Joining YL Ventures as CISO-in-Residence

Three years ago, I was fortunate enough to join YL Ventures’ Advisory Board program. I was excited for the opportunity to leverage my experience as both a buyer and vendor in the security industry to benefit the firm’s portfolio companies and help them understand the wants and needs of CISOs today. During my time as a Venture Advisor, I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with entrepreneurs pre- and post-investment and assisting the team with rigorous due diligence efforts.

Several years and portfolio companies later and here we are. I am incredibly humbled and grateful to be joining YL Ventures as their new CISO-in-Residence. I will continue to work closely with founders to foster the success of early-stage portfolio companies and help drive their roadmaps. I look forward to representing the broader CISO community and sharing my successes and failures in managing a company’s security posture in order to help teams understand CISOs’ blind spots and frustrations, as well as advise startups as to how to pitch and approach potential customers. In my role, I will impart my vast and diverse industry experience to help vet investment opportunities in the pipeline and contribute to the alignment of investments with security problem spaces.

Making the transition from CISO into the VC world may seem unconventional, but after nearly a decade in the security industry, I am seizing the opportunity to join YL Ventures to expand my technical expertise and gain exposure into the business and investment side of cybersecurity. I am eager to guide and connect with portfolio companies, participate in due diligence processes and learn more about seed investments and the considerations behind them. I am most excited to interact with sharp, motivated entrepreneurs and plug into the innovation hotbed that is the Israeli cybersecurity startup scene.

I am incredibly thankful and appreciative of this opportunity. I look forward to both learning from and helping the firm and its portfolio companies and am wholeheartedly committed and excited to contribute in any way I can. What’s more, I am thrilled to continue working alongside the amazing professionals at YL Ventures that I’ve been privileged to work with over the last three years.