I’ve always asked myself how one would come up with a product idea and build a company around it. I thought where do you get that idea from? Now I somehow found something myself, that is hard to explain but needs to exist: something that helps companies to optimize their AppSec programs (or better systems) for resilience.
If you keep earning confusion instead of validation, it’s at least good to know, that that’s how it’s supposed to be 😂
Great piece, Ross. The conviction over consensus point is one of the more underrated truths in cyber. Everyone wants validation upfront, but the ideas that actually matter usually sound a little off before the market catches up to them. The rare ‘Hell Yes’ and the long stretch of ‘No’s’ in between is such an honest way to describe the founder experience, most people only see the wins in hindsight. Curious to see the rest of this one play out.
Nicely written, and for the big swings this is 1000% the mindset you need.
But IMO it's also a very expensive option, and not one most founders can handle or afford. Being first to a market doesn't necessarily give you an advantage, but it does put you in a money pit, because educating a market from scratch costs a lot.
Personally I like to also ask "how far is this from what everyone is used to?" The closer the idea is to what's already out there, the less energy it usually takes and the easier it is to sell, and it can still be truly innovative.
Palo Alto's NGFW is a great example here too. Despite pushback from their own sales reps, they kept calling it a firewall, so the main thing they had to teach was blocking by application on top of the port/IP rules everyone already knew.
Great takes. If everyone agrees, you’re likely too late.
I’ve always asked myself how one would come up with a product idea and build a company around it. I thought where do you get that idea from? Now I somehow found something myself, that is hard to explain but needs to exist: something that helps companies to optimize their AppSec programs (or better systems) for resilience.
If you keep earning confusion instead of validation, it’s at least good to know, that that’s how it’s supposed to be 😂
This was brilliance laced with strong instincts.
I really appreciate it.
Great piece, Ross. The conviction over consensus point is one of the more underrated truths in cyber. Everyone wants validation upfront, but the ideas that actually matter usually sound a little off before the market catches up to them. The rare ‘Hell Yes’ and the long stretch of ‘No’s’ in between is such an honest way to describe the founder experience, most people only see the wins in hindsight. Curious to see the rest of this one play out.
Nicely written, and for the big swings this is 1000% the mindset you need.
But IMO it's also a very expensive option, and not one most founders can handle or afford. Being first to a market doesn't necessarily give you an advantage, but it does put you in a money pit, because educating a market from scratch costs a lot.
Personally I like to also ask "how far is this from what everyone is used to?" The closer the idea is to what's already out there, the less energy it usually takes and the easier it is to sell, and it can still be truly innovative.
Palo Alto's NGFW is a great example here too. Despite pushback from their own sales reps, they kept calling it a firewall, so the main thing they had to teach was blocking by application on top of the port/IP rules everyone already knew.