Audience 1st

How Cybersecurity Buyer and Seller Behaviors Evolved in the Past 5 Years (And What You Can Do to Drive Change)

Today, as a cybersecurity seller, being a technical and a business person is very relevant. 
But in order to keep up with the pace of change, the technologies, the dynamic market and aggressive growth goals, you have to be an active listener and to be present.
When you understand your customer’s goals and challenges, then you can bring a technical enough team to the table that could actually get buyers answers effectively and efficiently.
You drive change by leaning from the front and it's not only on the sales and marketing folks to do that. The C-Suite is equally responsible as well.
Brutally honest insights from Chris Federico, Head of Global Cloud Security Sales of Check Point and Chris Roberts, CISO and Senior Director of Boom Supersonic. 
In this conversation, Dani Woolf had a conversation with Chris² about:
How solutions and behaviors in the cybersecurity space changed over time both from the buying side and also from the sales and marketing side
Bundling and unbundling of solutions over time - what’s the deal?
How the scenery at the cybersecurity vendor expos has changed
What is REAL differentiation and why is it so crucial in this market?
What can actually help to build and gain the trust among buyers and vendors?
What are the old bullshit tactics that companies still use that just won’t fly anymore today?
How to successfully identify customer needs and challenges
How boards of directors evolved in the cybersecurity industry
The steps that can be taken to start affecting change within the organization and among the buyer and the salespeople community to allow for more successful collaboration
This episode was sponsored by Check Point Technologies, a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions to over 100,000 corporate enterprises and governments globally. 
Check Point Infinity's portfolio of solutions, protects enterprises and public organizations from fifth generation cyber attacks with an industry leading catch rate of malware, ransomware, and other threats. To learn more about checkpoint and its infinity portfolio. Visit checkpoint.com. 
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Demystifying Misconceptions Around Zero Trust as a Buzzword and Strategy

When a concept or strategy gains enough traction, marketing and sales jump in to capitalize on it, and eventually, it becomes a poisoned well from which people draw.
This happens not because the strategy itself lacks merit, but because we, as humans, get saturated with information, and anything that everyone is talking about begins to seem like BS.
However, just because there's a lot of noise around a particular concept doesn't mean that there isn't something valuable at the core.
Brutally honest insights from Aaron Brongersma, Leader of the Cloud Center of Excellence at Checkpoint and Chase Cunningham Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Ericom Software.
In this episode, Dani Woolf had a conversation with Aaron and Chase about:
The real deal with all the stigma around Zero Trust
How vendors can prescriptively and successfully map solutions to the Zero Trust eXtended framework
Ways vendors can better understand their buyers
How the Zero Trust eXtended framework is shifting given the dynamic nature of the market
Ways cybersecurity vendors and the folks working for the vendors can quickly and authentically establish trust with buyers
Where Zero Trust heading in the next 3 to 5 years
This episode was sponsored by Check Point Technologies, a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions to over 100,000 corporate enterprises and governments globally. 
Check Point Infinity's portfolio of solutions, protects enterprises and public organizations from fifth generation cyber attacks with an industry leading catch rate of malware, ransomware, and other threats. To learn more about checkpoint and its infinity portfolio. Visit checkpoint.com. 
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Join 1300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/newsletter

How Security Pros Handle Complexities with the Shift to the Cloud

Security professionals sometimes find it hard to absorb the notion that the cloud was actually by definition designed for developers.A developer is not a regular techie. In fact, they are not a techie at all. A developer is a creative person.And if you put any constraints on a creative person, you will kill their creativity.Security pros may not be able to understand them but they have to try, listen and hear them in order to simplify their lives.Brutally honest insights from TJ Gonen, Vice President for Cloud Security of Check Point, and Dmitriy Sokolovskiy, CSO/CISO of Avid and Principal CISO Advisor, Lead Instructor of Audience 1st.
In this episode, Dani Woolf had a conversation with TJ and Dmitriy about:
The challenges of keeping up with the fast-paced world of cybersecurity and how vendors can help digest all the technology changes happening.
The "1-3-2" and "Start-Stop-Continue" methods for strategic planning in the cybersecurity industry and how to use them to gain a deeper understanding of an organization and develop a strategic plan to keep up with the industry.
The complexities that exist with the shift to the cloud and how to address them.
The real purpose and value of the cloud and how security professionals can adapt to new ways of doing things to enable developers to move faster without compromising on security.
The importance of simplifying developers' lives and how to approach the shift to the cloud with caution and a clear understanding of the risks and challenges associated with it.
The importance of listening to developers and approaching them with empathy to work together to create a more productive environment.
This episode was sponsored by Check Point Technologies, a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions to over 100,000 corporate enterprises and governments globally. 
Check Point Infinity's portfolio of solutions, protects enterprises and public organizations from fifth generation cyber attacks with an industry leading catch rate of malware, ransomware, and other threats. To learn more about checkpoint and its infinity portfolio. Visit checkpoint.com. 
Join Audience 1st Newsletter Today
Join 1300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/newsletter

How a Developer-First Approach Helps Ensure Effective Cloud Security

There is a shift in the world. Developers are starting to use the cloud and they're starting to get a lot of power. 
And with that power comes the responsibility that’s why using developer friendly tools is critical in order to have your organization protected. 
We need to remember that at the end of the day, we are not in the business of eliminating risks, our goal is to do whatever we can to minimize the risk. 
Brutally honest insights from Idan Didi, Head of Sales - Developer First Security of Check Point, Co-founder & COO of Spectral and Bipin Gajbhiye, Security Partner of Stripe. 
In this episode, Dani Woolf had a conversation with Idan and Bipin about:
Idan and Bipin’s motivations for working in cybersecurity
Their bleeding-neck challenges in their roles
How do application security engineers prioritize to stay ahead of potential breaches?
What is developer-first security and why “first”?
3 prescriptive ways security practitioners can help developers become champions in shift left security
What are the measures of success for developers focusing on developer-first security?
How do application security engineers choose security tools and what are their decision criteria?
Market anomalies to take advantage of in DevSecOps
This episode was sponsored by Check Point Technologies, a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions to over 100,000 corporate enterprises and governments globally. 
Check Point Infinity's portfolio of solutions, protects enterprises and public organizations from fifth generation cyber attacks with an industry leading catch rate of malware, ransomware, and other threats. To learn more about checkpoint and its infinity portfolio. Visit checkpoint.com. 
Join Audience 1st Newsletter Today
Join 1300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/newsletter

How (And Why) This Founder of a Buyer ＜＞ Vendor Matching Software Built a Product from Deep Cybersecurity Market Research

Listening deeply to the market before you even put pen to paper and draw your first paper prototype is very important.
In terms of the buying process, in order to be more productive and efficient as an industry you have to build relationship capital with your customers. 
Don’t treat your buyer as a potential target, an account, or as a number; treat them as a person.
Not every big name vendor fits every single buyer out there. “One size fits all” doesn't work in the cyberspace anymore. 
We should all be more gutsy about changing the script and changing how things are done.
Brutally honest insights from Victoria Germanova, Founder & CEO of Callity. 
In this episode, Dani Woolf had a conversation with Victoria about:
Tactics and strategies to successfully reach buyers and get them to open up.
Why buyers are feeling like things are rushed from renewals or an expansion standpoint. 
Challenges that vendors are experiencing in terms of the buying process with cybersecurity buyers.
How  both buyers and vendors can be more productive and efficient as an industry in terms of the buying process.
What Callity is and what solutions they are providing to the industry.
How to bridge the gap that occurs between the human element and automation when trying to build relationship capital.
Feedback points from buyers that are helping Victoria formulate next steps for Callity and the cybersecurity industry.
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Join 1002+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/newsletter

How to Reframe Your Communication with Cybersecurity Buyers | Dutch Schwartz

We often think that our challenges are unique to cybersecurity as opposed to pretty normal historical human ones and we don't look outside of our domain often enough for finding potential solutions.
Coming from completely different backgrounds often helps people find and apply a unique solution to a problem.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, think critically.
Know how to learn in order to communicate efficiently and effectively and prevent organizational silos between both sides of the industry.
It’s crucial to work on your soft skills and build strong relationships in order to shift from being a transactional seller to a trusted advisor.
Brutally honest insights from Dutch Schwartz, Cloud Security Strategist, Trusted Advisor and Speaker at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
In this episode, Dani Woolf had a conversation with Dutch about his challenges, goals, what vendors do that piss him off, and the alternatives.
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Join 830+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/newsletter