Unleashing the Power of Sales: A Must-Have Skill for Cybersecurity Pros

Ian Yip is the founder and CEO of Avertro, a venture backed startup that creates software to help teams manage and measure their cybersecurity performance. In this episode Cole Cornford spoke with Ian about how being a salesperson is a valuable skill for any security professional, the common fallacy in software of “if you build it, they will come”, the similarities between starting a company and having kids, and plenty more.Secured by Galah Cyber website4:00 - Ian works from different locations around the world.5:20 - Ian’s professional background.5:30 - Ian was in cybersecurity before it was called cybersecurity.8:00 - Cole’s professional background.9:30 - Common misconception: if you build it, they will come.11:20 - Moving from consultant to starting a product company.12:20 - Skills that were useful for Ian when he became a startup founder.13:00 - Ian: I like to be comfortably uncomfortable.14:30 - Cole: I am a naturally good salesperson.16:00 - Selling is a valuable skill for all security people.18:30 - Cole: What scenarios have you pushed yourself to be uncomfortable?21:30 - Cole: I think starting a company is not as big a risk as people think.22:40 - Cole: Public speaking anecdote.25:15 - Cole: Shaving a yak parable.27:00 - Ian: Similarities between starting a business and having kids.31:40 - How Ian came to found his company.35:00 - What drove core product changes for Ian’s company.36:40 - Advice for aspiring SAAS founders.39:10 - Ian: The graveyard of products that nobody uses.40:20 - Approach to startups in the current challenging financial market.44:10 - Quick fire questions.<br/>