Super Cyber Fridays!
Join us TOMORROW, Friday [02-09-24], for Super Cyber GAME SHOW Friday

Join us Friday, February 9, 2024, for “Super Cyber GAME SHOW Friday”, one hour packed with cyber games. We'll be bringing our audience into the show to play some of our favorite games.

It all begins at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT on Friday, February 9, 2024. We'll have fun conversation and games, plus at the end of the hour (2 PM ET/11 AM PT) we'll do our meetup.

Register

Defense in Depth
Why Do Cybersecurity Startups Fail?

All startups are inherently a risky proposition. While the majority fail, some do succeed. What are the specific challenges for startups in our industry?

Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week’s episode co-hosted by me, David Spark, the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap, CISO, LinkedIn. Joining us is our guest Mike Levin, deputy CISO, 3M.

Some startups prioritize building their technology rather than a product

In their startup zeal, startups will fail to focus on solving a problem for their customers. "There is often so much early focus on ‘getting the product/technology to work’ that a rigorous analysis of actual customer pain is pushed out far too late," said Neal Hartsell of Gradient Cyber. Ultimately, a startup needs to sell a solution, not a tech stack that a business needs to figure out. "Too many founders are married to the technology they are building when they should be married to solving a business problem. The days of building cool technology and having the customer figure out the business value proposition are over," said Steve Zalewski, co-host Defense in Depth. 

The world doesn’t wait for a startup

Startups can often seem disruptive when they first make a splashy debut. But they run into trouble when they can’t adapt to the changing needs of customers. Dan Didier found many startups aren’t structured to adapt to change, saying, "An annual strategy planning session just won't cut it. You need to be nimble, flexible, and plugged in to where the market is today and where it's going." Changing markets mean startups also need to understand what value they are actually bringing to the business. "It is surprising how many companies do not understand what value they are bringing - they think they are selling X when what customers are actually buying is Y," said Jason Keirstead of Cyware.

Startups can’t live on an island 

You need remarkable focus to build a startup. But that focus can often mislead you into thinking your customers think your startup is as important as you do. Startups must take into account how their solutions operate in a wider ecosystem. "Thinking your solution is the single source of truth and forgetting that organizations have invested millions in other products. Helping your customers continue to produce value in other solutions they have already invested in isn't just a good idea, it's necessary," said Jared Ballou of DirectDefense.

Company inertia can prove a powerful impediment to startups

Startups are beholden to the current state of business. It’s one thing to have a good product, but a business can’t see that value if they’re drowning in technical debt. "Some security teams love their homegrown scripts and automations so much it blinds them from the cost they incur in maintaining, so they pass on a startup product, which has a known cost, and continue drowning the organization in alert fatigue, hidden costs, and ultimately legacy security," said Luigi Lenguito of BforeAI.

Please listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast app, or over on our blog where you can read the full transcript. If you’re not already subscribed to the Defense in Depth podcast, please go ahead and subscribe now.

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, RevealSecurity

LIVE!
Cyber Security Headlines - Week in Review

Make sure you register on YouTube to join the LIVE "Week In Review" this Friday for Cyber Security Headlines with CISO Series reporter Richard Stroffolino. We do it this and every Friday at 3:30 PM ET/12:30 PM PT for a short 20-minute discussion of the week's cyber news. Our guest will be Doug Mayer, vp, CISO, WCG.

Thanks to our Cyber Security Headlines sponsor, Vanta

Cyber chatter from around the web...
Jump in on these conversations

"Whoops, got someone arrested!" (More here)

"Uplifting news in the Cybersecurity job market?" (More here)

"Entering the cybersecurity world." (More here)

Coming Up On Super Cyber Friday...
Coming up in the weeks ahead on Super Cyber Friday we have:

• [02-09-24] Super Cyber GAME SHOW Friday

• [02-16-24] Hacking Compliance Vs. Security

 Save your spot and register for them all now!

Thank you!
Thank you for supporting CISO Series and all our programming

We love all kinds of support: listening, watching, contributions, What's Worse?! scenarios, telling your friends, sharing in social media, and most of all we love our sponsors!

Everything is available at cisoseries.com.

Interested in sponsorship, contact me, David Spark.