Haroon Meer is the Founder of Thinkst Canary, a fast growing cybersecurity company that enables companies to put “honeypots” on their network to catch attackers in minutes. On today’s episode, Jon Sakoda speaks with Haroon Meer about how growing up during the tail end of Apartheid influenced his leadership style and how he bootstrapped Thinkst Canary to success.

1. You Need to Build a Better Mousetrap [9:09 - 12:27] - After spending 10 years in consulting, Haroon was itching to start a product company. Many cybersecurity consultants need to learn how to incorporate highly opinionated customer feedback into their product design. Listen to his philosophy of shifting away from being the “expert” in the room and his humble approach when listening to customers.
2. Find Ideas In Unexpected Places [13:05 - 16:29] - Haroon decided he wanted to build a product and told his colleagues he was shifting away from consulting. When one colleague kept asking for his services, Haroon realized he found a huge problem to solve and founded Thinkst Canary. Listen to learn how tapping into the need of friendly customers can be the inspiration for your next startup idea.
3. Don’t Forget Who Pays the Bills [26:26 - 31:59] - When founders start raising VC funding, Haroon thinks it is easy to lose sight of the most important priorities. Some founders lose focus on making customers successful when trying to appease future investors. Listen to learn why bootstrapping your startup might be the best route in the beginning of a company’s journey.

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