Nov 13, 2022 · 24m · top-founders
How I hit $3m in ARR during a pandemic, a war and a looming recession
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
CyberSmart founder Jamie Akhtar shares an honest, practical account of scaling a cybersecurity SaaS past $3M ARR while navigating compounding crises, including a pandemic, war in Ukraine, and an economic downturn. He provides actionable insights into building resilience, establishing product-market fit, managing capital, and leading with radical transparency.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 7.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Nathan as informed peer 0.0 Guest teaching 0.0 Guest disagreement 0.4 Nathan pushing back 0.0
speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:40 Rejecting team failure excuses
Akhtar firmly dismisses standard startup failure categorizations, asserting that failing because of the team is solely the founder's responsibility.
Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 0:00 Host event overview introductionBecause this episode consists of a recorded live stage presentation, no direct interview pushback takes place.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:30 Educating audience on non-linear product progressionAkhtar demonstrates how startup revenue and product-market fit graphs look deceptively clean in hindsight despite continuous messiness.
Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:36 Host FounderPath valuation tool presentationLatka presents detailed quantitative dataset arguments regarding SaaS valuation multiples and non-dilutive financing during the sponsor segment.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Nathan as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Nathan pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Akhtar on Founding CyberSmart and Core Lessons | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | This segment is a solo conference keynote delivered by Jamie Akhtar. Because Nathan Latka is not interacting on stage, host expertise and pushback are scored zero. | |
| Measuring Product-Market Fit and Team Confidence | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Akhtar delivers an instructional presentation explaining product maturity assessments and team confidence tracking metrics without host involvement. | |
| Startup Failure Rates and Founder Accountability | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Akhtar challenges standard startup autopsy excuses by stating team failure is completely the founder's fault. A mid-roll ad read by Latka follows. | |
| Cultivating Resilience and Shared Camaraderie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A monologue segment detailing actionable resilience strategies, embracing failure, and early founder salary sacrifices. | |
| Pivoting During the COVID-19 Pandemic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Akhtar outlines CyberSmart's pandemic pivot and internal communication restructuring in a solo address to the audience. | |
| Supporting Ukrainian Team Members Amid War | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A solo keynote presentation where Akhtar explains company support efforts for Ukrainian colleagues during the war. | |
| Funding Strategy, Cap Tables, and FounderPath Capital | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Akhtar ranks investor types and discusses FounderPath non-dilutive financing in a monologue presentation format. | |
| Conclusion and Key Takeaways on Founder Execution | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Akhtar concludes his keynote speech with a summary of founder execution and team focus to applause from the audience. |
Statements from this episode (15)
Akhtar: I have never been employed or worked for anyone
“I've never actually been employed, I've never worked for anyone,”
CyberSmart had no product or customers during its first year
“In the first year of the company, or one thing you'll, you would have noticed, and you can just see it, is the first year of the company is not even on that chart. Because we didn't have our product or any customers. We spent the first year, like, figuring out…”
Akhtar: Build a minimum sellable product instead of a standard MVP
“An MSP is like a better version of an MVP, a minimum sellable product, so like instead of trying to build something that does technically what you want it to achieve, try and build the first thing that you can get in the hands of a customer, and start charging…”
Akhtar: Startup failure due to the wrong team is the founder's fault
“Because if you're a founder, not having the right team is a hundred percent your fault. Like, you are, you gotta hire the right people. You gotta lead them. And so, not the right team is a bit of a weak excuse for you failing in my opinion.”
CyberSmart founders paid themselves £500 monthly, then £25k salaries for a year
“Like at the start, those four of us, we paid everyone 500 pounds a month. That's like 600 bucks. That was our, we call it pocket money. That's how we started the company. And then we all had 25 K salaries for like a year.”
Akhtar: Early pandemic triggered communication breakdowns and sales slowdown at CyberSmart
“So for us that, that meant, like, it was such a bad time because, like, our team were all in the office and they were working from home, so all the communication broke down, our customers were like, we, Like, the deal times went up, and like, our churn rate, w…”
Akhtar: Crisis leadership requires acknowledging fear over offering false comfort
“It's not about, like, you know, comforting people and telling them it's gonna be fine, but, like, just understanding that they're gonna have a human reaction to this stuff as well, I think is, is super important.”
Akhtar: War in Ukraine directly impacted five CyberSmart team members
“That directly impacted, like, five RT members, so, who were in Ukraine, and it had, like, shockwaves throughout the whole company, so we had to, like, figure out how, how do we support them, so we basically just said whatever they need.”
Akhtar: Startups with solid unit economics should grow during a recession
“I think if you're nailing these three things, then you can keep growing sustainably. So the first thing is having the right people. We've got the right people around you. You're not over headcount, and you're cool. Having solid unit economics. If you don't hav…”
Akhtar: CyberSmart raised $10M and will likely raise $10M+ within weeks
“We've raised about ten million in cash, and we're gonna raise a lot more probably than ten million in the next few weeks”
Akhtar: CyberSmart has around 50 people on its cap table
“We've got like 50 people on our cap table.”
Akhtar: Angel investors are more helpful than institutional funds offering more cash
“Angels have, we found, have been the most helpful in terms of helping us figure out what to do with the business, and just being there to support as you go down this list, less helpful more cash, less helpful, so, and also more expectations as you go down”
Akhtar: Remote companies should budget roughly $2,000 per person for annual retreats
“If you're especially a remote team, like get everyone away once a year, somewhere you can do it for about two K a person. But it's definitely worth the budget.”