Audience 1st

In every episode I record with my guests, I ask them one crucial question:"What do you hate most about the cybersecurity industry?"In this episode, I curated the top answers for you. What's more, you'll get an understanding of what security practitioners, go-to-market teams, and cybersecurity vendors can do to alleviate some of these problems in the industry.Who will you hear from?[00:45] Joshua Marpet[01:39] Limor Kessem[03:43] Nick Ryan[04:43] Tal Arad[05:42] Leo Cruz[06:39] Gary Hayslip[08:05] Dmitriy Sokolovskiy[09:29] Allan Alford[12:39] Ryan Cloutier[15:43] Joseph Carson[17:09] Evan Francen[21:19] Malia Mason[24:08] Jenny Botton[25:23] Ferd Hagethorn[26:50] Chris RobertsJoin Audience 1st TodayJoin 550+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audience1st.substack.com

Free trials and proofs of value are key factors in deciding whether or not to purchase a cybersecurity solution.But there are concerns with them too.CISOs and security practitioners have to be real smart and careful about which products they allow within their environments.In this episode, I had a brutally honest conversation with Nick Ryan, Director - Enterprise Security, Governance, Risk, & Compliance (CISO), Baker Tilly US, about his challenges, goals, what vendors do that piss him off, and the alternatives.Join Audience 1st TodayJoin 450+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audience1st.substack.com

Everything that happens well  inside your organization during a crisis-level cyberattack is good and dandy.But what you're going to be judged on is how it looks in the media.If you don't control that message and you don't say the things that you really want to tell your customers, then you're going to end up losing so much money.So many problems are going to come from that response more than anything you're doing under the hood.Brutally honest insights from Limor Kessem, Principal Consultant of Cyber Crisis Management, Author, Speaker and Podcaster.In the latest episode of Audience 1st, I sat down with Limor to discuss and uncover:How vendors and PR teams within those organizations can be more prepared to handle crisis-level cyberattacks and create more meaningful messages and experiences that impact their customers and the industry positively.What a controlled message of a crisis looks likeExamples of high-profile breaches and how not to manage a crisisJoin Audience 1st TodayJoin 450+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audience1st.substack.com

Etiquette 101 for Vendors Next Year at Black Hat:Lead with a genuine message.Do not make false promises or claims.Brutally honest insights from Leo Cruz, CISO at St. Joseph's School for the Deaf (and my new friend) 😎I met Leo at Black Hat a couple of weeks ago and we recently chatted about the do's and don'ts at conferences like Black Hat.In this episode of Audience 1st, Leo shares his experience at Black Hat USA 2022, the differences he saw this year vs. previous years, which vendors stood out to him on the exhibition floor, and what marketers can do to improve their booth game and messaging next year.Join Audience 1st TodayJoin 450+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audience1st.substack.com

After I came back from Black Hat, I had some time to evaluate what vendors were doing on the exhibition floors and map that back to what I’d heard from my previous podcast guest.Some analysis and episode cutting developed a beautiful creature of an episode:The Best of What CISOs Love That Vendors Do.What does that mean?In every episode I ask my guest one critical question:"What's one thing a vendor has done that has made you feel good?"So, I've compiled a pretty sweet list of things that make CISOs and security practitioners happy.Even if you don’t win on customer acquisition today, if you make people feel good, they’ll remember you forever.It’s a win-win!So, do me a favor, have a listen.And, as always, apply those insights.Join Audience 1st TodayJoin 337+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audience1st.substack.com

Cybersecurity buyers do not have a lot of time to review long RFPs with hundreds of pages. Instead, provide technical diagrams, high-level explanations, and a few slides that provide a focused message.Buyers are going to read as little as possible to make a decision.No one is going to read a hundred pages. They don't have the time and the capacity. No one can digest that.So cut the b******t and provide as much focused information as possible. That will really help everyone make a decision.Join Audience 1st TodayJoin 450+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audience1st.substack.com

I get the fact that you're talking about the offensive framework, but you should really talk about the compliance framework, which a lot of CISOs, unfortunately, have to live in. Show them that too.In this episode, I had a brutally honest conversation with Gary Hayslip, Global CISO for SoftBank Investment Advisers & SoftBank Group International, about his challenges, goals, what vendors do that piss him off, and the alternatives.Join Audience 1st TodayJoin 450+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audience1st.substack.com

In this episode of Audience 1st, Nick digs in deep to understand: • The methods that get me to look at a vendor or solution. • Platforms I trust to learn about new vendors or solutions. • How I learn about and research vendors. • The % I take a demo from marketing promotions. • The % split preference for getting information from marketing versus sales. • The preference for working with one salesperson versus multiple salespeople. • What turns me off and causes me to tune out.And more!Read the full episode highlights on audience1st.fm This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audience1st.substack.com

I've been interviewing cybersecurity buyers about why and how they buy for 4 months. The tables have turned. Nelson Gilliat, host of The Buyer Centric Revenue Model Podcast asked me how and why I buy.In this episode of Audience 1st, Nick digs in deep to understand:The methods that get me to look at a vendor or solution.Platforms I trust to learn about new vendors or solutions.How I learn about and research vendors.The % I take a demo from marketing promotions.The % split preference for getting information from marketing versus sales.The preference for working with one salesperson versus multiple salespeople.What turns me off and causes me to tune out.And more!Check out the Buyer Centric Revenue Model: https://www.linkedin.com/company/buyer-centric-revenue-model/Join Audience 1st TodayJoin 450+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audience1st.substack.com

Dmitriy’s tenure as a CISO for the last four years has been a drastic transformation in the way he thinks about cybersecurity, specifically risk management, in general, and, more importantly, how that ties into the whole business flow of a company; not a technical entity, but a business in a company.Words like:Business valueReturn on investmentLong term planning…have a very different meaning to executives and the boards than what CISOs (techies) think.How does a CISO present to their board without killing them with numbers? And why are CISOs not getting help from the sales side - the people seemingly more attuned to business acumen than them?In this episode of Audience 1st, I have a brutally honest conversation with Dmitriy Sokolovskiy, CISO of Avid, a Software Development company, about his challenges, how to build relationship capital, and tangible ways to help CISOs do their job better.Join Audience 1st TodayJoin 450+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audience1st.substack.com