6 Game-Changing GTM Lessons from Tamnoon’s Cloud Security Journey

When every cloud security startup is shouting about better threat detection, how do you cut through the noise? In a recent Category Visionaries episode, Tamnoon co-founder Marina Segal revealed how they found success by solving the problem everyone else was ignoring: what happens after detection.

Here are six crucial GTM lessons from Tamnoon’s journey that challenge conventional wisdom about building a B2B security company:

1. Solve the Second-Order Problem

Instead of competing in the overcrowded detection space, Tamnoon identified a critical gap in the market. “What Tamnoon is focused on is this next kind of logical step after the visibility and detection is solved, and this is the remediation and prevention,” Marina explains. This insight led them to build a solution for a problem that existing tools weren’t addressing: “it wouldn’t cost you to detect one more thing, but it may cost you a lot of money to remediate and prevent it if you are not solving it the right way.”

2. Start with Services, Then Scale with Software

Rather than following the typical product-first approach, Tamnoon began by providing services before having a complete product. Marina reveals their first six months were split into distinct phases: “First three months were very different from the second three months.” They used this service-first approach to validate their market and refine their offering, spending the next phase “really busy on customers, really busy with endless calls to validate and define the product roadmap.”

3. Redefine Category Boundaries

Instead of fitting neatly into existing market categories, Tamnoon created their own space at the intersection of established segments. “We are on the crossroads between the MDRs and CNAPs,” Marina notes. This positioning allowed them to differentiate themselves while drawing on the credibility of familiar categories.

4. Make Bold Visual Choices

In a market dominated by dark themes and fear-based messaging, Tamnoon took a radically different approach to branding. “We are in the greens, we are solving problems. We are not adding any overhead on the companies. We are actually their trusted advisor,” Marina explains. This visual differentiation helped them stand out in a crowded space where “a lot of startups… all look blended to me.”

5. Leverage Dormant Networks

Marina’s approach to early customer acquisition challenges traditional networking advice. “What I learned is that you need to be able to just ask anyone in your network a question, whether they want to hear your story or not, and you would be surprised how many people are open and are curious about the stuff that you are building.” One of their first customers came from a brief professional interaction years earlier – proving that even seemingly tenuous connections can yield results.

6. Maintain Strategic Focus in Fundraising

Instead of constantly keeping fundraising conversations warm, Marina advocates for a binary approach: “You can be either raising or not raising. And having this definition in your mind whenever you are speaking to investors is super important.” This clarity allows founders to focus on what matters most: “I don’t want to speak to investors if I don’t need to speak to investors. What I want to do is to speak to customers.”

The common thread through these lessons is Tamnoon’s willingness to challenge industry conventions. Rather than trying to build a better version of existing solutions, they identified and solved the problems that arise after those solutions have done their job. They combined this insight with a distinctive brand identity and a pragmatic approach to early growth.

Their vision reflects this same practical innovation: “We are the MDR for the CNAP space. We are building that remediation and prevention process that can scale the security experts and that is where we are headed.” It’s a reminder that sometimes the best GTM strategy isn’t about being louder or more sophisticated than competitors – it’s about solving the problems they’ve overlooked.