Building a Channel-First Cybersecurity Business

Global System Integrators (GSIs) are the most powerful influencers in cybersecurity. It's hard to even comprehend how much power they hold. You know who they are: Accenture, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC. Channel partnerships with GSIs are the unspoken driver of success for so many cybersecurity companies. Why? Implementing any security product in a large company is incredibly complex. It's not just the product — everything from strategy through execution, process, and change management comes along with it. Large GSIs are powerful because they own the client relationships and drive the entire process. Sure, clients make the final decisions...but they mostly do what their GSI partners tell them to do. Understanding the relationship dynamics between cybersecurity GSIs and product companies is critical. Channel-first product companies need GSIs to grow, and GSIs need product companies to win large implementation projects. GSIs influence product selection, then sell consulting and implementation services. Product companies win deals, sell subscriptions, and support the GSIs through implementation and ongoing operations. It's not an even relationship, though. GSIs are far more diversified in terms of service offerings and channel relationships. Product companies usually need GSIs more than GSIs need product companies. This dynamic is what makes GSI partnerships so difficult and so rewarding. GSIs are kingmakers when they put the full weight of their power and influence behind a product company. They can turn a decent startup with traction into a top performing public company. But sales pipelines dry up quickly when GSI partners move on to the next big thing. Just like that, the spell is broken. You can hit $100 million or more of ARR without GSIs...but crossing paths with them eventually is unavoidable. And don't even think about trying to displace them. GSIs call the shots in cybersecurity. Like it or not, the path to scale and sustained success runs straight through them. Savvy companies don’t fight this — they leverage it. Play the long game, earn their trust, and build alliances that pay off big for everyone.

Everyone told us to go the easy way. “Appoint a national distributor.” “Try OEM bundling. That’s how MNCs do it.” We tried. And we failed. National distributors were busy pushing global brands. OEMs didn’t care about Indian products. And there was no real consumer product distribution ecosystem in the country. We realised something most didn’t: Partners don't just need a product. They need trust, support, and skin in the game. So we stopped chasing shortcuts. We started from Pune by: > Working with small hardware resellers, > Training them. Supporting them. > Helping them believe that antivirus can be sold over the counter. One partner at a time. One city at a time. Until we built a network of 25,000+ partners across India. That’s how we created the largest market share in paid consumer antivirus. Not by being loud, but by becoming a 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆. We didn’t just sign them. We showed up for them, every single day. Spoke more about this on Anuj Joshi's podcast, how we went on to build India’s first B2C partner ecosystem. Partnerships helped us build Quick Heal into a household name in cybersecurity. 🎧 Listen here -> https://lnkd.in/d9Bj4zEt PS: Thanks to all the partners, dealers, re-sellers and entire on ground team at Quick Heal who helped build this ecosystem. #StartupJourney #PartnerFirst #IndianEntrepreneurs #BuildWithTrust #Bootstrapped #QuickHealStory #BusinessGrowth #Cybersecurity #B2C #D2C #ChannelPartner #partnerecosystem #partnerops Anuj Joshi Quick Heal Seqrite

If your cyber security strategy doesn’t make sense to your CFO—it’s not a strategy.” → Business translation is everything. You can't protect what you can’t explain. Let me say something most people won’t: Most cyber strategies today are unreadable outside the InfoSec team. They're built in isolation. Packed with technical brilliance. But empty when it comes to business alignment. A few months ago, our team reviewed a security roadmap for a logistics company expanding across MENA. It was 60+ pages deep: ✔ MITRE mappings ✔ SIEM integrations ✔ Patch metrics But when we asked how it reduced revenue risk, or supported expansion, the CISO froze. The CFO had no clue what he was buying—let alone why. If the board can’t understand it, it won’t get funded. And if it’s not funded, it won’t get done. Why this disconnect matters: CFOs think in: Market expansion Financial exposure Regulatory cost Operational resilience Security teams talk about: CVEs Alert volumes Attack surfaces Same room. Different planets. It’s not a strategy if it can’t survive the boardroom. What the best teams do differently: ✅ Map risks to business impact. Don’t say “we need MFA.” Say: “A credential breach in region X could cost $4.2M in outage and reputational loss.” ✅ Build roadmaps around business goals. Are you scaling to Saudi or ASEAN? Your controls must align with those regulatory demands. ✅ Make progress visible in board language. Not just “alerts down 22%.” But “our ransomware risk exposure dropped 35% in Q2.” 📊 According to PwC (2024): Only 17% of CISOs say their strategies effectively influence business decisions. Nearly 40% of CFOs still view cybersecurity as a sunk cost. The gap isn’t in tech. It’s in translation. Security isn’t about removing all risk. It’s about making risk visible, explainable, and worth managing. That’s how we build trust. That’s how we earn investment. That’s how we protect the business for real. #CyberStrategy #CyberResilience #CISOtoCFO #BusinessAlignment #RiskLeadership #MicrominderCyberSecurity #BoardroomSecurity #OutcomeDrivenSecurity

Wiz's $32B acquisition by Google (their largest) is wild. But, it's not the most interesting part. It's their early playbook... and how they got started. The playbook is from Cyberstarts, an Israeli early-stage VC firm that focuses on investing in Israeli founders in the cybersecurity space. They've produced 7 unicorns, 1 decacorn (Wiz). A mind boggling hit rate. If you listen to 20VC, you might have caught the episode with Gili Raanan, GP/Founder of Cyberstarts. This is where I heard about the playbook. 👉 The Sunrise Program & CISO Community. Startups need a few crucial ingredients in the beginning: ✅ Talent & expertise ✅ Rapid customer feedback for iteration to nail PMF ✅ Distribution to get in front of customers ✅ Rapid revenue growth (not always, but depends on your ambitions) The Sunrise Program was designed to fuel all of these and help entrepreneurs at their inception (as described on the Cyberstarts' site). A large component of the program is their CISO Community. CISO (buyers) would invest time to provide product feedback & expertise (as advisors), insights into their hardest challenges, testing of the product, and evangelism. Not only does this help build better products that align to buyers' needs... It also creates a built in fanbase and distribution channel. Naturally, you want to help support & grow what you help build. The playbook works as follows: 1. Bring in your buyers (find the best in the industry so they also act as signals to the market later) 2. Leverage their expertise & guidance on what challenges are hardest for them to tackle 3. Focus on that challenge 4. Build with inputs, feedback, and iterations with your buyers 5. Create early fans and evangelist of your product 6. Convert design partners into early customers, fast path to first $1M 7. Leverage the broad network of buyers who your first buyers know 8. Get introductions to those buyers (early evangelist helped build, so they naturally want to help promote) 9. Word of mouth is the best referral for distribution 10. Revenue closes faster 11. Faster revenue growth attracts more talent, investment, customers It's brilliant. Over the last couple years, I've talked to a few Wiz customers. They all said something similar.... "Wiz is one of the best $%^&ing products we've ever used."

Let’s break down why the most successful cybersecurity companies are completely flipping their approach. Instead of hiding their technical experts behind white papers and sales calls, they're turning them into trusted industry voices through authentic video content. Data shows that companies doing this right see: -40% reduction in customer acquisition costs -5-7x higher engagement rates than corporate content -3 SQLs generated per 1,000 video completions (85% net new to pipeline) Your competitors spend 73% of their budget competing for bottom-funnel keywords, while buyers spend 70% of their journey researching at the top of the funnel. The companies breaking through are building warm audiences at 80% lower cost per engagement by having their experts help first, sell later. Your SMEs are your most valuable marketing asset. Are you leveraging them correctly?

Most sellers start a new cybersecurity sales role the wrong way. 😬 They spend the first 90 days learning the product. The best reps spend those 90 days building pipeline. After 20+ years in enterprise tech and cybersecurity, here’s what I would do immediately if I started a new role tomorrow. Cybersecurity spending is now over $275B globally, and more than 90% of that revenue flows through channel partners. Understanding how customers buy matters more than memorizing features. Here’s the playbook. 1. Understand the ICP and outcomes Start with the Ideal Customer Profile. Who actually buys this solution? What problem are they trying to solve? Go one step deeper. Understand the outcomes customers are trying to achieve: • Reduce alert fatigue • Improve detection and response • Consolidate security tools • Meet compliance requirements • Improve operational efficiency Cybersecurity buyers are drowning in complexity. Too many tools Too many alerts Not enough talent If you can clearly articulate the problem and the outcome, you’ll win more deals. 2. Build your target accounts Don’t chase everything. Identify the accounts that fit your ICP and focus there. Great sellers are intentional about where they spend their time. 3. Map the partner ecosystem Cybersecurity deals rarely happen alone. Partners, MSSPs, integrators, and consultants are often already inside your target accounts. Find them. The fastest way into an account is often through a partner who already has trust. 4. Study the territory data Before making assumptions, look at the numbers. Which partners close the most revenue? Which bring the most pipeline? Which move through sales cycles the fastest? Follow the signal. Then go engage those partners immediately. 5. Create daily offensive activity Pipeline solves most problems in sales. Force yourself to create a set number of offensive touchpoints every day: Calls Partner outreach Customer introductions New opportunities Create a weekly rhythm with your core team: BDR CAM Sales Engineer Marketing Align on accounts, partners, and pipeline. Cybersecurity sales are complex. But the fundamentals are simple: Understand the ICP and outcomes Build target accounts Find the partners already inside them Follow the data Create disciplined pipeline activity The best sellers don’t just manage opportunities. They build ecosystems. And ecosystems win deals. #Cybersecurity #SalesLeadership #GoToMarket #Partnerships

RSAC Day 4 Landing new business Here’s the reality most early-stage cyber companies don’t want to hear: buyers don’t “discover” you as often as you think. Most purchases are routed through trust, not tools. How new vendors actually get into an environment: 1. Incumbent adjacency An existing vendor expands into a new category. Procurement is already solved. 2. VAR / channel-led (with SME guidance) Good VARs have domain experts who map requirements + budget and recommend solutions. You’re not being discovered you’re being selected on your behalf. 3. Relationship transfer A former vendor rep lands somewhere new and brings you along. 4. Operator pull-through An engineer or leader has used the product before and re-buys it. 5. M&A inheritance You acquire a company already using a tool you don’t have. It becomes the standard. Vendor wins overnight more seats, more influence. 6. VC network effect Portfolio companies are encouraged (sometimes subtly) to work together. Exec-to-exec recommendation carries real weight. 7. CISO network / peer referral Private groups, trusted circles. One CISO shares real experience another treats it like gold. Even more pronounced in services where trust in the operator is the product. 8. Bottom-up / user-led adoption Users try it themselves and lobby internally. Sometimes paired with urgency-driven narratives to force attention. 9. External requirement / constraint Insurance, regulators, or partners require you to use a narrow set of approved solutions. You’re not choosing freely, you’re selecting within a box. 10. Net-new need + PoV Define requirements → evaluate → bake-off → choose. Clean in theory. Less common in practice. Most startups over-rotate on #10. The winners also build around #2–#9. You’re not just competing on product. You’re competing on distribution of trust. What else have you seen?

Here's an example pitch by IT Channel partner marketing that doesn't work: "We provide Browser Security, MDR, DLP, Access Control & firewalls.” Your positioning shouldn’t be about Browser Security, MDR, DLP etc. Or “world-class security.” It should be about the client’s real pain.   The better process is to identify the: vertical -> top issues -> what moves the needle -> and if you can solve issues best Let’s consider an example here: Gems and Jewelry Every gems & jewelry business founder worries about one thing: losing IP, which is their designs. Here’s how you can frame their worry to what their IT team is trying to achieve:   1. What drives them   → Protecting designs that are the lifeblood of their business → Avoiding losses from internal leaks or theft → Building client trust in secure financial transactions   2. How they define success → Designs never leaving the secure vault (digital or physical) → Authorized-only access to CAD drawings and client data → Zero incidents that could hurt brand reputation   3. How they make choices → Proven solutions that prevent design leaks (DLP, Access Control) → Assurance of 24/7 monitoring to catch anomalies fast → A partner who speaks business risk and not tech acronyms So, when you position it as: "Never let anyone steal your tomorrow's bestselling design. Protect your brand reputation along the way." It becomes more impactful. When you position like this, cybersecurity doesn’t just another service. It becomes the guardian of their crown jewels (pun intended). So next time you intend to run your marketing activities: → Segment database vertical wise → Ensure vertical wise positioning and messaging → Use relevant testimonials of that vertical if you have That’s when your marketing activities will bear fruit. In your next team review, ask your sales leadership and marketing to do this activity for 1 vertical you are strong in. (Read yesterday's post of mine on 3 layers to know your clients better than your competitors) https://lnkd.in/duZFwCvg ---- Rajeev Mamidanna Fixing what most tech founders miss out - Brand Strategy, Marketing Systems & Unified Messaging in 90 days & helping you with continuous Marketing

Channel is the biggest GTM enabler in cyber, by a long shot. Why? Cybersecurity products require more trust from buyers than any other category. In essence, we're asking CISOs to put things on their network that need access to the crown jewels. Building the trust required to get that 'yes' takes time. With channel, we stand on the shoulders of someone the buyer already trusts, short-circuiting that whole process. I've seen seven-figure deals with new logos close within 30 days of initial contact because the channel partner had that trusted relationship and brought us to the table. Plus, they were already onboarded in the buyer's procurement system, so we didn't have to redline a contract like we would by selling direct. Sure, we took a big haircut on the margin, but for those results at that speed, it's worth the cost.

The cybersecurity channel is evolving faster than ever. Omdia's latest survey of 120 partners across 39 countries reveals how the most successful players are adapting, and where the biggest opportunities lie. 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 86% of partners expect revenue growth in 2025, building on the 83% who achieved it last year. Those leaning into software and services-led models are pulling ahead of hardware-focused peers (88% vs 67%), showing where the momentum lies. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 Nearly three-quarters of partners are prioritizing investments in managed security services, with MDR leading adoption. Rather than building everything in-house, many are scaling through co-delivery models, a more flexible, collaborative approach. 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 Over half of partners are prioritizing vendors with strong AI capabilities, and 63% plan to deploy AI agents for specific tasks within their operations. Interestingly, 65% expect to reduce internal headcount, signaling a shift toward leaner, tech-driven operating models. 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲 More than half of partners are focusing investments on platform vendors, while still expanding relationships selectively in emerging areas. The clear priority: vendors that help accelerate managed security services growth. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 Cloud security, data security, and network security top the list of fastest-growing technologies, while MDR, SOC services, and vulnerability management lead service expansion. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 Customer IT budget pressure continues to be the #1 global challenge, with longer sales cycles hitting high-performing partners hardest. Regional differences are notable: APAC and LATAM are focused on evolving managed services, while North America grapples with extended cycles. Cybersecurity partners are doubling down the trifecta of managed services, AI-driven automation, and platforms, while positioning themselves as strategic advisors, not just technology resellers.