Driving cultural change, the ‘Seed Stage’ is now the ‘Seed Gradient’, Prevoty raised $13M Series B, Okta reports earnings, Riskonnect acquired Aruvio, and more!
Article Discussion on Leadership, Innovation, and Startup Success
Getting to the Critical Few Behaviors That Can Drive Cultural Change
https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Getting-to-the-Critical-Few-Behaviors-That-Can-Drive-Cultural-Change- The power of 3 works when it comes to behaviors, too
- Highlights the use of the 5 Whys — one of the tools I teach for helping people better answer “What problem are we trying to solve?”
- When affecting change, what are the keystone behaviors? Start there.
- What are your implementation criteria?
The power of office back-channeling begins with its mere existence
https://work.qz.com/1121273/organizational-behavior-how-digital-backchannels-influence-decisions-at-work/- Ah, the ‘back channeling’ that is common in the modern enterprise (and family)
- Interesting impact on the dynamic of majority and minority opinions
- If you know the back-channel exists, you are more likely to engage in discussions to understand the other perspectives
The ‘Seed Stage’ is Now The ‘Seed Gradient’
https://hackernoon.com/the-seed-stage-is-now-the-seed-gradient-d0e5fa65698e- Series A is often the fourth institutional round of funding (following accelerators, pre-seed, and seed)
- While a challenge, plenty of money available for capable startups
- Consider the downsides of ‘easy money’
Research: If You Position Products as a Set, People Are More Likely to Buy Them All
https://hbr.org/2017/11/research-if-you-position-products-as-a-set-people-are-more-likely-to-buy-them-all- It feels good to finish; understanding this need drives product strategy
- “Pseudo-set framing” has a dramatic impact
- It’s about framing, and not the choices themselves (how much is enough?)
The Five Traits of Successful Teams at Google
https://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2017/33125/learn-from-google-the-five-traits-of-successful-teams-at-google?adref=nlt112517- Psychological safety is essential; this is how a team can take risks and still feel safe
- Structure and clarity
- Meaning
Startup & Security News You Need to Know
Pre-Seed Venture Aims To Help Startups Do More With Less
https://news.crunchbase.com/news/pre-seed-venture-aims-help-startups-less/- Basically in response to the increasing size of seed and Series A deals
- It appears to be a shift to what seed funding was a decade ago
- Easier to raise a smaller fund than a larger fund; smaller funds make smaller bets (generally)
- Interesting analysis of modern unicorns and their initial funding rounds (average size of 300-600k)
- Easier to start, harder to scale…
InterVision Systems acquired Independent Technology Group (undisclosed)
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/323193/intervision-company-profile
- “InterVision specializes in offering cloud infrastructure design, architecture, configuration and installation services.”
- http://www.intervision.com
Prevoty raised $13M Series B
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/1144052/prevoty-company-profile
- $23.5m over 3 rounds since December 2013
- “Prevoty develops a cloud-based security platform that enables organizations to protect their applications against threats.”
- https://www.prevoty.com
Okta reports earnings, moves headquarters and launches free service for startups
https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/06/okta-reports-earnings-moves-headquarters-and-launches-free-service-for-startups/- Focus on the service for startups; not only is this interesting — but it fits into our model of improving the security of business by exploring the business of security; let’s discuss this development and the potential is has
- At some level, is this like what Elizabeth Lawler talked about on show # … brining open-source programs forward? It’s different… but does this fit that trend?
- https://www.okta.com/press-room/press-releases/okta-for-startups-launches/
- “With Okta for Startups, we’ll enable new and growing companies to focus on what’s most important when you’re getting started – your core business and customers – by making it easy (and free) to build a foundation of identity and access management into your app or company infrastructure.”
Riskonnect acquired Aruvio
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/134020/riskonnect-company-profile
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/190565/aruvio-company-profile
- Riskonnect is a portfolio company of Thoma Bravo (https://thomabravo.com/portfolio/all/current/)
- http://www.4-traders.com/news/Riskonnect-Acquires-Aruvio-Expands-Governance-Risk-and-Compliance-Offering--25634171/?utm_content=20171207
- “Thoma Bravo was focused on investing in a best-in-class risk management and GRC platform,” said Hudson Smith, partner at Thoma Bravo. “This acquisition helps Riskonnect accelerate its product roadmap, while providing enterprises with solutions they need to make decisions across traditional risk management, governance, risk and compliance areas.”
Blackstone acquired TITUS (undisclosed; $100M rumor)
- https://www.owler.com/iaApp/381233/titus-company-profile
- “TITUS is a provider of data classification and categorization tools to transform and bridge multiple data security solutions.”
- https://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/ottawa-software-firm-titus-plans-aggressive-growth-with-100-million-blackstone-deal/article37229959/?cmpid=rss1
- Rumor is $100M for controlling stake; current team stays to pursue ‘aggressive growth’
