Yaron Singer is the Founder and CEO of Robust Intelligence, the early leader in AI security that was recently acquired by Cisco. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Yaron on how academics need to decide on the right time to start a company, why the capabilities and risks of AI for many industries need to be approached end to end, and why startups should seek to dispel many of the myths of being acquired: Why Skateboarding Prepared Me Well for Entrepreneurship [4:10 - 5:45] - Yaron early o...
Mar 04, 2025•29 min
Dmitri Alperovitch is the Co-Founder and former CTO of Crowdstrike, one of the most valuable cybersecurity companies founded in the modern era that defined the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Dmitri on why email security was one of the best places to learn cybersecurity, the hardest parts of finding product-market fit in a new category, and how all of his learnings inside of larger companies ultimately inspired him to start Crowdstrike: ...
Sep 10, 2024•56 min
Chris Wysopal is the Founder and CTO of Veracode, a $2.5 billion software supply chain security company that pioneered the field of application security and was one of the first companies to embrace software as a service. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Chris on his early fame as a cybersecurity researcher and the highs and lows of building Veracode across three decades: How a Hacking Group Became Celebrities [11:50 - 15:35] - Chris was a member of the famous “L0pht” hacker group who ...
Apr 16, 2024•35 min
Kevin Mandia is the Founder and CEO of Mandiant, the widely recognized leader in cybersecurity incident response which was recently acquired by Google for $5.4 Billion. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Kevin on why he founded Mandiant, and his personal journey to create a company to defend companies against cyber surveillance advanced persistent threats from Russia, China, and North Korea: Seeing the Future of Inevitable Breaches [15:32- 16:05] - Kevin started Mandiant after seeing the...
Jan 16, 2024•53 min
Shay Banon is the Founder and CTO of Elastic (NYSE: ESTC) the open source leader platform that enables enterprise search, observability, and cybersecurity. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Shay on his path to starting Elastic, and his success building a commercial open source company in the era of cloud providers: Learn To Overcome Fear and Embrace the Future [6:10- 8:43] - Shay was diagnosed with a rare and incurable kidney disease at a very young age. He was told he might not live a ...
Oct 05, 2023•44 min
HD Moore is the founder and CEO of Metasploit and runZero, two cybersecurity companies that are widely used to identify assets and vulnerabilities in corporate environments. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with HD on growing up as one of the most famous cybersecurity hackers who had the courage to publish software vulnerabilities on the internet: Need to Necessity - Diving in Dumpsters for Computer Parts [1:20-2:24] - HD Moore grew up poor and had to scrounge for computer parts in dumpster...
Jul 18, 2023•36 min
Bipul Sinha is the founder and CEO of Rubrik, a leader in zero-trust data security used by enterprises to defend against ransomware and to create global cyber resiliency. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Bipul Sinha on his unusual path from India to Silicon Valley and his unique mindset as a startup founder: Don’t Be Afraid to Drop Everything [4:30-6:50] - Bipul dropped out of school in order to study for his college entrance exams in India. Growing up in a lower middle class household...
Jun 28, 2023•45 min
Guy Podjarney is the founder of Snyk, a leading security company building developer first security tools to help organizations develop fast & stay secure. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Guy about the problem-solving approach he still carries with him from his time in the IDF and the threat of playing it too safe for first-time founders. How to Approach an “Impossible Problem” [4:59 - 8:24] - When Guy joined Unit 8200 of the Israeli Defense Forces, he was embedded in a group of hi...
Aug 04, 2022•50 min
Nir Polak is the co-founder of Exabeam, one of the most successful and valuable private cybersecurity firms currently valued at $2.4 billion. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Nir about how his time in the Israeli Defense Forces prepared him for the constant battles in the early days of a startup and the importance of taking care of your mental health as a founder. From The Front Lines Of Combat To CEO [5:57 - 8:02] - After high school, Nir spent three years in combat with the Israeli D...
Jul 14, 2022•31 min
Jesse Rothstein is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of ExtraHop Networks, a cyber defense platform that uses cloud-scale AI to help enterprises respond to advanced threats. ExtraHop was acquired by Bain Capital and Crosspoint Capital Partners for $900 million in 2021. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Jesse about selection bias for entrepreneurs and how some of his lowest moments as a founder were actually blessings in disguise. Searching For Satisfaction [5:19 - 7:17] - Jess...
Jul 08, 2022•40 min
Ed Bellis is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Kenna Security, a cybersecurity company that pioneered the risk-based vulnerability management space, and was acquired by Cisco last year. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Ed about his journey from skateboarder to cybersecurity expert, including his advice for first-time founders anxious about always getting it right the first time. Turning Pain Points Into Passion Projects [09:38 - 11:00] - When Ed made the switch from Chief ...
Jun 09, 2022•30 min
Slavik Markovich is the Founder and CEO of Demisto, a security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) platform that was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2019 for $560 million. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Slavik about how his time in the Israeli army kickstarted his entrepreneurial journey and what mistakes he made as a first-time founder. Basic (Entrepreneurial) Training in the Israeli Army [02:54 - 06:24] - During his time in the Israeli army (IDF), Slavik was introduced...
Jun 02, 2022•38 min
Oliver Friedrichs is the Founder and CEO of Phantom Cyber, a four-time successful entrepreneur who has exited companies to McAfee, Symantec, Sourcefire, and Splunk. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Oliver about the lessons he has learned along the way, including how to cultivate partnerships that lead to successful exits and avoiding valuation traps as a first-time founder. Your Advantage Is Your Speed [17:47 - 18:39] - Many startups think they are smarter than big companies. Oftentime...
May 26, 2022•36 min
Haroon Meer is the Founder of Thinkst Canary, a fast growing cybersecurity company that enables companies to put “honeypots” on their network to catch attackers in minutes. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Haroon Meer about how growing up during the tail end of Apartheid influenced his leadership style and how he bootstrapped Thinkst Canary to success. You Need to Build a Better Mousetrap [9:09 - 12:27] - After spending 10 years in consulting, Haroon was itching to start a product comp...
May 19, 2022•38 min
Amy Chang is the Founder of Accompany, a relationship intelligence platform that uses machine learning and AI to help business professionals enhance and grow their most important relationships. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Amy Chang about her journey to Founder, including the unconventional way she chose between job offers at Google and Yahoo and how her husband finally got her to stop waking him up at 3 AM with new ideas. Why You Should Normalize Imposter Syndrome [8:05-10:05] - A...
Feb 17, 2022•34 min
Andrew Peterson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Signal Sciences, the fastest growing web application security company in the world. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Andrew Peterson about why he calls Anthony Bourdain his career role model and how he ended up in Tanzania working without running water or power near the beginning of his career. Hire People Smarter Than You [5:38-6:06] - Andrew was always surrounded by incredibly talented people at every company he worked at. As a founder, An...
Feb 10, 2022•40 min
Ricardo Oliveira is the Co-founder and CTO of ThousandEyes, a Cisco company providing some of the largest brands more visibility into how customers and employees use their networks. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Ricardo Oliveira about meeting his future co-founder in a research group at UCLA and developing a constructive mindset as a first-time founder. How To Turn Rejection Into Motivation [13:40-14:32] - When Ricardo and his co-founder approached a potential advisor, they were tol...
Feb 03, 2022•20 min
Matthew Prince is the Co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, an internet infrastructure company that is making the internet a faster and safer place. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Matthew Prince on how he went from bartender to founder of one of the most successful startups built in the last decade. Pick Your Co-Founders Wisely [13:10-15:16] - Choosing who to build your startup with is just as important as choosing the problem you want to solve, says Matthew, who’s worked in teams that q...
Jan 27, 2022•36 min
Michelle Zatlyn is the Co-founder, President, and COO of Cloudflare, an internet infrastructure company that is making the internet a faster and safer place. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Michelle Zatlyn on her path to Co-founder and why you have to love what you do in order to succeed. Don’t Be Afraid To Deviate From The Plan [2:30-14:15] - Michelle grew up thinking she wanted to be a doctor but an unexpected award for a research project made her rethink her future. Years later, sh...
Jan 20, 2022•36 min
Marty Roesch is the founder and CEO of Sourcefire, one of the very first commercial open source companies, that was acquired by Cisco in 2013 for $2.7 billion. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Marty Roesch on his journey to CEO, including how laser tag became his foray into cybersecurity and why he considers himself a “particularly good benevolent dictator”. Have Empathy For Your Users [14:19-15:19] - Marty got the motivation to continue developing Sourcefire alongside his 9-5 from the...
Nov 11, 2021•34 min
Jon Oberheide is the co-founder and CTO of Duo Security which was acquired by Cisco for $2.4 billion. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Jon Oberheide about his personal journey to where he is today, including the “not illegal” way he met his Duo co-founder in a back stairwell. The Most Unorthodox Practices Are Sometimes The Most Fruitful [06:11-09:16] - From spamming unsolicited emails at Starbucks to hacking his future business partner’s wifi network, Jon has done it all. Learn how his...
Nov 04, 2021•32 min
Omar Tawakol is a serial entrepreneur whose latest company, Voicea, was acquired by Cisco in 2019. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Omar Tawakol about his journey to becoming a three-time founder and his advice to new founders caught up in the noise of the industry. Find The Creativity in Every Step of Iteration [01:48-03:19] - To Omar, being a founder means creating value to bring to the world. While founders can lose this sentiment throughout the process of building a product, listen...
Oct 28, 2021•41 min
Mohit Lad is the co-founder of ThousandEyes, a Cisco company providing some of the largest brands more visibility into how customers and employees use their networks. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Mohit Lad on how founding a company was “plan C” and why it’s important to use his role as an advisor to fight for diversity in the tech industry. Tap Into The Scrappiness/Pressure For The Best Results [08:58-11:23] - Mohit tackled several challenges throughout his founder journey, from se...
Oct 21, 2021•38 min
Dug Song is the co-founder and CEO of Duo Security which was acquired by Cisco for $2.4 billion. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Dug Song about how he fell into a world famous hacking group made up of “angels and devils” and how he got hired by his college after hacking into their networks. Understanding Your Customers Requires Deep Empathy [16:55-19:21] - Instead of giving your customers what they ask for, Dug believes you should give them something they never thought was possible. L...
Oct 14, 2021•32 min
Welcome to The Decibel Podcast: Founders Helping Founders. We're excited to launch our new podcast! Each month, we're bringing together founders from diverse backgrounds to reveal their personal journeys, words of wisdom, and lessons learned from the earliest years of their now successful startups. Join us and subscribe to the Decibel Podcast to receive updates for future episodes. Follow Jon Sakoda https://twitter.com/jonsakoda Follow Decibel https://twitter.com/DecibelVC...
Jul 06, 2021•38 sec
