Straight talk on cybersecurity brand and growth

How bold is too bold? The CFO-forward test

Cybersecurity founders want to stand out and fear standing out. Both instincts are right. There is a working test for where the line sits, and it involves your champion's CFO.

Phill Keaney-Bolland

4 Aug 2026

When to launch: the cybersecurity market calendar

Founders debate launch timing endlessly: before or after the raise, before or after the product feels ready. There is no perfect moment. There is a market calendar, and it should set your date.

Phill Keaney-Bolland

28 Jul 2026

AI is your salesperson now

Buyers describe a use case to an LLM and get a shortlist of three to five names. How security startups earn a place on it, and why the answer runs through a website you own.

Phill Keaney-Bolland

21 Jul 2026

Building Action1: Mike Walters on Patch Management, AI Vibe Coding, and the Power of Focus

Mike Walters had to kill his own products to find the one that scaled. He also thinks vibe coding is about to make distribution matter more than code.

AI is Your New Salesperson: Deepak Gupta on Going From SEO to GEO

Buyers increasingly describe a problem to a model rather than search a keyword. Deepak Gupta explains what that does to your website, and gives a three-step fix.

The Logic of Deny by Default: Building the Ultimate Security Guardrail

Rob Allen spent two decades cleaning up after trust but verify. He explains why a 15 percent error rate makes AI unfit for the final allow or deny decision.

We took Aryon from stealth to launch in 2025 with a brand and website built around prevention, not detection. The company has since raised a Series A backed by some of the biggest names in cybersecurity.

We built the brand and website for Geordie from inception in 2025, working directly with founders from Darktrace and Snyk. A year later Geordie won the RSAC 2026 Innovation Sandbox.

We partnered with the ex-Claroty founders from inception in 2024 to brand and launch Twine, the company building AI digital employees for security teams. Twine went on to reach the RSAC 2025 Innovation Sandbox final.

The Cybersecurity Cult Products Awards report

We scored all 77 startups exhibiting at RSA's Early Stage Expo and Next Stage on proposition, brand, and marketing. Here is what the category gets wrong, and who gets it right.