Jay Clouse

Learn the strategies I used to:

• earn $2.8 million+ as a creator since 2017
• build a 138,000 subscriber YouTube channel
• achieve 2.25 million podcast downloads
• attract 58,000 followers on LinkedIn

If you're struggling to find traction as a creator—or if you're struggling monetize the attention you ARE receiving, I can help.

🧪 CLIENT WINS FROM THE LAB

"One month after joining the lab, I pulled in $21,000. So I know that sounds too good to be true. That's probably not what I'm going to do next month, because I did do something a little special. But I can say from my one month alone joining The Lab, it has been absolutely be worth it."
— Claire Bartholic, The Planted Runner

"I'm building out a little SaaS project, and Jay had some great additions for the design and also for how to how to sell it. So I implemented one of or both of those both of those additions. One of them brought me $3,000 in about a week, which was awesome."
— Jake Thomas, Creator Hooks

"So I have been in The Lan for about 45 days at this point, and while it did take me seven months to make the decision to join, I can honestly say that at this point of me being there, I have already made my money back."
— Gannon Meyer, ManyChat expert

________


👋 Hey, I’m Jay!

Eight years ago, I left the startup world to build something of my own. I didn’t believe I was creative, so I started writing a newsletter just to prove myself wrong.

Fast forward to today, and that newsletter has become Creator Science, a multi-million dollar business and one of the most trusted voices in the creator economy. 

Creator Science teaches creators a reliable path to growth through observation, experimentation, and iteration. My work spans a newsletter, podcast, membership, and YouTube channel, helping thousands of creators build sustainable businesses.

In 2023, I was named “Content Entrepreneur of the Year” by The Tilt, and the Creator Science podcast earned a 2022 Signal Award.

I’ve personally invested in 10+ startups—including Kit, RightMessage, Maven, Carry, Kick, Gumroad, and Beast Industries. Through the Creator Science Syndicate, I invite my audience to invest alongside me, supporting platforms that help creators succeed (and giving them a share in the upside).

Before Creator Science, I built and sold a community, Unreal Collective, to Pat Flynn and Smart Passive Income, where I designed their membership and community programs.

🚀 Growing your creator business? I can help.

creatorscience.com
creatorscience.com/podcast
creatorscience.com/youtube
creatorscience.com/lab

Founder

The more I've studied creators, the more I've come to one major realization:

Today's top creators aren't just artists. They're scientists.

The creators you look up to don't leave growth to chance. They are constantly forming new hypotheses, testing things, and changing direction based on the results. Not only that, but they share their results with their creator friends!

Creator Science is your new creator friend.

We do the work of compiling shared knowledge here as well as acquiring NEW knowledge. That may be through interviews, first-hand experience running this business, or off-the-record conversations.

Creator Science's content, courses, and membership community are built to help you shorten the learning curve to becoming a professional creator.

Learn more and join 17,000+ readers at creatorscience.com or click the link below 👇

Email is somehow still underrated.

Every Sunday, my emails are:

• Sent to ~49,000
• Opened by ~23,000 (43%)
• Unsubscribed by ~100 (0.20%)
• Read by people I respect and admire
• Sponsored by companies/people I believe in
• Resulting in hundreds or thousands in purchases

Insane.

Founder of Creator Science — Education for professional creators • Investor in Kit, Carry, Kick, Maven, Gumroad, Beast Industries

Lester Chng

Cyber CEOs Brand Strategist. I build your brand as you build your business. | Senior Cybersecurity Advisor | Author | Naval Officer | CISSP | 🇨🇦🇸🇬 |

You head a leading cybersecurity firm.
But your online presence doesn't reflect it.

In fact, being invisible is damaging. 

You understand the power of thought leadership.
You know LinkedIn shapes deal flow and adds credibility in the industry.
You just don’t have the cycles (or the copy) to share your expertise and experience.

You have stories worth telling.

The insights from being in the trenches.
The deep conversations with your ace teams.
The hard discussions with your clients. 

Don’t let this wisdom go to waste.

That’s where I come in.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How we work together.

Profile & Positioning
=> Rebuild your LinkedIn profile so visitors see industry authority, not “another vendor.”

Content engine
=> Ghostwritten posts that leverage your insights and expertise into engaging LinkedIn posts. 

Outreach campaign
=> Targeted DM campaigns and audience-building strategies that build your authority and land you on podcasts and conference stages.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You focus on growing your firm and protecting your clients.
And we will ensure the industry, clients, prospects, and investors can’t ignore it.

Let’s build the personal brand that commands the cybersecurity conversation and drives business.


Worked with global client portfolio 
- MSPs
- MSSPs
- Agentic AI SOC
- AI-powered GRC 
- Operational Resilience 

Senior Advisor, Financial Crimes Unit Exercises. BMO Fusion Centre

Execution of Financial Crimes Unit Exercise and Drill Program
• Design and execution of exercises and drills to operationalize the Financial Crimes Unit Fusion Centre
• Scenario creation and exercise execution for Information Security, Enterprise Fraud Management, Physical Security, and Global Crisis and Continuity Management teams 
• Providing effective challenge of incident response readiness through exercise observation
• Execution of enterprise-wide Purple Team Exercise


Cybersecurity Exercises: Purple Team, Ransomware, DDoS, Malware, Data Corruption, Data Breach, 3rd Party Incidents
Fraud Exercises: ATOs, Attack on Payment systems, Business Email Compromise, PII Breach
Physical Security Exercise: Active Assailant, Civil Unrest, Bomb Threats
Crisis Exercises: Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Operational Resilience, Fire Incidents, Natural Disasters, Utilities Disruption

15 Feb 1942 - The day Singapore surrendered to Japan.
This day was chosen as a solemn commemoration.
"Never Again".

It wasn't until 1984, that the Total Defence concept was launched. The government saw the necessity for a whole-of-society approach that went beyond just the military.

• Civil Defence
• Social Defence
• Military Defence
• Economic Defence
• Psychological Defence

Digital Defence was added as the 6th Pillar, 35 years later in 2019. 

• fake news
• cyberattacks
• disinformation campaigns

There was a need to tackle these new challenges.

Additionally, a fourth Service of the SAF, the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS), was stood up to underline the importance of this domain.

Would I have crossed over if I were still in active service...

I lost my voice on many occasions.  
 
But LinkedIn helped me find it again. 
 
I lost my voice when I left the Navy. 
12 years in service.  
It remains a part of me. 
Naval terms. Military speak.  
Barking orders and receiving them. 
 
And then I left the Navy.  
 
I lost my voice when I left the country. 
34 years in the land. 
I will always belong there. 
Singlish, slang, and all I knew. 
Culture, habits, being a local. 
 
And then I left the country. 
 
I lost my voice when I began abroad. 
8 years since I landed. 
I wonder if I'll ever belong. 
New nuances, new circumstances. 
 
And then I began again. 
 
I lost my voice when I lost my job. 
I will never forget the letter. 
"Changing business requirements" 
I told myself this will never be a chore. 
 
And then I found my voice. 
 
You may find this platform a bore. 
"I need a job" 
"I am excited to...." 
"🚀🚀🚀🚀🤖🤖🤖🤖" 
"Are you interested in buying.." 
 
But it has allowed me to find my voice. 
 
Cause one day, I may lose it again. 
 
Have you lost your voice before?
What steps are u taking to mitigate?

No alternative text description for this image

Running naval wargames and designing cyber exercises at a bank are more similar than people expect.

It did help that the big boss at the bank was a former naval aviator. 

He knew with a fusion centre structure of managing security incidents across cyber, fraud, physical security, and crisis management, the teams needed a robust training program to drive operational excellence and achieve full operating capabilities. 

That was the first task. 

Get back to basics. 
Sort out the procedures. 
Drill the response teams. 

Do you run drills for your teams?

Or assume they will respond to your expectations?

You know Canada is on the up when Dad sends you a TikTok (no i dont have an account) about the upcoming increase in defence spending.

What about Canada do you appreciate?

I like the cold...... what about you?

bootcamp

Sign up here:
https://catalystcorporatetraining.classe365.com/form/view/AutoBootCamp?_gl=1*9rfqtg*_ga*MTQ4NTczNDM0MC4xNjk4MjQxODM1*_ga_YYXBQS6S5Q*MTcwNzgzMzEyNi4xODEuMS4xNzA3ODMzMTYwLjI2LjAuMA

LinkedIn Ghostwriter for Cyber CEOs | Senior Cybersecurity Advisor | Author | Naval Officer | CISSP | 🇨🇦🇸🇬 |

It is RSAC in a couple of weeks. 
Yet your meeting calendar is scarily empty.

Your VP Marketing has been urging you to post more on LinkedIn during the lead-up to RSAC.

But is has been crazy busy with client demos, contract negotiations, partner agreements, manpower turnover, investor updates, fund-raising, and just LIFE.

The start of the year flew by and you didn't realize RSAC is just around the corner. The conference that costs a pretty penny but you don't feel like you have good momentum going into the event.

Your last LinkedIn post was a report of a company announcement 3 weeks ago. Your DMs are all full of spam. And you ignored your VP Marketing's email to post more.

But where do you start? What do you post about?

I have 2 resources for you.
1. The Cybersecurity CEO’s Personal Brand Blueprint
2. 5 LinkedIn Posts Templates for Cyber CEOs

You have 1 week to catch up.

Don't waste another year at RSAC.

DM or comment "RSAC" and I'll send you both.

Building a cyber company is not for everyone.

Do you even have the commitment to do so?

I interviewed Eldon Sprickerhoff to get his insights for the next generation of founders. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and a mentor at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University. 


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 “𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱”

𝘘: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴?


I kept seeing the same patterns: some passionate and brilliant technical founders hitting predictable walls - raising capital without understanding dilution consequences, scaling teams without proper foundations, pursuing growth without sustainable unit economics, or worse: flailing in the market with a product/offering that didn’t have an obvious value or importance.

What frustrated me was that these weren't unsolvable problems. They were challenges we had faced and eventually figured out, often painfully. I realized this knowledge could help others avoid the same expensive mistakes.

The recurring theme was the gap between technical excellence and business fundamentals. Founders could build incredible technology but struggled with identifying their true “ideal client profile”, minimally viable offering, go-to-market strategy, fundraising dynamics, or organizational design. "Committed" became my way of sharing survival strategies that weren't readily available elsewhere.


𝘘: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴?

Right now, I'm focused on helping the next generation of cybersecurity founders build enduring companies. Through my consulting and advisory roles, I'm seeing exceptional technical talent that needs guidance on the business side.

The masterclass is a way to scale that impact. I can only mentor a handful of founders directly, but the principles I learned building eSentire are broadly applicable. I want to help founders avoid the mistakes that nearly killed our company early on and accelerate their path to product-market fit and sustainable growth.

What excites me most is seeing founders take these lessons and apply them in ways I never imagined - solving problems that didn't exist when we started eSentire. The cybersecurity landscape keeps evolving, and I want to help the best founders navigate it successfully.


If you enjoyed this interview series, please follow Eldon and get his book at https://lnkd.in/gS2HNAnY


P.S. Have you read Committed? 
Get it already.

Having a brilliant idea is exciting.

But how you overcome uncertainty with conviction is key.

I interviewed Eldon Sprickerhoff to get his insights for the next generation of founders. Eldon is an active entrepreneur, investor, mentor, author, advisory and board member at the intersections of information security, computer science, machine learning, SaaS, and finance. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and a mentor at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University. 

He is best known for founding eSentire, a leading global cybersecurity Managed Detection and Response company.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 ‘𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢’ 𝘵𝘰 ‘𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺’?

I suppose that the most uncertain part was whether organizations would actually pay for continuous security monitoring as a service. In 2001, companies were used to buying products or hiring consultants for projects - not ongoing security operations.

What gave me conviction was simple: I knew from my time in New York that security threats didn't take breaks, but most companies couldn't afford 24/7 security teams, even if they knew that the threats existed. The gap between the threat reality and what organizations could resource internally was massive and growing. That disconnect was the opportunity.


If you enjoyed this interview series, please follow Eldon and get his book at https://lnkd.in/gS2HNAnY

He aims to be the Rick Rubin of Canadian cybersecurity startups: helping the right teams sharpen their edge, amplify their strengths, and scale faster.

P.S. What is the current opportunity in Cyber?

Scaling Cybersecurity Companies: Strategic Advisor & Growth Architect

Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University

eSentire

Dear LinkedIn,
Here is what it is like using the app. 

Suggested

Suggested

Suggested

Sponsored

Suggested

Sponsored 

Suggested

Sponsored


What’s up with this feed?

Did you even consider the experience?

Pls bring my connections’ posts. 

Sincerely,
Everyone.

LinkedIn

When I first moved to Canada, I remember reading about their Navy and Air Force capabilities (don’t ask me why I didn’t bother abt the Army). 

12 Halifax frigates. Ageing, 1990s
4 Victoria subs. Second hand. 
6 OPVs. Still coming online. 
12 Patrol crafts. 

F18s - started from 1982….


And to defend coast to coast….
to the True North

Was an impossible task. 

This Defence budget and Strategy is long overdue and may be the silver lining in this rocky new world. 

We are all pulling in the same direction. 

Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University will offer every company in every Catalyst program strategic insights to help them explore and pursue opportunities in Canada’s growing defence sector.

Stay connected and pull together.

The reason your posts fall flat? 
They read like press releases.

Most posts I see on LinkedIn read like they were written by a corporate communications team.

They’re clean. Safe. 
Approved by six people.
And boring as hell. 

Here are a few lessons that I gained after writing >1000+ posts. 
⸻

Lesson 1: Write as you would speak. 
You don’t need big words or long sentences.
Short. Direct. Clear.
If you wouldn’t say it in a conversation, don’t write it in a post.

⸻

Lesson 2: Share what it means, not just what happened.
Describe what you learned from it.
What changed for you? 
For your clients?
That’s the part people care about.

⸻

Lesson 3: Write to one person.
Think of someone specific — a client, a peer, a younger version of yourself.
Write as if you’re speaking to them.
That’s what makes people stop scrolling.

⸻

LinkedIn isn’t a press room.
It’s a coffee chat. 

Incorporate these lessons and the posts will start landing.

Whose posts do you enjoy reading?

4 types of people in tabletop exercises.

And how to deal with them.

It is every facilitator's nightmare. You spend hours designing and scheduling a tabletop exercise and you practice and envision every conversation, pushback, scenario.

Yet you still feel unprepared because you don't fully know who the audience is, what they are like, and whether they will chew you up and spit you out.

Here are the 4 archetypes and how to manage these characters.

1. The Know-it-all

If we all conduct a blind survey in the room and ask everyone to close their eyes and point to the person who "Knows-it-all", they will all point to the same person.

How to tell who this person is?

Don't worry. When the exercise reaches the first discussion point, this person will start talking about Step A to Z on what he or his team will do. He knows his plans, critical processes, who to call, what to ask, what to investigate, how long it takes, priorities etc

How do you handle the "Know-it-all"?

This is a good thing.
Don't discourage the sharing. Instead leverage what the person is sharing and post some of the things he raised to other teams.

Example:
Know-it-all: For this particular incident, we will triage and send out the initial report within 30 mins

You: That is excellent. Operations team (or any other team that should receive the report), is the information within the initial report sufficient or what other types of info will help your team's processes?

Know-it-alls are good for keeping the flow of the exercise. Leverage them well.

2. The Forever-Skeptic (FS for short)

Signs of the FS.
- This will never happen
- We have implemented tools for this
- This inject is not applicable for our env

I know. 
You may find yourself sweating at this point. But don't worry, leverage your exercise design partner to help expand on the inject to make it relevant.

OR if all else fails. 
This is one trick that works.

Ask the FS straight up. 
"Is there a similar inject or scenario where in your experience and expertise, you know will triggers an event/incident that needs your team's response?"

1. This strokes FS's ego.
2. You have trapped FS. He can't say there is no such scenario.
3. Smile and pivot from FS's suggestion.
4. Rem to tie it back to the overall scenario.

3. The Conversation Hogger

Signs of the Hogger
- This is a no brainer. If you record the whole, the hogger probably took up 70% of the air time.

It is likely that the hogger has gone too far down a rabbit hole. 

Acknowledge the hogger's contribution and bring others in the convo.

4. The silent ones

No sound. No inputs. No involvement.
Ask them directly what they think or they would do. 
Do it with every inject.

What other characters are there and how do you deal w them?

Running the Naval Wargaming & Simulation Centre provided a strong foundation for running cyber exercises.

Here was what a typical week looked like.

• detailing injects
• designing exercise scenarios
• preparing exercise with instructors
• running exercises for warfare teams
• keeping up to date with naval tactics
• tracking and assessing performances
• planning out future exercise schedules
• conducting pre and post-exercise briefs
• discussing the ship's exercise objectives
• ensuring teams are up to date on Red Team tactics

Now you can understand the transferable skills in Cybersecurity exercises.

The best way to avoid mistakes is to learn from others who have trodden a similar path. 

I interviewed Eldon Sprickerhoff to get his insights for the next generation of founders. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and a mentor at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University. 

He is best known for founding eSentire, a leading global cybersecurity Managed Detection and Response company.

𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲

𝘘: 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮?

Three lessons stand out:

First, product-market fit isn't a one-time achievement - it's continuous. What worked for early customers often needed to evolve as we scaled. This came from painful experience watching our initial approach struggle as we tried to expand.

Second, in security, trust is everything but takes years to build. This lesson came from losing deals early on simply because we were unknown, regardless of our technical capabilities. We had to earn credibility one customer at a time.

Third, technical founders need to learn business fundamentals or find partners who have them. We learned this through trial and error - understanding unit economics, founder-led sales processes, and operational scaling didn't come naturally but became critical to our survival.


𝘘: 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴?

A few moments were definitive:

The decision to focus on MDR as its own category rather than trying to be a general security consultancy. This came from recognizing we needed to own a specific problem rather than compete in a commoditized services market.

Choosing to build certain technology components rather than resell others' tools - and this changed throughout the life of the company. This was risky and capital-intensive, but it became our moat. We decided based on the belief that you can't deliver differentiated outcomes with commoditized tools; we made the choice to build on well-established frameworks (enterprise-level plumbing) and then build our own solutions on top.


The choice to pursue enterprise clients over SMB at a certain stage. This shift required completely rethinking our go-to-market, but the economics and retention made it necessary. We made this call when customer acquisition costs versus lifetime value forced us to evolve.


P.S. Are you capturing these moments in your journey?

LinkedIn  isn’t rocket science. 
10 things you can do today that will take less than 1 min. 

Forget the polished profile. 
Funnel content tactics. 
Funky AI graphics. 

Keep it simple. 

Do one of these (or all) and make LinkedIn work for you. 

1. Send a DM to refer someone
2. Send a DM to encourage someone
3. Comment on a stranger’s post
4. Reconnect w an ex colleague
5. Congratulate an achievement
6. Say hi to a stranger in your field
7. Say hi to a stranger not in your field
8. Ask for insights from an expert
9. Ask someone for that referral
10. Ask someone if they need help

Try it out. 
Let me know how many you hit today.

P.S when was the last time you did any of the above?

Sick of tabletop exercises?

Here are other training tools to use. 

Picture this. 
You designed and planned for your tabletop exercise for months. 

The date is decided and you sent out the calendar hold. 

“Urghh”. The synchronized groans echo across the office space. 


Johnny Smarty Pants: “I bet it’s an AI or ransomware scenario again”. 

Jimmy Old Timer: “Time to dust off the old playbook”. 


How do you think the exercise will go?
Probably the same as the last 5..

Even MSPs know that this is a problem. 
“Our clients are bored of TTXs”.


Here’s how to shake things up. 

1. Use short drills instead
2. Execute unalerted exercises
3. Ask delegates to be the primary 
4. Allocate budget for a simulation ex

You can and should incorporate some variety and creativity in your training. 

Otherwise it’s a bloody snooze fest. 

Everyone know it and just goes through the motion at your tabletop. 

Depressing stuff. 

P.S any other bright training ideas?

It’s 2026 and it’s still a VUCA world. 

Volatilite
Uncertain
Complex
Ambiguous 

No wonder there is a continued demand for crisis mgmt professionals. 

VUCA was introduced in 90s to describe the post Cold War period. 
Still as relevant today. 


In fact, things may escalate. 

BANI is added to the frame with pandemics, AI, and whatever’s next. 

Brittle
Anxious
Nonlinear 
Incomprehensible


Stay safe out there. 

P.S Just saw the missile attack on the base in Bahrain where I was stationed back in the day.

One simple reason to keep showing up on LinkedIn that we always forget. 

It takes repetition. Alot of it. 

It is simply not good enough to just post once every 2 months and expecting people to notice you, much less remember your name. 

To make matters worst, you write about random topics. 

One day it’s National Cyber Strategy. 
The next is how Moltbook is the next catalyst for the end of the world as we know it. 

But yr company’s solution is AI SOC. 

How do you expect to form an impression, an association, and god forbid ….. get inbound leads?

People have short term memory. 
People are extremely busy. 
People are distracted. 

Stick to 1-2 topics. 
Post 1-2 per week. 
Keep at it.


P.S have you given it a good go before concluding this channel doesn’t work?

Building a product isn’t the hardest part for cyber founders. 

It’s building trust. 

- Enterprise buyers make a decision about a founder before they ever get on a call. 

- Investors decide whether to respond to your email based on what they find when they search your name. 

-Partners size you up against competitors who’ve been showing up publicly for years.

You can have the best product in the market and still lose the deal to someone with an inferior solution and a stronger presence.

Trust is built before the conversation starts and your presence on LinkedIn shouldn’t be overlooked.  

What does your LinkedIn say about you to someone who’s never heard of your company?

A Mag 7 acquires your Cyber company for Billions.

No wonder everyone is now a cyber founder... BUT

I interviewed Eldon Sprickerhoff to get his insights for the next generation of founders. He is best known for founding eSentire, a leading global cybersecurity Managed Detection and Response company.

𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆’𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

𝘘: 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘺𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴?


The biggest difference is that the market now better understands the category. When we started, we had to explain why continuous monitoring mattered, let alone explaining what we meant by “Embedded Incident Response” or “Collaborative Threat Management” (two early terms we used to describe what benefit we were bringing to the market).

Today, MDR is established - founders don't need to educate the market on the concept, but they face different challenges.

The bar for differentiation is much higher. Buyers are more sophisticated and have many options. You can't win just by being "better" - you need to solve a problem fundamentally differently or serve an underserved segment.

Capital availability has changed dramatically. In the early 2000s, cybersecurity funding was extremely scarce. Today, capital is somewhat more abundant (especially when addressing the market from the perspective of AI), which means you can scale faster but also face better-funded competition earlier. The pressure to grow quickly can actually hurt companies that haven't found true product-market fit.


𝘘: 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘺𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦-𝘶𝘱𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩?

I look for a few signals:

Do they have deep conviction about a specific problem, or are they chasing a market opportunity? The best founders I meet can articulate exactly why their solution needs to exist based on real experience, not market sizing slides.

Are their customers renewing and expanding? Revenue growth matters, but retention and expansion tell you if you're actually solving the problem. Churn hides in early-stage metrics.

Can the founder articulate their unit economics clearly? If they can't explain their CAC, LTV, and path to profitability, they're likely building on quicksand regardless of how impressive the top-line growth looks.

Finally, are they learning and adapting? The founders who succeed aren't the ones who execute their original plan perfectly - they're the ones who recognize when something isn't working and adjust intelligently. This has been coined as a new flavour of MVP: Minimally eVolveable Product.



If you enjoyed this interview series, please follow Eldon and get his book at https://lnkd.in/gS2HNAnY

Imagine exercising the exact scenario a couple of weeks before an incident. 

This is how some teams would have managed the lead up to this weekend. 

The sharpest teams would have tracked the escalation and highlighted the threat scenarios weeks ago. This can only happen if your threat intel teams covers beyond just cyber. 

The risk teams would be pulled in and have a quick reassessment. This can only happen if your intel and risk teams know how to work together. 

The exercise and security teams collaborate to rapidly design and develop exercise scenarios. This can only happen if leaders carve out time. 

The leadership team prepare briefs to the executive leadership and board. This can only happen if there is trust. 

Can you predict when something kicks off? Nope but you can certainly prep for it in advance. 

And when you run the exact scenario weeks before it actually happens. 

Imagine the credibility your team gains. This doesn’t happen by chance but by an intricate and established machinery. 

P.S 
how are you actively managing risks?

If the message is still unclear, do this. 
- review last few major incidents 
- identify the most relevant scenarios
- refresh or recirculate response plans
- stand up a quick incident drill 
- plan for a near term exercise 
- run the exercise and note lessons
- update leadership on readiness


Write a quick doc on this process. 
That is your response playbook. 
Don’t fumble the next crisis.

taplio

The Battle

Jay Clouse

Lester Chng

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreJay Clouse's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLester Chng's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Jay Clouse

Lester Chng

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jay Clouse's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLester Chng's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJay Clouse's LinkedIn Performance