Dark Reading Radio: Where Do Security Startups Come From?

Have you ever had an idea for a new security product or company?  Perhaps you've created a tool and thought about taking it commercial. Or you've thought of a new way to solve a critical security problem and considered starting your own firm.

Once upon a time, today's hottest security companies were just a gleam in the eye of a security pro like you. Those security pros took their ideas and sought out some seed funding, and some advice on product development and sales, and put them on the market. And in a few cases, those security pros today are known, not only throughout the industry, but on Wall Street as well.

How do emerging security companies get their start? On Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Dark Reading Radio will feature a speaker who helps security innovators get their firms off the ground from their earliest stages, and helps them find the funding they need to get their products to market.

"A lot of security innovators don't know they are entrepreneurs until someone gets them started," says Rick Gordon, managing partner of MACH37, a "cyber accelerator" organization that provides funding and guidance to security startups during their first phase of operations. A few times a year, MACH37 takes a small number of entrepreneurs under its wing and offers them seed money and a 90-day intensive course in how to get their companies off the ground.

Many nascent security companies are overlooked by so-called "angel" investors that are reluctant to put their money in technologies they don't understand or know well, Gordon observes. The idea behind a cyber accelerator is to filter out some of the most promising ideas for security innovation and put them on a path where they can get the attention of those investors and make the contacts they need to bring some early customers into the fold.

MACH37 this week will publish a whitepaper on the topic of security startup funding. The publication takes place during the same week as the Security Innovation Network's (SINET) Innovation Conference in New York, where top speakers and security entrepreneurs are gathering to discuss some of the industry's hottest emerging markets, technologies, and companies.

"We look for companies that could make a difference in areas where innovation is really needed -- areas like cloud and mobile, for example -- but we also look for companies that are proposing to do something really new, that might be outside the areas you'd expect," Gordon says.

On Wednesday's show, Gordon will answer questions about some of the hottest new trends and areas of investment in IT security, as well as questions on how security pros can bring their ideas to market. "It's an exciting time in security," he says. "There's a real chance that one new company can make an impact."

To register to listen to the show and participate in an online chat with Gordon, click here. The interview will also be archived for on-demand listening.