Listen Here

| |

Conversation
Highlights

 

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Christian Almenar, CEO and Co-Founder of Monad, a security data platform that has raised $19 Million in funding.

  • The Journey to Monad: Before Monad, Christian sold his first company, Intrinsic, to VMware. This experience in a large company setting fueled his desire to return to the startup world, sparking the creation of Monad during the pandemic.
  • Monad’s Mission: Monad aims to empower security teams to work more data-driven, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of their existing tools without the need to replace them.
  • Security as a Big Data Problem: Christian emphasizes that the cybersecurity industry has lagged in leveraging advanced data analytics, a gap Monad seeks to bridge by enabling sophisticated data-driven workflows for security teams.
  • The Ideal Customer and Product Vision: Initially targeting Fortune 500 companies, Monad aspires to make its platform accessible to any security engineer, focusing on usability and self-service capabilities reminiscent of tech products like Segment or Stripe.
  • Go-to-Market Strategy: Monad has combined enterprise sales with a vision for product-led growth, aiming for wider adoption among security professionals through a self-serve product in private beta.
  • Market Category and Future Vision: While the cybersecurity market is evolving, Monad positions itself as part of an architectural shift, aiming to streamline and enhance data analytics within the industry.
  • Long-term Aspirations: Christian envisions Monad as a mission-driven company, attracting top talent to address the increasing importance of cybersecurity in preserving civil liberties and privacy online.

Actionable
Takeaways

Addressing Market Needs with a New Lens:

Monad's focus on making security teams more data-driven by enhancing their existing tools instead of replacing them showcases the importance of addressing known pain points with innovative solutions. Look for ways to add value to existing ecosystems rather than just disrupting them.

Leverage the Data Revolution in Untapped Areas:

Monad capitalizes on the lag in cybersecurity's adoption of advanced data analytics. Identifying sectors within your industry that have been slow to adopt new technologies can reveal untapped opportunities for innovation.

Design for the End-User from Day One:

Monad's commitment to a user-friendly, self-serve platform from its inception underlines the significance of considering end-user experience early on, ensuring broader adoption and satisfaction.

Mission-Driven Team Building:

Assembling a team that shares a common vision and mission, as Monad does, can be a key driver of innovation, motivation, and success. A strong, shared purpose can attract top talent and foster an environment of commitment and collaboration.

Recommended Founder
Interviews

Paul Valente

CEO and Co-Founder of VISO Trust

Paul Valente, CEO and Co-Founder of VISO Trust: $17 Million Raised to Build the Future of Third-Party Cyber Risk Management

Stephen de Vries

CEO and Co-Founder of IriusRisk

Stephen de Vries, CEO and Co-Founder of IriusRisk: $40 Million Raised to Build the Future of Threat Modeling

Justin Beals

CEO, Co-Founder of Strike Graph

Justin Beals, CEO of Strike Graph: $12 Million Raised to Build the Future of Automated Security and Compliance

Paul Lewis

Founder and CEO of Calamu

Paul Lewis, CEO of Calamu: $20 Million Raised to Build the Cyber Storage Category

Josh Shaul

CEO of Allure Security

Josh Shaul, CEO of Allure Security: $6 Million Raised to Help Businesses Win the Battle Against Online Scammers

Pukar Hamal

CEO and Founder of SecurityPal

Pukar Hamal, CEO and Founder of SecurityPal: $21 Million Raised to Power the Future of Customer Assurance

Spencer Thompson

CEO and Co-Founder of Prelude

Spencer Thompson, CEO and Co-Founder of Prelude: Over $30 Million Raised to Build the Future of Continuous Security Testin

Dave Mor

CEO and Co-Founder of OneLayer

Dave Mor, CEO and Co-Founder of OneLayer: $15 Million Raised to Protect Private Cellular Networks

Peter Prizio Jr

CEO of SnapAttack

Peter Prizio Jr, CEO of SnapAttack: $8 Million Raised to Power the Future of Threat Management

Kyle Hanslovan

CEO & Co-Founder of Huntress

Kyle Hanslovan, CEO of Huntress: $160 Million Raised to Build the Future of Managed Security

Austin Ogilvie

Founder of Thoropass

Austin Ogilvie, Founder of Thoropass: $98 Million Raised to Power the Future of Continuous Compliance

Michael Assraf

CEO & Co-Founder of Vicarius

Michael Assraf, CEO of Vicarius: $29 Million Raised to Build the Future of Vulnerability Prioritization

Philippe Humeau

CEO of CrowdSec

Philippe Humeau, CEO of CrowdSec: $21 Million Raised to Build the Future of Cyber Threat Intelligence

Mollie Breen

CEO and Co-Founder of Perygee

Mollie Breen, CEO and Co-Founder of Perygee: $6.4 Million Raised to Build the Future of IT/OT Security

David Etue

CEO of Nisos

David Etue, CEO of Nisos: $33 Million Raised to Build the Future of Managed Intelligence

Danny Lopez

CEO of Glasswall

Danny Lopez CEO of Glasswall: $60+ Million Raised to Make the Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR) Category Mainstream

Sivan Tehila

Founder and CEO of Onyxia

Sivan Tehila, Founder and CEO of Onyxia: $5 Million Raised to Build the Future of Cybersecurity Performance Management

Jag Lamba

Founder and CEO of Certa

Jag Lamba, Founder and CEO of Certa: $52 Million Raised to Build the Future of Third-Party Management

David Brumley

CEO of ForAllSecure

David Brumley, CEO of ForAllSecure: $38 Million Raised to Build the Future of Security Testing

Tom Jermoluk

CEO of Beyond Identity

Tom “TJ” Jermoluk, CEO of Beyond Identity: $200 Million Raised to Build the Future of Multi-Factor Authentication

Tiffany Ricks

CEO and Founder of HacWare

Tiffany Ricks, CEO and Founder of HacWare: $2.6 Million Raised to Build the Future of Security Awareness

Ryan Schonfeld

Founder & CEO of Hivewatch

Ryan Schonfeld, CEO of Hivewatch: $25 Million Raised to Build the OS of Physical Security

Scott McCrady

CEO of SolCyber

Scott McCrady, CEO of SolCyber: $20 Million Raised to Build the Future of Managed Security

Jason Martin

Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Permiso Security

Jason Martin, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Permiso Security: $10 Million Raised to Build the Future of Cloud Security

Arjun Bhatnagar

CEO & Co-Founder of Cloaked

Arjun Bhatnagar, CEO of Cloaked: $25 Million Raised to Build the Future of Data Privacy

Stijn Vande Casteele

Founder of Sweepatic

Stijn Vande Casteele, Founder of Sweepatic: $4.4 Million Raised to Build the Future of External Attack Surface Management

Ryan Lasmaili

CEO & Co-Founder of Vaultree

Ryan Lasmaili, CEO of Vaultree: $16 Million Raised to Build the World’s First Fully Functional Data-in-Use Encryption

John Milburn

CEO of Clear Skye

John Milburn, CEO of Clear Skye: More Than $20 Million Raised to Build the Future of Identity and Access Governance