THE CHALLENGE: THE CIXSO SOLUTION
Company Strategy
CIXSO™ has two acquisition targets: high-tech startups without easy or affordable access to CISO services who are our clients, and the proliferation of “virtual CISOs” (vCISOs) who will provide our services.
This is perfect timing for the launch of CIXSO.
CIXSO does precisely what’s in its name and is its mission statement as well. It is ready to provide cost-effective virtual CISO services to its target market: VC-backed tech startups.
The stats are grim for VC-backed start-ups in the US market:
There are 44,000 VC-backed tech companies.
There are 7,532 CISOs.
“Draft pick by the F500 and F2000 accounts for loss of another 2100 CISOs.
That leaves 5432 left – most, if not all, are well outside the reach of an early-stage high-tech company’s budget.
It’s not just the limited supply of CISOs: their price tag is high. The average cost of an experienced CISO is $403,000, which includes base salary, bonuses, and equity value
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Yet, a cyber-attack can significantly reduce a startup's valuation and make it difficult to secure future funding.
Investors are increasingly aware of the risks associated with cybersecurity and may be hesitant to invest in startups that lack strong security measures.
CIXSO has solved this problem by creating a community of vCISOs, who are fractional providers of an array of services and frameworks, developed by CIXSO, that are foundational and the key to a cybersecurity defense, crucial to all tech startups.
Increasingly, many CISOs work independently, providing fractional CISO services as vCISOs.
The vCISO role is experiencing significant growth. It is one of the fastest-expanding positions in information security. As early-stage businesses confront increasingly intricate threats to their data and systems, the demand for expert security guidance has surged.
This is precisely what CIXSO provides its clients: a plan built on the company's strategy and business model, and with a detailed understanding of its technology footprint. All of this is incorporated into a framework that has been developed by CIXSO for use by its fractional CISOs.
CIXSO has harnessed the expertise of one of its Co-founders, John D. Johnson, PhD, for his technological vision and implementation.
He is the cybersecurity brains of the operation.
He is a highly experienced CISO and GRC expert. He has developed a framework designed to address the unique needs of an early-stage tech startup. Our vCISOs then use this framework and its templates and models to implement a tailored plan for the client.
Put in front of a prospective client, most seasoned CISOs excel at explaining their skills and how they can benefit the company. That’s the easy part.
The hard part for most people in a role as a sole business owner or as a fractional CISO is finding and closing clients.
The statistics show almost a direct correlation to the 20/80 rule: it's reported that 20% of people are comfortable selling themselves, and well over 50% are not.
That is where CIXSO provides an additional value-added service by finding engagements for the vCISOs.
Its other Co-Founder, Lisa M. Davis, has worked with high-tech startups since 1985. For the first twenty years of her career, she worked for leading technology companies in the US and Europe, delivering six-figure to multi-million dollar deals.
After seven years, she settled down and returned to the US and began the second phase of her career: creating companies focused on serving early-stage tech startups and providing services to CISOs.
She has launched companies in the legal and financial sectors focused on early-stage high-tech companies and an innovative firm where she created a 450+ community of CISOs and Risk Managers for whom she provided services.
She is the business Development guru of the operation.
The market conditions could not be better positioned for the entry of CIXSO.
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It addresses and solves a real problem for early-stage startups and their investors: how do you gain access to best practices in cybersecurity on a limited budget?
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