Early Security for Startups
I once read blogging advice: if someone asks you something, write it as a blog post and soon you will have a blog. One advice I am often asked is “I am a new startup; how should I approach security?” Here goes my attempt, based on my experience working at and advising hypergrowth companies. Please send me your thoughts and feedback! This is advice for early-stage startups without security teams (the post ends with advice on your first security hire!). It focuses on the basics for an early-stage startup. If you already have a security team, listen to the team! Most of my experience has been in product-led enterprise SaaS businesses. This guide is likely useful to such startups. If you are working on things like social network or a crypto product, your threat model and priorities are very different, and this guide is likely not correct for you. That said, it might still be useful! The guide also assumes that the founders and early members of the team already care about security. As an ex
I once read blogging advice: if someone asks you something, write it as a blog post and soon you will have a blog. One advice I am often asked is “I am a new startup; how should I approach security?” Here goes my attempt, based on my experience working at and advising hypergrowth companies. Please send me your thoughts and feedback! Who is this for? # This is advice for early-stage startups without security teams (the post ends with advice on your first security hire!). It focuses on the basics for an early-stage startup. If you already have a security team, listen to the team! Most of my expe
related reading
- Rockstar shopping is inherently unsafe - Graham says wrong thingsgraham.posthaven.com
- Mental models for cybersecurity startup founders and why Microsoft cannot easily force nimble early-stage companies out of businessventureinsecurity.net
- High-Leverage Security Engineering Tasksfranklyspeaking.substack.com
- The Vin Diagramvinayiyengar.com
- Sub-Venture Scale Security Problemstldrsec.com
- Cybersecurity technology adoption cycle and its implications for startups and security teamsventureinsecurity.net
- Four cybersecurity startup dilemmas and what they mean for security founders and the industry in generalventureinsecurity.net
- In 2024, finding cybersecurity startup ideas worth pursuing is harder than many people thinkventureinsecurity.net
- Security Start-Ups by Designlinkedin.com
- Top 20 Cybersecurity Companies & Startups to Watch in 2025explodingtopics.com
- How Microsoft security succeedsfranklyspeaking.substack.com
- Building practitioner-focused cybersecurity: nine principles for founders and product leadersventureinsecurity.net