The DTC Enterprise Tech Podcast

“Confidence is the manifestation of having clarity and conviction. Focusing on these “Three Cs” is what helped us make the hard decisions at CloudKnox.”

In a recent episode of the DTC podcast series “Exit Interview,” Raman Khanna sat down with Balaji Parimi, the founder of CloudKnox, to discuss the journey of his company from inception to category leader and then later, being acquired by Microsoft.

Key takeaways from this episode:

Find the solutions gap: Parimi’s motivation to start CloudKnox stemmed from his customer-facing experiences at VMware and CloudPhysics. He built products to deliver automation and efficiencies in multi-cloud environments but found that proper governance controls to manage and secure those automated cloud environments didn’t exist.

First mover advantage: Building for an emerging issue versus an established one comes with risk but can also reward in big ways. CloudKnox’s focus on creating hybrid and multi-cloud environment solutions played a pivotal role in the company being able to establish and lead a new category in the market.

Don’t underestimate the analysts: When Gartner introduced the cloud infrastructure entitlement management category, they did it with data attributed to CloudKnox. This was a direct result of proactive, early engagement with analysts who play a crucial role in educating the market, creating awareness, and prioritizing issues for their enterprise clients.

Don’t go it alone: Early traction with Fortune 100 customers was achieved through trusted partners. These partners, already vetted by large enterprises, provided a level of credibility that facilitated introductions and trust that led to landing big logos early on.

Founders are your 1st sales leaders: Initially, Balaji believed he was a product founder and that he needed to hire a sales team for GTM. He quickly realized that in the early days, it was his deep knowledge and passion that were crucial in landing customers.

From GTM partnership to acquisition by Microsoft: Initially, CloudKnox engaged with Microsoft to establish a joint go-to-market partnership, but as Microsoft’s product strategy evolved to focus on multi-cloud security solutions, they saw the value in acquiring CloudKnox. The acquisition has provided CloudKnox with a vast distribution channel and the opportunity to see their product deployed widely, fulfilling a key entrepreneurial dream.

Clarity + Conviction = Confidence: Balaji shared his three C’s of success for founders: Clarity, Conviction, and Confidence. Clarity in understanding the problem and solution leads to conviction, which in turn builds confidence. This clarity and conviction are crucial when communicating with customers, investors, team members and when making pivotal decisions.

Balaji Parimi’s journey with CloudKnox is a testament to the power of identifying and addressing real-world problems. His experience at VMware and CloudPhysics provided the foundation for a customer-focused approach that ultimately led to the creation of a new cybersecurity category and the eventual significant acquisition by Microsoft. While good timing played a role, tactical decisions around product, sales, and go-to-market strategies are what made CloudKnox a success story.

What's it like to be the first communications leadership hire at a hypergrowth, IPO-bound startup? In this episode of The DTC Podcast, Ronda Scott talks with Lindsay McKinley, the first comms hire and director of communications at Samsara. She shares advice on how to swing for the fences when you're at a resource-constrained early-stage startup and how to hit the ground running when you join a fast-growing company to take it all the way through an IPO.
Key Takeaways for Comms Success

• Do the work to understand how comms can best serve current business priorities.
• Develop close relationships and trust with key stakeholders by managing expectations.
• As you build your team, hire for skillset spikes and balance of egg breakers and diplomats.
• Understand the invaluable leadership comms plays throughout the entire IPO process.
• Embrace the challenges and opportunities inherent with comms at every stage of a startup.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
04:06 Getting scrappy and successful at 15-person edtech company ClassDojo
12:15 Joining the hypergrowth team at Samsara
15:00 Three tactics to thrive in your first 30 days
18:42 Building a world class team
28:06 IPO experience through the communication lens

Introducing The DTC Podcast. These episodes feature Exit Interviews with enterprise founders who've gone from square one to major acquisition, conversations with the CTOs, CISOs, and CIOs interested in the latest enterprise innovations, and deep dives into strategies and tactics with the sales, marketing, and brand practitioners leading the go-to-market charge.

In this conversation, DTC Managing Director Deepak Jeevankumar interviews Varun Badhwar, co-founder and former CEO of RedLock and co-founder and current CEO of Endor Labs. They discuss topics such as creating a new category in cybersecurity, building a customer-centric company, and the challenges and successes of scaling a startup. Varun shares insights into the importance of starting with the simple problem, productizing simplicity, and nailing an efficient demo. He also discusses the acquisition by Palo Alto Networks and the key factors that contributed to the successful integration of RedLock into what became Prisma Cloud. Finally, Varun shares his thoughts on starting a third company with Endor Labs and the future of application security (AppSec) in the context of software supply chain security and AI.

Takeaways

• Start with a simple problem and focus on visibility gaps. What’s keeping your buyer up at night?
• Productize simplicity by ensuring that customers can set up and derive value from the product within a short timeframe.
• Building a customer-centric company involves understanding customer priorities, providing value in a short amount of time, and simplifying the customer experience.
• Choosing the right design partners and investors is crucial, and it's important to prioritize the human connection and alignment of values over the brand or firm.
• Embrace change in the software supply chain, particularly in the context of software assembly and the increasing use of open source components. AI can play a role in enhancing productivity and security in this area.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:26 Creating a New Category in Cybersecurity

06:09 Starting with the Simple Problem

07:37 Productizing Simplicity

09:00 The Cloud Security Intelligence Team

12:04 The Acquisition by Palo Alto Networks

21:03 Starting a Third Company

25:43 The Future of AppSec

28:38 Building the Right Team and Culture

30:32 Choosing the Right Design Partners and Investors

33:29 Building in the Open and Embracing AI

36:18 Embracing Change in the Software Supply Chain

36:46 Closing Remarks

In this episode, DTC's Victoria Kinnealey talks with Rick Berends, a veteran BISO, about the importance of startups in driving innovation and growth within enterprise organizations. They discuss the traits that startups should have to establish partnerships at an early stage, including agility, the ability to reduce complexity, and a focus on smarter approaches to security. Rick emphasizes the importance of trust and building relationships when engaging with startups, and advises startups to be honest, avoid over-representation, and steer clear of jargon. He also highlights the value of EQ (emotional intelligence) in startup teams and the benefits of white labeling products for instant buy-in from enterprise clients.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

00:30 Introduction to Rick Berends

01:13 Understanding the Role of a BISO

03:03 Traits of a Startup for Partnership

05:02 Startup's Role in Building Roadmap and Strategy

08:22 Advantages of Startups in Meeting Customer Needs

09:50 Importance of EQ in Startup Engagement

11:19 Importance of Building Trust and Avoiding Jargon

15:41 Understanding the Customer's Perspective

19:06 Importance of Flexibility in Enterprise Partnerships

20:31 Considering Long-Term Relationships and Value Adds

22:58 The Notion of 'Good is Good Enough'

28:45 Importance of Flexibility and Contract Length

30:12 The Need for Startups in Innovation