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Jun 19, 2017 · 18m · top-founders

695: When You Deploy Software Product, Use This to Keep Hackers Out with Detectify CEO

Nathan Latka · 9m spoken Rickard Carlson · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Detectify CEO and co-founder Rickard Carlson to examine how the Stockholm-based cybersecurity startup transitioned from an ethical hacker project into a continuous security SaaS platform generating 30,000 euros in monthly recurring revenue.

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 59.7% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.3 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 1.5 Nathan pushing back 2.3
05100:0010:001:30–6:34 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Detectify's Cybersecurity Solution and Core Value Proposition Nathan shows familiarity with continuous integration tools like Sauce Labs to contextualize Detectify's automated security testing. Rickard collaboratively explains how white hat hackers automate responsible disclosure and explains his transition from McKinsey.6:34–9:04 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 European Fundraising and Initial Revenue Traction Nathan quickly runs the unit economics on 350 customers paying 80 euros to deduce ~30k EUR monthly recurring revenue. The tone remains cordial as Rickard details European priced equity rounds and angel backing.9:04–14:35 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Team Scaling, Operational Economics, and Sales Strategy Nathan challenges the company's cash burn with 25 employees against 28k MRR and presses on sales commission structures. Rickard sets a boundary by refusing to disclose employee compensation, prompting Nathan to cite industry SaaS benchmarks from Jason Lemkin and David Skok.14:35–17:30 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Mid-Roll Sponsorship: Business Analytics Dashboards The segment consists of an analytics dashboard sponsor read followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questionnaire and Nathan's summary outro, with zero tension.1:30–6:34 · Guest teaching 3/10 Detectify's Cybersecurity Solution and Core Value Proposition Nathan shows familiarity with continuous integration tools like Sauce Labs to contextualize Detectify's automated security testing. Rickard collaboratively explains how white hat hackers automate responsible disclosure and explains his transition from McKinsey.6:34–9:04 · Guest teaching 2/10 European Fundraising and Initial Revenue Traction Nathan quickly runs the unit economics on 350 customers paying 80 euros to deduce ~30k EUR monthly recurring revenue. The tone remains cordial as Rickard details European priced equity rounds and angel backing.9:04–14:35 · Guest teaching 3/10 Team Scaling, Operational Economics, and Sales Strategy Nathan challenges the company's cash burn with 25 employees against 28k MRR and presses on sales commission structures. Rickard sets a boundary by refusing to disclose employee compensation, prompting Nathan to cite industry SaaS benchmarks from Jason Lemkin and David Skok.14:35–17:30 · Guest teaching 0/10 Mid-Roll Sponsorship: Business Analytics Dashboards The segment consists of an analytics dashboard sponsor read followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questionnaire and Nathan's summary outro, with zero tension.1:30–6:34 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Detectify's Cybersecurity Solution and Core Value Proposition Nathan shows familiarity with continuous integration tools like Sauce Labs to contextualize Detectify's automated security testing. Rickard collaboratively explains how white hat hackers automate responsible disclosure and explains his transition from McKinsey.6:34–9:04 · Guest disagreement 1/10 European Fundraising and Initial Revenue Traction Nathan quickly runs the unit economics on 350 customers paying 80 euros to deduce ~30k EUR monthly recurring revenue. The tone remains cordial as Rickard details European priced equity rounds and angel backing.9:04–14:35 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Team Scaling, Operational Economics, and Sales Strategy Nathan challenges the company's cash burn with 25 employees against 28k MRR and presses on sales commission structures. Rickard sets a boundary by refusing to disclose employee compensation, prompting Nathan to cite industry SaaS benchmarks from Jason Lemkin and David Skok.14:35–17:30 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Mid-Roll Sponsorship: Business Analytics Dashboards The segment consists of an analytics dashboard sponsor read followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questionnaire and Nathan's summary outro, with zero tension.1:30–6:34 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Detectify's Cybersecurity Solution and Core Value Proposition Nathan shows familiarity with continuous integration tools like Sauce Labs to contextualize Detectify's automated security testing. Rickard collaboratively explains how white hat hackers automate responsible disclosure and explains his transition from McKinsey.6:34–9:04 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 European Fundraising and Initial Revenue Traction Nathan quickly runs the unit economics on 350 customers paying 80 euros to deduce ~30k EUR monthly recurring revenue. The tone remains cordial as Rickard details European priced equity rounds and angel backing.9:04–14:35 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Team Scaling, Operational Economics, and Sales Strategy Nathan challenges the company's cash burn with 25 employees against 28k MRR and presses on sales commission structures. Rickard sets a boundary by refusing to disclose employee compensation, prompting Nathan to cite industry SaaS benchmarks from Jason Lemkin and David Skok.14:35–17:30 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Mid-Roll Sponsorship: Business Analytics Dashboards The segment consists of an analytics dashboard sponsor read followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questionnaire and Nathan's summary outro, with zero tension.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 58.4% · guest 41.6%0:00 · Nathan 58.4% · guest 41.6%3:00 · Nathan 34.5% · guest 65.5%3:00 · Nathan 34.5% · guest 65.5%6:00 · Nathan 42.2% · guest 57.8%6:00 · Nathan 42.2% · guest 57.8%9:00 · Nathan 62.8% · guest 37.2%9:00 · Nathan 62.8% · guest 37.2%12:00 · Nathan 67.1% · guest 32.9%12:00 · Nathan 67.1% · guest 32.9%15:00 · Nathan 83.9% · guest 16.1%15:00 · Nathan 83.9% · guest 16.1%18:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%18:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:24 Rickard declines to reveal commission percentages

Rickard firmly pushes back and establishes a boundary, stating that sales rep compensation is the one question he will not answer to prevent headhunting.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:50 Nathan presses on aggressive cash burn rate

Nathan directly challenges Rickard's unit economics, calculating that 25 staff on 28k monthly revenue implies extreme cash burn.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:38 Rickard clarifies European monthly fully loaded salaries

Rickard corrects Nathan's US-centric annual salary ranges by explaining how European and Swedish tech labor costs are calculated monthly including social benefits.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 14:04 Nathan demonstrates SaaS sales comp industry knowledge

After Rickard declines to give specifics, Nathan cites SaaS industry benchmarks and thought leaders like David Skok and Jason Lemkin regarding standard base and commission multipliers.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Detectify's Cybersecurity Solution and Core Value Proposition 5312 Nathan shows familiarity with continuous integration tools like Sauce Labs to contextualize Detectify's automated security testing. Rickard collaboratively explains how white hat hackers automate responsible disclosure and explains his transition from McKinsey.
European Fundraising and Initial Revenue Traction 4212 Nathan quickly runs the unit economics on 350 customers paying 80 euros to deduce ~30k EUR monthly recurring revenue. The tone remains cordial as Rickard details European priced equity rounds and angel backing.
Team Scaling, Operational Economics, and Sales Strategy 6345 Nathan challenges the company's cash burn with 25 employees against 28k MRR and presses on sales commission structures. Rickard sets a boundary by refusing to disclose employee compensation, prompting Nathan to cite industry SaaS benchmarks from Jason Lemkin and David Skok.
Mid-Roll Sponsorship: Business Analytics Dashboards 2000 The segment consists of an analytics dashboard sponsor read followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questionnaire and Nathan's summary outro, with zero tension.

Statements from this episode (8)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Carlson: Detectify's average customer pays €80 per month
“It's 80 euros today.”
Rickard Carlson Jun 19, 2017 ▶ 2:54
Assertion Supported
Detectify co-founders hacked Google, Facebook, and Dropbox before starting company
“My co-founders that are some really, some of the world's best white hat hackers, they have more or less, as part of this responsible disclosure scene, they have hacked, you know, Google and Facebook and Dropbox. They hacked Facebook with the help of Dropbox, e…”
Rickard Carlson Jun 19, 2017 ▶ 3:54
Disclosure
Carlson: Detectify split founder equity based on time and knowledge invested
“We do it differently depending on the knowledge and time invested at that time.”
Rickard Carlson Jun 19, 2017 ▶ 6:27
Disclosure
Carlson: Detectify has raised about 2.5 million euros
“We raised about two and a half million euros.”
Rickard Carlson Jun 19, 2017 ▶ 6:41
Disclosure
Carlson: Detectify serves approximately 350 customers
“We serving about 350 customers.”
Rickard Carlson Jun 19, 2017 ▶ 8:09
Assertion Supported
Tech salaries in Stockholm are half of Silicon Valley
“I mean, salaries are about half in, in Europe or in Stockholm or even less compared to Silicon Valley.”
Rickard Carlson Jun 19, 2017 ▶ 10:08
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Carlson: Detectify maintains a monthly gross customer churn rate of 2%
“About two percent.”
Rickard Carlson Jun 19, 2017 ▶ 11:17
Disclosure
Detectify grew without paid acquisition, using content and outbound
“No paid acquisition. We have two out, two outbound salespeople that just started three months ago. So they're more or less, we just in the buildup of that phase and everything is more or less, it's built through content marketing and organic marketing.”
Rickard Carlson Jun 19, 2017 ▶ 11:26
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