Material Security’s Ryan Noon: Building & marketing a differentiated cybersecurity solution without spreading FUD

In this episode of Future of Security Operations, Thomas speaks with Ryan Noon, Founder and CEO of Material Security, a company that protects the email of high-risk VIPs and top global organizations.

A serial entrepreneur and an expert on cloud security, Ryan previously ran infrastructure teams at Dropbox after it acquired his last company, Parastructure. Before that, he helped build a company spun out of Stanford by the Department of Defense. A graduate of Stanford, Ryan holds degrees in Computer Science and Computer Security.

Topics include:

• Ryan’s first startup experience and the decision to launch his first company, Parastructure
• Getting acquired by Dropbox and what he enjoyed most about working there
• Ryan’s journey from a hobbyist to a thought leader and founder in cybersecurity, taking a critical eye towards every system, and why Ryan sees himself as “a builder, a creator, and an optimist than a true security engineer”
• How the Russian government’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election impacted his perspective on cybersecurity and helped him realize the power of APIs
• Why email is such an excellent target for cyber attackers and how Material Security secures data within inboxes
• What founders should focus on in the first year, the importance of product management, and how Material secured its early adopters, including customers like Stripe, Databricks, and Lift, so quickly
• How to help your product to stand out, and why he believes it’s important to avoid FUD tactics in cybersecurity
• What Ryan has learned from working with the world’s leading security teams and how the best teams bridge gaps to win
• Ryan’s thoughts on the uncertain global economic climate, its impacts, and how Material’s conservative approach has allowed them to maintain a relatively lean team
• The future of security operations and what trends Ryan believes will continue - doing more with less and leveraging better infrastructure and tools that enable you to go deeper with your existing tech stack

Resources:

LinkedIn