In 2012, Netskope CEO and Founder Sanjay Beri was convinced that the security industry was on the brink of a massive transformation. Through countless conversations with CEOs, CIOs, and CISOs, he identified a significant shift towards the cloud, presenting a unique opportunity to redefine data network security for this new era. Thus, Netskope was born, starting small but with grand ambitions.

Netskope’s early days exemplify the power of a clear vision and controlled growth. They began with specific SaaS products and steadily expanded into a comprehensive platform. Today, Netskope serves over 3,400 customers, tens of millions of users, including over 30 of the Fortune 100. In this episode, Sanjay shares insights into their steady strategy, intentional fundraising, and evolution into an industry-leading security platform. He also reflects on over a decade of leadership and people management, offering valuable lessons about team evolution as the company scales.

Conversation highlights:

00:00 – Sanjay’s background at Juniper Networks and interest in entrepreneurship

03:23 – The reasons behind Netskope’s early focus on SaaS products

04:14 – How Netskope approached fundraising with a focus on relationships and differentiation

11:00 – Netskope’s shift from products to platform

15:30 – Learnings from over a decade of leadership and people management

25:00 – A new approach to startup innovation; from product to GTM to marketing

27:10 – Why Netskope incorporated AI into their platform from the early days

35:00 – Reflections on how the ecosystem has evolved since 2012