ami luttwak

Wiz became the world's fastest unicorn last year when it raised $250m at a $6B valuation just 18 months after it was founded. In this episode, I chat with Ami Luttwak, Cofounder and CTO at Wiz about his experiences and model for building “the scalable startup”. With an unabashed commitment to hiring unicorns, managing lightly, and keeping any given engineering org within the Dunbar number, Ami shares a lot of fascinating wisdom from his experiences of founding and selling Adallon (his previous startup) to Microsoft and then working within the largest software development company in the world.

PARTNER
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The word “cloud” is often uttered up in an almost reverent tone by anyone even tangentially affiliated with the IT world. A big reason for this is because cloud computing has been a tremendous boon for all manner of institutions. Getting away from on-prem servers has reduced cost and increased the speed at which organizations operate as well as the amount of data and applications that can be used to add value. But there is a tremendous amount of complexity in the cloud. With so many developers working in the cloud, there are also many potential access points and, therefore, security vulnerabilities. Ami Luttwak, the Co-founder and CTO of Wiz, explains how cloud complexity increases risks to security.

Main Takeaways

• The Promise and Problem With the Cloud: Use of the cloud can add value to organizations. For instance, the cloud can potentially decrease cost and promote efficiency. It also adds complexity and possible access points. For bad actors, this sort of complexity creates openings to infiltrate systems in order to achieve their malevolent ends.
• Asking the Question Differently: To innovate, sometimes it’s a matter of just asking a question differently. Also, asking the question simply can be helpful too. That said, it may only appear to be an elemental question after it has actually been answered. Wiz asked the basic question: are your cloud databases exposed? Solving this problem has allowed the company to make an impact in cloud security.
• MVP Plus Scale: In startup circles, it makes sense to get an MVP out ASAP. Luttwak suggests that startups must create MVPs that also have the capacity to scale. If they do so, they will save time and put their companies in a better position down the line.

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