Jordan

What a Milestone!

If someone were to tell me 2.5 years ago that by August 2020 Pcysys would conclude its series B funding round and have raised $40M, by the most prominent cybersecurity investors of our time, I would have pleaded to keep sleeping, I mean, what an amazing dream!

Well, apparently my friends, dreams do come true provided your product fulfills a real market need and your company consists of the unique combination of great tech and fearless execution, like Pcysys does.

A Word to Our New and Existing Investors

Finally, I can proudly say that Pcysys arrived over-subscribed for its B Round. I am humbled by the number of top tier VCs that wanted to invest in our company and more importantly, in its huge potential of becoming the de facto Cyber Risk Validation Authority in the world.

From the very first meeting with Insight Partners’ Trent Buenzli and Julian Marcu in NYC back in 2018 through the final meeting with Philine Huizing, Thomas Krane and Mike Triplet earlier this year, it was apparent that we were talking to the Ivy League of VCs. The Insight team’s focus on the people behind the scenes, attention to detail and aspiration to be the best at everything they do mirrors how we’ve run our business so far. 

The vote of trust by Thomas Krane at Insight Partners, coupled with the continued support from Adam Fletcher at Blackstone and Yaron Ashkenazi at Awz Ventures, is exhilarating. 

A Short Reflection into the Past

When I joined Pcysys as CEO, I didn’t really know what to expect. On paper, the journey ahead of me looked too good to be true. The founding team, Arik Liberzon and Arik Faingold, the technology, vision and competitive landscape, were all aligned almost too well. It did take me a few weeks to understand just how powerful our potential was but then it became clear that my number one mission was to build a killer “dream team”.  

My management philosophy has always been to hire the best talents around, be explicit about our (very high) expectations, and let them soar. Just like my managers had treated me in the past.

We built a company with strong values, emphasizing the team over the individual, a strong sense of accountability and an ongoing strive for excellence, with our customers always top of mind. 

I’m so proud of the team we’ve built, the brave product roadmap decisions, our marketing positioning and our fearless sales execution, which in retrospect might sound obvious, but back then involved many (calculated) risks, intuition, and a winning mentality.

A Word to Our Customers

My schedule has never been this intense. And I love it! My typical week consists of running between calls with the global sales teams, management, product, R&D, investors and new candidates, BUT the best are my customer calls.

Customer discussions (and F2F meetings, which I miss very much!) give me the best feel of the true company pulse. They keep me grounded and provide a reality check of our progress. They energize me and inspire me, reminding me why I joined to begin with. 

To our customers- Pcysys has become the strong powerhouse that it is today thanks to your continuous support and endorsement. Thank you for trusting PenTera, our team, and our roadmap. We’re here for you, thinking of you, and won’t rest until you get the best return on your investment.

A Word to Our Employees

Being a customer-centric company means that our customers are, and always will be, our primary focus. As I often tell the development and product teams – we’re not here to win a Nobel Prize for the best research techniques or the best risk validation techniques, we’re here to win our customers’ trust, year-after-year, by providing a superior technology that enables them to fight the cyber adversaries, making sure they’re always a few steps ahead of the most sophisticated attackers. 

In order to be a customer-centric company, one needs to assemble a unique group of individuals, who share these values and embody the same vision.

This is a shout-out to the phenomenal Pcsysy employees all over the world – I could not be prouder of your passion and dedication to the company and what it represents. As we continue our journey to outer space, let’s boost the enthusiasm and team spirit that has led us thus far.

The professionals behind the scenes

This is a great opportunity to thank the great Naschitz, Brandes Amir team, Ido Erlich and Yoni Shiloni, to our excellent accountants at KPMG Israel Itay Falb, Hadas Mishli and Ehud Lev, and above all, to our dear friends and trusted advisors at Meitar, Simcha (Sim) Koevary, Amit Raz and Shir Wesiman, for their continuous support and partnership. This milestone wouldn’t have been possible without you all!

Arik Liberzon (Founder & CTO). The Man and the Legend.

It needs to be said, loud and clear, none of this would have been possible without our visionary founder, Arik Liberzon, who took a huge personal risk against all odds to pursue his dream, that has now become of one with the entire company – creating the world’s first fully automated Penetration Testing platform that thinks and acts like a human hacker.

As a non-founding CEO, I could only have dreamt of sharing this journey with a partner like Arik. Arik’s long term vision, aspiration for perfection, down-to-earth mentality and unique ability to attract top talent have been an inspiration for me throughout this entire ride. I am proud of what we’ve achieved together – there’s no stopping us now!

Be Like Mike

As a teenage basketball player who grew up in the 1990s, I can’t finish without mentioning the impact Michael Jordan has had on me throughout the years, leading to the type of Executive I am today. MJ inspired me to lead by example, be the best at what I do, inspire others, and to always remember that somewhere in the crowd there’s at least one fan who never saw me scoring 35 points (…), and ultimately, win. Thank you Netflix and The Last Dance, for bringing MJ back to center stage, and the inspiration it has injected in all of us.

Long Live PenTera!

Yours,
Amitai Ratzon
Chief Executive Officer
Pcysys

Written by: Amitai Ratzon
Show all articles by Amitai Ratzon
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