In this episode of the East Coase Elite series, we sit down with Yotam Segev, co-founder and CEO of Cyera, to explore the incredible journey of building a cybersecurity unicorn. From the early days of a "B-minus" idea, Yotam shares how a relentless focus on customer feedback, not internal opinions, became the company’s compass.
He reveals the difficult but essential pivot from founder-led sales to building a world-class team, the qualities he looks for in top-tier sellers, curiosity, paranoia, and hunger and the mindset that propelled Cyera to nearly $100M ARR and a $6B valuation in just four years.
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🏹 Key Topics Covered
00:00 - Intro
01:55 - From the military to founding Cyera
05:30 - Why *** is the only compass that matters
08:02 - How top salespeople act
09:16 - The importance of a humble approach
12:22 - The hardest part of the early stages
16:01 - Validating a hypothesis with "dollars"
20:00 - The impact of moving to the U.S.
20:31 - From founder-led sales to building the first team
29:19 - The market transition
32:39 - The three characteristics of a great seller
37:05 - The balance between a playbook and excitement
40:02 - The importance of energy and mindset
49:43 - The core dynamic of the co-founder relationship
52:17 - Cyera's North Sta
54:47 - Why top talent should join Cyera
💥 3 Biggest Lessons:
Your Compass is the Customer: Your opinions don't matter; building a great product means constantly listening to and learning from your customers' pain points.
Sales is a Team Sport: In an early-stage company, a founder must stay engaged in the sales process to build trust, as a salesperson alone can't provide the same assurance.
Mindset is Everything: The difference between an average and exceptional performer is often their attitude. Bring energy, curiosity, and a relentless drive to everything you do.
🙌 Thanks for listening! This episode was hosted by Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne, founders of Hunters & Unicorns, and post-produced by the team at videoforce.pro. If you enjoyed this episode, please drop a like/share and subscribe to our channel!
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💬 Notable Quotes "Your idea sounds like a B-minus and that's a compliment. We're investing in the team, and if the customers tell us they want to buy that, we'll build it". "We don't build products according to those opinions. Maybe your mother. We build products according to the customers with a very attentive view to the customers' pain and to the guidance they're providing us". "A company only exists, the oxygen for a company is business. It's a net new ARR. That's the oxygen for these companies that we're all playing in". "The journey itself is the price. And it's not a full lack of ambition. Like we want to take over the world if we could and we're walking towards it". "The best sellers... are curious, genuinely interested, caring about the customers, the challenges, the pains, what they're trying to accomplish, why they're trying to accomplish it, why have they not accomplished it yet again and again and again".
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