The Cybersecurity Recruiter talks to Thomas Donnelly, CTO & President, Co-Founder, Amplifier Security
The Cyber Security Recruiter PodcastShow Notes
From Security Executive to Startup Founder: Sales, Focus, and Raising a Pre-Seed Round
On the Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast, Tom chats with Tommy Donnelly, CTO, President, and co-founder of Amplifier Security. Tommy describes founder life as high-ambiguity work requiring constant energy, disciplined routines, and learning new skills - especially sales - framing it as “finding” the right customers with urgency and budget rather than persuading everyone.
He explains the value of narrowing product scope, defining an ICP, and iterating cheaply to reach product-market fit before scaling. Donnelly shares hiring traits he prioritizes (ambiguity tolerance, vision alignment, data-driven iteration), discusses leadership progression from technical roles to cross-functional and external influence, outlines how Amplifer raised a $3.3M pre-seed using design partners, networked VC outreach, and standardized SAFE notes (e.g., via Clerky), recommends TK Kader founder training, and cites Patrick Lencioni’s book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.”
00:00 Welcome and Banter 01:06 Entrepreneurship Reality Check 01:56 Energy and Founder Routines 03:20 Tommy’s Career Intro 04:02 Founder Life and Learning Sales 05:18 Listening and Networking Wins 09:21 Executive Communication Shift 12:33 Finding the Right Customers 17:46 Hiring for Ambiguity 21:44 From Startup to Scale Lessons 24:04 Structure vs Chaos 24:23 Climbing to VP Reality 25:54 Leaving Bullhorn for BetterCloud 27:14 Going All In as Founder 28:30 Staying Focused and Niche 30:50 How the Pre Seed Happened 36:28 Money Is a Commodity 40:44 Founder Sales Qualification 44:28 Best Founder Training Resource 45:49 Teamwork and Hard Conversations 48:16 Wrap Up and Thanks
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00:00 Welcome and introductions 00:39 Lindsay career snapshot 01:41 Threat intel at Human 02:37 New book launch 03:33 Malware needs context 04:42 Spotting real people online 08:25 AI as attack amplifier 09:45 Phishing at scale 11:50 Democratized hacking risks 15:18 Path to VP leadership 20:00 AI proof risk communication 21:53 Time boxing MIT MBA grind 23:13 Writing a book discipline 23:49 Small wins and purpose 25:15 Book writing deepens mastery 26:39 Communication skills through practice 29:15 Behind the scenes struggles 32:02 Mentors versus sponsors 34:41 Security community collaboration 35:48 Whats next and book teaser 37:46 Boat go faster mantra 39:49 Final thanks and wrap up