Insights on the Future of Automated Pentesting

Almost two years have passed since I began my role as Pentera CEO (formerly Pcysys), leading the company through a critical milestone—securing Round A funding to accelerate our cybersecurity innovation and market expansion. I joined Arik Liberzon, Co-founder & CTO, and Arik Faingold, Co-founder and Chairman, on this great mission to revolutionize cyber risk validation, together with industry veteran Ran Tamir, our VP of Product, and Aviv Cohen, our visionary CMO. Being an enterprise sales veteran, and an ex-VP of Global Sales, I didn’t need more than 3-4 PoC’s at Pentera, to understand that we’re onto something big. Very big.

Experiencing the emotional reactions of our customers every time Pentera was able to take advantage of critical vulnerabilities and network misconfigurations within minutes to hours, was humbling. Then, later, receiving text messages from CISOs and CIOs, thanking me for sending our fabulous R&D and Sales Engineering teams to run PoCs onsite, was very rewarding. Ultimately, the value we created earned us the continued trust of our existing investors (AWZ Ventures) and the interest of our new investors (The Blackstone Group) in supporting our journey to becoming a leading force in the Continuous Risk Validation market.

While mainstream media has traditionally praised one’s ability to close big rounds of funding as if it is directly linked to past or future success, we, at Pentera, have a different view on the whole thing. Our philosophy has always been: develop a product that (really) works, raise the funds necessary to support your initial go-to-market efforts, prove, beyond any reasonable doubt, that you’ve figured out the execution play (which is a devastating cliff for 90% of startups), and only then, raise a bit more funds than you really need, to progress to the next level.

Our ability to execute after securing Round A funding allowed us to scale operations without compromising our product vision. We were able to acquire tens of customers quarter-over-quarter has given us the freedom to choose our investors and the right amount of funding necessary to support our growth. Our laser-like focus on execution across the board (and not on VC roadshows) has allowed us to grow our customer base and amplify our research velocity, while maintaining a winning culture which guarantees results. Lessons from penetration testing pay studies help clarify the value of proactive cybersecurity investments.

As we embark on the next part of this wonderful journey, it’s a good time to look back and understand the key success factors that brought us this far. First and foremost, our customers, who are true pioneers and the leaders of the revolution. Believing in our vision, our way of thinking and our product. 

One of our core company values is customer-centricity. I take much pride in it. This means no politics- from R&D through product and marketing, we are one team. We all go out to the field and take part in the sales and success processes. Listen carefully to the pains of our customers and adapt accordingly.

I’m amazed every day by the driven, intelligent people that surround me and comprise the Pentera DNA. The truth is, everybody in the company, starting from the R&D ranks and all the way to G&A, are aces by their own right. It’s just fun to come into the office and see this company work! It’s as if you were to witness a rocket flying to the moon in slow motion…

As we continue to expand, the lessons from our Round A funding experience shape our strategy for future investment rounds. I can’t conclude without thanking our investors, old and new, for their support and confidence in our vision. Nearing a hundred customers, my team and I are committed to keep working hard and making the impossible – possible. 

Here’s to the next 200 customers in 2020 – onward and upward we go!