First things first: I am making Cyber for Builders free, and you can download your PDF here:
Please share it on LinkedIn or directly with friends who would benefit from it, or who would simply enjoy reading it. Thank you for spreading the word!
It has been 1,022 days, or 2 years, 9 months, and 18 days since I published Cyber for Builders: The Essential Guide to Building a Cybersecurity Startup.
It’s crazy to think that less than 3 years ago, someone was still writing books. I don’t mean “putting their thoughts” and “letting AI polish them”, but actually writing books, editing them, getting feedback about different chapters, iterating on them... Different times.
Three years ago, my life was also very different. At that time, I was leading product at LimaCharlie, speaking at events, doing some advisory work, and, obviously, writing this blog. Today, I am mostly heads down building the company while still trying to keep up with what’s happening in the world and post what I hope is valuable for folks (if you aren’t following me on LinkedIn yet, please consider doing it!).
Over these three years, Cyber for Builders didn’t just become an Amazon best seller, but it also won awards like SANS Book of the Year, which I am truly proud of. It sold in the thousands of copies. However, more important than any awards, Cyber for Builders has built a truly cult following, with hundreds of people posting their selfies with the book and leaving reviews on Amazon (you gotta admit, it’s pretty hard to maintain the rating of 4.8 in a world where few people agree on anything).
It all started with a few friends sharing their pictures on LinkedIn.
And then there were more.
And then many, many more (here are just some).
Throughout all this time, Cyber for Builders has always been a community project.
Today, it returns to the community, as I am making the PDF copy of the book entirely free (not even hidden behind an email sign-up, just unconditionally free). Please share it widely on LinkedIn or directly with friends who would benefit from it, or who would simply enjoy reading it.
Why am I doing it?
First and foremost, because I want more people to read it. I want more people to benefit from the understanding of the industry I was fortunate to develop over the years. I want more people to disagree with me. I want more people to spend a few hours thinking about security.
Second, I am doing this because I believe that more people in the industry should have the opportunity to learn about building security startups. You don’t generally learn that by reading books, but reading can give you a good starting point.
Third, I am doing this because I see that it continues to be as relevant today as it was when I first wrote it. Even though a lot has changed since January 2024, if you look at fundamentals, most things have stayed the same. Companies still get breached for the same reasons they were breached before. CISOs are still looking for solutions to their fundamental problems. For startups, it is still (and even more so than before) hard to get the word out about their innovation.
Lastly, I am doing this because over the past several months, several people have reached out to ask for a PDF version of the book. Naturally, I had to dig to figure out if I even have one. I am obviously hoping that people will actually read it, but for those who assume that having a GPT or Claude summary is good enough, you can do that, too :)
Whichever way you decide to consume it, I hope you enjoy the book!