SSW Episode19
Contents
Episode Audio
Opening Discussion
This week on Startup Security Weekly Paul and Michael interview Josh Lefkowitz the CEO of Flashpoint.
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Interview: Josh Lefkowitz, CEO of Flashpoint and Chris Camacho, Flashpoint
Josh Lefkowitz is the CEO of Flashpoint, the global leader in Business Risk Intelligence (BRI) from the Deep & Dark Web. He has worked extensively with authorities to track and analyze terrorist groups. Lefkowitz also served as a consultant to the FBI's senior management team and worked for a top tier, global investment bank. Lefkowitz holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BA from Williams College.
Chris Camacho partners with Flashpoint's executive team to develop, communicate, and execute strategic initiatives. With over 15 years of cybersecurity leadership experience, he has led initiatives across Operational Strategy, Incident Response, Threat Management, and Security Operations to ensure cyber risk postures align with business goals. An entrepreneur, Mr. Camacho also serves as CEO for NinjaJobs, a career-matching community for elite cybersecurity talent. He has a BS in Decision Sciences & Management of Information Systems from George Mason University.
- 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 Stories
Michael's Stories
- How I Burned 10 Million Dollars So You Don’t Have To. ==> speed matters, but the right sort of speed. “I now see it’s not speed of doing that matters. It’s speed of learning. And to learn, you frequently must slow down.”
- Foolish And Focused ==> Look at the focus. And then look at the taking risks. And then contrast those. Then read the next one.
- Promising Equity v. Issuing Equity==> I liked the concept of legal technical debt (and the extreme costs of cleaning it up). That’s the high cost of friction.
- 5 Technologies Your Business Should Adopt Right Now ==> These are good for considering your investments as well as likely places to consider investing
- Deal Breakers, Part 1: Red Flags from Top VCs==>it’s an impressive list; use this to consider how you act, or examine what you look for in others
- Cutting Through the Machine Learning Hype==> useful for some
Paul's Stories
Startup & Security Notes
SECDO develops a cyber security platform that offers contextual investigation, alerts validation and response remediation services for organizations.
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/12155587/secdo-company-profile/
- $10M series A round
Kenna Security is a risk intelligence and vulnerability management platform that enables organizations to measure and monitor security services.
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/12046029/kenna-security-company-profile/
- https://www.kennasecurity.com/
- $15m Series B
- How would you categorize them?
Optiv Inc is being acquired by KKR, adding to it's infosec company lineup of Darktrace, Ping Identity, and Cylance Inc. (and the IPO was canceled).
- http://www.geektime.com/2016/12/08/kkr-acquires-optiv-to-expand-its-it-security-business-worldwide/
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/5954333/optiv-company-profile
- interesting series of moves
- are you paying attention to the focused and growing portfolios?
The Startup Grind: updates
Michael's Straight Talk Framework
- Engaging in more conversations, learning what is actually important about the Straight Talk Framework
- Working with more teams; tweaking the Straight Talk Experience course
- Planning for some new stuff in January, and something exciting in Q1
- Getting back into the writing groove -- check it out, engage, and help me spread the word
- Always looking for more Straight Talk conversations - hit me up with your challenges, questions, and success stories! Keep 'em coming!
What I published this week
- Leadership and communication are actually layers, not levels ==> key concept to unlocking performance and reducing friction
- Want to be an exceptional leader? Stop consuming a negative mental diet ==> surrounded by negative news, we have to fight for the positive. Change your mindset, change your results.
- Do people need to be ready for Straight Talk? ==> I get asked this question a lot. If you think people need to be ready, you're not talking straight
- Why security leaders need to embrace the concept of reasonable security now ==> You run a startup? You need to understand reasonable security. This will be part of Minimum Viable Security (MVS) (and I plan to introduce it during a keynote/presentation in February)
