Joining YL Ventures: From Defining the Needs to Investing in the Solutions

Joining YL Ventures: From Defining the Needs to Investing in the Solutions

My 30-year career in cybersecurity has run the gamut from being part of the customer and vendor communities to contributing to public policy, auditing roles, consulting positions and angel investing opportunities, and there’s still so much left to discover in this dynamic and ever-changing sector! At this next juncture of the journey, I am joining a prominent cybersecurity-focused global VC firm, YL Ventures, as a Partner. While I was one of the firm’s first CISO advisors almost a decade ago, in my new capacity I will have the opportunity to discover and invest in the industry’s future leaders, as well as get in the trenches with our portfolio companies and guide them on setting strong foundations for their growth, in line with YL Ventures’ longstanding value-add investment strategy.

There are many facets to this dynamic industry of ours. Early-stage cybersecurity startups are where innovation meets ambition and an unrelenting drive to solve the most acute problems in the market. This is a personal goal for me, as throughout my many years on the CISO side I saw how frustrating these seemingly unsolvable pain points are for me and my colleagues and our organizations, and how harmful the repercussions were. 

The innovation for solving these problems comes from early-stage companies, and the financial enablement of this innovation is really what drives this industry forward. YL Ventures specializes in giving these companies the resources and guidance they need to disrupt existing categories, but also to define and dominate emerging security spaces, helping the market adopt nascent technologies securely.

The decision to join YL Ventures was not based solely on their top-tier performance in the global VC community or on their stellar reputation as cybersecurity professionals. Going back to the basics, I was excited to work with the YLV team. They are a group of phenomenal multidisciplinary experts, each using their unique skills – business development, marketing, HR and others – to augment the performance of the firm’s portfolio companies. The leading values at YL Ventures resonate with me – integrity, focus, honesty and talent. They speak my language, and I couldn’t be happier to join them!