<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennyczarny/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">Benny Czarny</a>&nbsp;is CEO and Founder of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/opswat/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">OPSWAT</a>, a cybersecurity company he bootstrapped from a San Francisco apartment over 20 years ago. It now employs over a thousand people and protects critical infrastructure across 80+ countries. He is also the author of “Cybersecurity Upside Down” and co-producer of the cybersecurity docuseries "Into the Breach." We dive into Benny’s founder philosophy on patience with product go-to-market, why he views unsolicited resignations as a leadership failure, how he identifies the best candidates by the quality of questions they ask, and why he burns every 30-60-90 day plan he receives. Key Takeaways: 00:00 Introduction.06:40 How the original idea for a cybersecurity language protocol turned into a bootstrapped product that customers lined up to buy.11:30 What's changed and what hasn't across 22 years and 1,100 employees.16:10 How AI is expanding the attack surface, threatening LLM data lakes, and creating new infrastructure vulnerabilities.21:30 Why Benny wrote "Cybersecurity Upside Down" and how his editor convinced him to rewrite it from scratch.28:00 The origin of "Into the Breach" and why he partnered with the MythBusters production team to myth-bust the firewall.32:30 Competing for talent against Google and Palo Alto by offering a mission that outlasts any paycheck.35:00 The three honorable ways to leave OPSWAT, and why every other exit is a leadership failure.39:00 Why Benny throws 30-60-90 day plans in the trash and what he asks instead.43:00 The pattern Benny sees in every strong hire: questions that reveal how prepared the candidate really is.50:00 Advice for founders: don't pivot from a product before you've exhausted its go-to-market. Resources Mentioned: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennyczarny/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">Benny Czarny</a>https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennyczarny/ <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/opswat/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">OPSWAT</a>https://www.linkedin.com/company/opswat/ <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593655958" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: blue;">"Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life" by Arnold Schwarzenegger</a>https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593655958 <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060516402" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: blue;">"Built to Last" by Jim Collins</a>https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060516402 <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GH8SZXJ9" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: blue;">"Cybersecurity Upside Down" by Benny Czarny</a>https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GH8SZXJ9 <a href="https://www.opswat.com/into-the-breach" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: blue;">"Into the Breach" docuseries</a>https://www.opswat.com/into-the-breach ﻿Thank you for listening to “Hire Learning with Oz Rashid.” Don’t forget to leave us a review and subscribe so you don’t miss out on future episodes. Connect with our host, Oz Rashid, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozrashid. To learn more about MSH, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.talentmsh.com/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">https://www.talentmsh.com</a>. #TalentAcquisition #HiringStrategy #EnterpriseHiring

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennyczarny/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);"&gt;Benny Czarny&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;is CEO and Founder of&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/opswat/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);"&gt;OPSWAT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;, a cybersecurity company he bootstrapped from a San Francisco apartment over 20 years ago. It now employs over a thousand people and protects critical infrastructure across 80+ countries. He is also the author of “Cybersecurity Upside Down” and co-producer of the cybersecurity docuseries "Into the Breach."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We dive into Benny’s founder philosophy on patience with product go-to-market, why he views unsolicited resignations as a leadership failure, how he identifies the best candidates by the quality of questions they ask, and why he burns every 30-60-90 day plan he receives.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;Key Takeaways:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;00:00 Introduction.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;06:40 How the original idea for a cybersecurity language protocol turned into a bootstrapped product that customers lined up to buy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;11:30 What's changed and what hasn't across 22 years and 1,100 employees.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;16:10 How AI is expanding the attack surface, threatening LLM data lakes, and creating new infrastructure vulnerabilities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;21:30 Why Benny wrote "Cybersecurity Upside Down" and how his editor convinced him to rewrite it from scratch.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;28:00 The origin of "Into the Breach" and why he partnered with the MythBusters production team to myth-bust the firewall.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;32:30 Competing for talent against Google and Palo Alto by offering a mission that outlasts any paycheck.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;35:00 The three honorable ways to leave OPSWAT, and why every other exit is a leadership failure.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;39:00 Why Benny throws 30-60-90 day plans in the trash and what he asks instead.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;43:00 The pattern Benny sees in every strong hire: questions that reveal how prepared the candidate really is.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;50:00 Advice for founders: don't pivot from a product before you've exhausted its go-to-market.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;Resources Mentioned:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennyczarny/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);"&gt;Benny Czarny&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennyczarny/&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/opswat/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);"&gt;OPSWAT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/company/opswat/&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593655958" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: blue;"&gt;"Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life" by Arnold Schwarzenegger&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593655958&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060516402" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: blue;"&gt;"Built to Last" by Jim Collins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060516402&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GH8SZXJ9" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: blue;"&gt;"Cybersecurity Upside Down" by Benny Czarny&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GH8SZXJ9&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.opswat.com/into-the-breach" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: blue;"&gt;"Into the Breach" docuseries&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;https://www.opswat.com/into-the-breach&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;﻿Thank you for listening to “Hire Learning with Oz Rashid.” Don’t forget to leave us a review and subscribe so you don’t miss out on future episodes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;Connect with our host, Oz Rashid, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozrashid.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;To learn more about MSH, visit&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.talentmsh.com/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);"&gt;https://www.talentmsh.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;#TalentAcquisition #HiringStrategy #EnterpriseHiring&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Benny Czarny is CEO and Founder of OPSWAT, a cybersecurity company he bootstrapped from a San Francisco apartment over 20 years ago. It now employs over a thousand people and protects critical infrastructure across 80+ countries. He is also the aut...

Hire Learning with Oz Rashid

Build a Company That Outlasts You Through Founder-Led Growth with Benny Czarny of OPSWAT

Build a Company That Outlasts You Through Founder-Led Growth with Benny Czarny of OPSWAT

Description