The Breaking Through in Cybersecurity Marketing Podcast
Beyond the CISO: How Founders Should Pitch Security Buyers
Episode Summary: CISOs get all the cold emails, but they’re not always the ones who decide if your product lives or dies. In this episode, Rob Solomon (CrowdStrike) and Jennifer Reed (Amazon Web Services, AWS) join hosts Gianna and Maria to explain why the real buying power often sits with solution
Building Impact & Cyber Community with Debbie Sallis of the Cyber Guild
Episode Summary: The Cyber Guild is built on community, helping people use technology to their advantage and ensuring that no one is left behind in the digital age. In this episode, Executive Director Debbie Sallis joins Gianna to share how that mission comes to life: through three targeted events
Building ‘Herd Immunity’ in Cybersecurity (Without Big Budgets)
Episode Summary: For Brandon Min, building Herd Security has meant tackling two challenges at once: helping companies create a culture of security while also figuring out how to market a startup on a scrappy budget. In this episode, he shares how Herd rethinks security awareness with micro-trainin
From Cisco to Startups: Leadership Lessons That Last with Sri Sundaralingam
Episode Summary: Sri Sundaralingam has led teams at global enterprises and multiple startups in cybersecurity and enterprise software. He is now the CMO at Xage Security and has held leadership positions at Cisco, Symantec, ExtraHop, Shape Security, Mojo Networks, and Endace. He breaks down what ca
Inside the Ransomware Economy with Dr. Diane Janosek
Episode Summary: Ransomware has evolved from one-off attacks to a fully operational criminal economy. Today, cybercrime groups operate with defined roles, shared infrastructure, and a growing reliance on AI to speed up intrusion, encryption, and extortion. Our guest this episode unveils insights fr
Different Is Good: Why Standing Out > Being Perfect on Social
Episode Summary: You can’t copy Maya Doron. Not just because she’ll notice (and yes, she has receipts), but because everything she does on social at Wiz is built on something AI can’t touch: chaos, specificity, and a running list of what we’re calling Maya-isms. As Growth Marketing Manager at Wiz,
You Can’t Cold Call the SOC: GTM Lessons from ArmorText with Matt Calligan
Episode Summary: Matt Calligan, Director of Revenue Operations at ArmorText, joins us from Iceland to talk about what it takes to build a sales motion from scratch in cybersecurity when your product is built for moments nobody wants to think about. As the company’s first salesperson, Matt shares h
Nobody Cares About Your Launch (Yet): How to Fix Your PR Game
Episode Summary: Carmen Harris is the person you call when no one wants to cover your product, and she’ll tell you exactly why. Founder and CEO of Signal and Noise, she joins Gianna to break down what’s changed in cybersecurity PR and how to get attention in 2025. We get into why the adage “produc
You Don’t Need a Budget—You Need a Hat: Orly Bar-Lev on Lasso’s GTM
Episode summary: “We decided that Lasso is Matthew McConaughey.” That’s how Orly Bar Lev, Head of Marketing at Lasso Security, describes the brand she helped shape—laid back, sharp, and not trying to be like anyone else. In this episode, Orly joins Gianna Whitver to tell the full story: how a Ge
Metaphors, Missed Signals, and Making Cyber Make Sense with Evgeniy Kharam
Episode summary: Security architect, podcast host, and author Evgeniy Kharam has seen it again and again: a company buys a shiny new security product, and a year later, it’s still sitting on the shelf. Not because it didn’t work, but because no one knew how to explain it, use it, or get buy-in. T
Scrappy Then, Strategic Now: The Evolution of a Cybersecurity CMO
Most first marketers don’t stay long enough to see scale. Thomas LeDuc did. Six years in, he’s still at Semperis, leading a 35-person marketing team and showing it’s possible to evolve from scrappy to strategic. Gianna and Charles explore what makes that kind of longevity possible: the mindset shif
Founder-Led GTM in Cyber: How Taha Sajid Built Trust Without Selling
Episode Summary: Let’s talk about telecom infrastructure: complex, overlooked, and still running on outdated tools most vendors were never built to secure. This episode, we’re joined by Taha Sajid, telecom security architect and founder of Xecurity Pulse, who’s on a mission to fix the gaps in enter
Free Forever, No BS: Inside Bitwarden’s Growth Playbook with Gary Orenstein
Episode Summary: Most cybersecurity vendors lead with fear, gate their best features, and hide behind complexity. Bitwarden did the opposite and still won. In this episode, Gianna and Maria sit down with Gary Orenstein, the Chief Customer Officer at Bitwarden, to break down how an open-source pass
Inside Tom Wentworth’s AI Stack: How to Automate the Stuff Marketers Hate
Episode Summary: Tom Wentworth, CMO at Incident.io, got tired of doing the same stuff over and over, so he built AI agents to do it for him. Sales call summaries? Automated. Blog posts from discovery calls? Done in minutes. Battle cards? They update themselves. He’s wiring together Slack, Notion,
From Hype to Human: Live from RSAC Conference with Alexandra Charikova
Episode Summary: We’re back with a special episode recorded at RSAC 2025. The booths are packed up, and the leftover swag is gathering dust, but the real conversations are just getting started. Gianna and Maria sat down with Alexandra Charikova, Head of Marketing at Escape and host of The Elephan
EXCLUSIVE: Monster Trucks, Skeletons & ROI: Torq CMO Don Jeter at RSAC
Episode Summary: At RSAC 2025, most brands went sleek and high-speed: F1 cars, luxury lounges, big screens. Torq showed up with a monster truck, a firey skeleton, and a single message: “SOAR is dead.” It wasn’t a stunt; it was a fully realized creative campaign that stood out for all the right re
Brian Goldfarb on Rebuilding a Legacy Brand…Without Losing Your Mind
Episode Summary: This week, Gianna and Maria are joined by Brian Goldfarb, CMO at SolarWinds and a veteran of some of the biggest names in tech, including Okta, Tenable, and Salesforce. But this isn’t your typical “lessons from the top” chat. Brian gets real about what it takes to lead modern mark
Booths, Buzz, and B2B Brilliance: A Cyber Marketer’s Guide to RSAC 2025
Episode Summary: We’re back from RSAC Conference 2025, and what a week it was! Gianna and Maria recap their third RSAC Conference rodeo in style in this live-recorded, post-conference edition of Breaking Through in Cybersecurity Marketing. We break down the boldest, weirdest, and most wonderful
The CMO Who Runs Toward the Fire: Marc Blackmer on Messy Startups and Honest Leadership
Episode Summary: From Cisco to chaos (by choice), Marc Blackmer, CMO at Corero Network Security, joins us to unpack the real talk no one warns you about when you take the top marketing job. In this episode, Gianna and Charles sit down with Marc to unpack the real, raw, and hilarious side of market
From Founder Sales to First Marketers: Acrew Capital on Building a GTM Engine
Episode Summary: What do VCs think about your GTM strategy? This week, Gianna and Maria chat with Asad Khaliq and Mark Kraynak, two of the founding members of Acrew Capital, about what it takes to build or break a go-to-market motion at an early-stage cyber startup. Asad and Mark share how Acrew w
Coach, Cut, or Course-Correct? Manny Ataebi on Leading Through the Tough Stuff
Episode Summary: There’s one part of leadership no one prepares you for: the hard conversations. Whether it’s underperformance or misplaced potential, these conversations are uncomfortable but unavoidable. In this episode, Manny Ataebi, Demostack's CMO, gets brutally honest about how to achieve cl
Chris Cochran on Marketing to an Audience That Doesn’t Trust You
Episode Summary: This week, we’re going full circle with the one and only Chris Cochran, VP of Marketing at AKA Identity and Founder of Audacious GTM. Chris is a former cybersecurity practitioner, Netflix threat intel lead, Marine Corps vet, and one of the original champions behind this very podcast
Why Brand Is the Secret Weapon for Cybersecurity CMOs with Jennifer Leggio
The Cyber CMO Confidential is back, and we are starting with our favourite guest, Jennifer Leggio, Chief Strategy Officer at W2 Communications. Jen’s back on the mic, taking us on her journey from cyber PR pro to CMO extraordinaire to brief, educational COO life. She understands why the brand isn’t
The RevOps Whisperer: How Joe Aurilia Fixes the Stuff No One Wants to Touch
Episode Summary: This week, we’ve got an extra special guest, Joe Aurilia, Jr., SVP of Operations at Cyware. Joining Gianna and Maria to talk more about the art of scaling, automating, and just plain getting stuff done. Joe takes us on a ride from being Cyware’s first U.S. hire (aka "the guinea pig"
How to Run B2B Social Media Without Losing Your Mind (or Creativity) with Jacqui Morgan
Episode Summary: Running social media isn’t easy; so many expectations and trade-offs. You need to be informative yet fun, creative yet professional, and engaging yet consistent, all while keeping things fresh. Even worse, when you manage a massive cybersecurity brand, it’s about more than just post
