.’’
• https://venturebeat.com/2017/04/19/softbank-leads-16-5-million-investment-into-cloud-infrastructure-security-startup-dome9/
• https://www.owler.com/iaApp/122131/dome9-security-company-profile
• https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/dome9-security#/entity
• Total raise of $29.3M in 4 rounds

CyberGRX raised $20M in Series B

• CyberGRX is a third-party cyber risk management platform that helps to identify, assess, mitigate and monitor their external data.
• https://www.owler.com/iaApp/12207216/cybergrx-company-profile
• https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/cybergrx#/entity
• Michael covered this a while back A better way for security leaders to handle third party risk
• http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170418005745/en/CyberGRX-Closes-20M-Series-Funding-Accelerate-Growth

CheckRecipient raised $2.7M

• ‘’CheckRecipient develops an email security platform that helps organizations to prevent confidential information being sent to the wrong recipient.’’
• https://www.owler.com/iaApp/12311892/checkrecipient-company-profile
• https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/checkrecipient#/entity
• Owler is calling it an equity round; Crunchbase is reporting it as an A round (for a total of $3.68M in funding)

Chris Young named CEO at McAfee

• http://www.itp.net/612206-mcafee-gets-a-brand-refresh
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopheryoung4/
• Former GM of the Intel Security Group
• Note this: “The launch of McAfee marks the closing of the previously announced investment by TPG and Intel Corporation (INTC) to establish a pure-play cybersecurity company with access to significant capital, operational and technology resources. Additionally, Thoma Bravo has joined, as a minority investor in the company, through an agreement with TPG. Intel is retaining a 49% equity stake in the new entity.”
• ‘’The Owler Community has spoken: Christopher Young's rating as CEO of McAfee is up 11 points’’ —> ‘’McAfee CEO Christopher Young's overall approval rating is up 11 points after recent input from the Owler Community. The CEO's rating now stands at 54 on a 100 point scale. In comparison, FireEye's Kevin Mandia has a CEO rating of 48 while Greg Clark at Symantec has a rating of 55. Christopher Young's rating represents the opinion of 24 members of the Owler Community.’’

The Startup Journey: Updates

Michael's Journey:

• Straight Talk on Value Prop Audit
• Developing a Straight Talk on Value Prop Resource
• Straight Talk on Value Prop Executive Workshop
• Straight Talk on Value Prop Training Program
• Straight Talk Simple Start

Michael's Writing this week

• Security leaders need to sprint before getting forced to scramble