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Conversation
Highlights
Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Paul Valente, CEO & Co-Founder of Viso Trust, a third-party risk management platform that’s raised $17 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Evolution of Security: Paul highlighted how digital transformation has drastically increased reliance on third-party services, making third-party risk management a critical focus.
- Background and Vision: Drawing from his extensive experience as a CISO, Paul discussed the challenges he faced and how they led to the creation of Viso Trust.
- AI Integration: Viso Trust leverages AI to automate third-party cyber risk management, reducing the workload by 90% and significantly speeding up the assessment process.
- Customer Adoption: With over 35 large enterprise customers and a network of 2.5 million companies, Viso Trust is rapidly scaling and has enabled the assessment of tens of thousands of third parties.
- Empathy with CISOs: Paul’s background as a CISO provides him with unique insights into the needs and pain points of security leaders, shaping Viso Trust’s approach to customer engagement.
- Go-to-Market Strategy: Viso Trust employs a mix of direct sales, thought leadership, and product-enabled sales, focusing on reducing friction and providing value to both assessors and vendors.
Actionable
Takeaways
Focus on Friction:
Address friction on both sides of your process. Whether it's for your customers or their partners, reducing friction can significantly enhance adoption and satisfaction.
Leverage Real-World Experience:
Use your background and experiences to empathize with your target customers. Understanding their pain points and needs can give you a competitive edge.
Integrate AI Thoughtfully:
When incorporating AI, ensure it genuinely enhances your product. Educate your customers on the real benefits and avoid buzzword overload.
Early Customer Engagement:
Engage potential customers and industry leaders as early as possible. Their feedback is invaluable and can lead to early adoption and long-term relationships.
Continuous Improvement:
Regularly update and refine your product based on customer feedback and evolving industry needs to stay ahead of the competition and maintain relevance.
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