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Hi, thank you both for doing this. I've been working on a project on and off for about two years now which I finally launched as a beta last year. It's called C

Hi, thank you both for doing this. I've been working on a project on and off for about two years now which I finally launched as a beta last year. It's called CloudSploit (https://cloudsploit.com https://cloudsploit.com) and is a service designed to allow users to continuously scan their AWS accounts for vulnerabilities (account-level risks that could lead to a compromise). AWS has some security products, and their are certainly competitors in the space, but we've heard from countless customers that our price point and features are ideal for them. My goal is to now move this out of beta and to actually advertise it. My question for you is: what challenges are there around marketing for security-focused products? Of course, trust is a key factor, but are there other things I should consider? I'm thinking of Twitter ads, but I'm sure there are better options between that and cold emailing. Thanks again!

tlb 11y ago
Don't buy ads. Your product should spread by word of mouth, since developers know lots of other developers. The viral message (from current customer to potential customer) would be something like: "I got a scan from Cloudsploit and they found like 4 remote exploits in my AWS. You should have them check your infrastructure." Hearing that from a friend would be more powerful than any number of Twitter ads.
wfn 11y ago
Nice product! OT: do you know of any other automated security scanning services (hosted/SaaS)? Have you considered expanding beyond AWS (though AWS customers are probably your target audience and entire focus)?
petervandijck 11y ago
Your pricing is too cheap. Don't do an 8$/mo plan unless you're selling something to millions of consumers. Yours should be: Free Startup: 79$/m Businesses: 399$/mo Enterprise: call us You should market this to developers directly, no ads. Find developers at startups that use AWS (tons), email them directly and say something like: hey, I have a startup, it does this, I can walk you through a scan for free myself, would love your feedback and thoughts. Cold emailing is a good thing here. Keep it short, keep it real, offer something of value and ask advice (everyone loves giving advice).

tlb 11y ago

Don't buy ads. Your product should spread by word of mouth, since developers know lots of other developers. The viral message (from current customer to potential customer) would be something like: "I got a scan from Cloudsploit and they found like 4 remote exploits in my AWS. You should have them check your infrastructure." Hearing that from a friend would be more powerful than any number of Twitter ads.

wfn 11y ago

Nice product! OT: do you know of any other automated security scanning services (hosted/SaaS)? Have you considered expanding beyond AWS (though AWS customers are probably your target audience and entire focus)?

petervandijck 11y ago

Your pricing is too cheap. Don't do an 8$/mo plan unless you're selling something to millions of consumers. Yours should be: Free Startup: 79$/m Businesses: 399$/mo Enterprise: call us You should market this to developers directly, no ads. Find developers at startups that use AWS (tons), email them directly and say something like: hey, I have a startup, it does this, I can walk you through a scan for free myself, would love your feedback and thoughts. Cold emailing is a good thing here. Keep it short, keep it real, offer something of value and ask advice (everyone loves giving advice).