Belinda Agnew 🦄

The Plan. The People. The Push.

A boutique venture studio where I partner with bold tech founders and B2B brands to scale with the right people, the right plan, and the push to grow.

From C-suite hiring and go-to-market strategy to LinkedIn visibility and investor readiness - I embed with only 2–5 companies a year to go deep, not wide.

⚡️ Built for:
✔️ Tech scale-ups
✔️ B2B brands ready to be seen
✔️ Founders building with urgency

I also lead The Influence Sprint, which is a fast, focused LinkedIn growth track for founders and brands who want real visibility and inbound deal flow (not fluff).

Let’s build something people can’t ignore.

📬 DM me to collab or apply at belindaagnew.com

Head of Growth Advisor

Belinda Agnew

Something I’ve been thinking about lately…

AI is quietly killing the old survival skill in business.

You used to build an entire career on:

Being articulate.
Building beautiful decks.
Running strategic workshops.

And if we’re honest?

Half the room had no idea whether it was actually good 🙆🏽‍♀️

It just sounded good.

Now?

AI can produce the strategy.
AI can produce the narrative.
AI can produce the roadmap.

In seconds…

So the advantage is gone.

You don’t get to hide behind polish anymore.
You don’t get to win because you talk well.

You win because you decide well.

Because here’s what nobody is saying… AI gives you 100 great looking options.

It doesn’t tell you which one to bet the company on.

And that’s where leaders get exposed.

We’re moving from an era of performance…

To an era of judgement.

From looking capable…

To actually being capable.

Execution is getting cheaper.
Clarity is getting expensive.

And the founders who survive this decade won’t be the smartest in the room.

They’ll be the ones who can cut through noise and make a call and own it.

That’s the new leverage.

Thoughts?

Belinda Agnew 

Not for everyone. Only for leaders who refuse to play small.

1600 jobs.
20 minutes.

That’s reportedly how long Atlassian employees had to wait to find out whether they still had a job.

Moments like this are difficult to watch.

Behind every headline are real people, real families, and years of work that suddenly shifts overnight.

But there’s also a bigger conversation happening beneath the surface.

Atlassian is still growing.

Revenue is up. The company is strong.

Yet we’re watching a restructuring that reflects something much deeper happening across the entire #technology industry.

#AI isn’t just changing products.

It’s changing how companies are built.

Over the past few years working closely with founders, product teams and emerging AI companies, one thing has become increasingly clear to me. 

The leverage that technology now gives to small teams is wild.

What used to require 50 people can sometimes now be done by 10.

What used to take months can happen in days.

That shift is forcing companies everywhere to rethink structure, talent and execution.

It’s uncomfortable.

It’s confronting.

And it’s happening faster than most people realise.

The real question now isn’t whether AI will reshape companies.

It’s how quickly leaders are willing to adapt to it.

Because the next generation of companies won’t necessarily be the biggest.

They’ll be the ones with the most leverage.

Cyber Risk Advisor | Speaker | Coach | #CyberSecurityMatters Podcast Host | Positive Troll | Board Director

Your biggest customer just told you they need proof of your cybersecurity practices in 60 days or they're walking.That $5M contract? Gone. 

Or your cyber insurance renewal got denied. 

Or you're sitting in a board meeting, and they're asking security questions you can't answer without sounding incompetent.

Here's what you probably tried: Your IT guy started talking about firewalls and acronyms. He wants $200K for new tools. You have no idea if you need them. 

Or you hired a big consulting firm. They sent a junior analyst with a 47-page report. It's in a drawer somewhere. You still don't know what to DO.

The truth most cybersecurity consultants won't tell you: They're boring as hell and can't talk to business leaders.

They lead with technology because they get vendor kickbacks. 

They'll tell you everything you're NOT doing (easy), but can't tell you what NOT to do (that requires business judgment). 

They can’t explain to you which risks are worth the money. 

I do this differently:

I start every engagement the same way: What makes you money? I don't care about compliance frameworks or your tech stack yet. 

I need to understand your critical business processes first. Then what data supports them. THEN we look at technology. 

I care about the systems that generate revenue and the contracts that depend on you proving you're not a security liability.

I work with manufacturing and B2B companies (50-2,000 employees) in three situations:

→Major customer demanding security proof or killing the contract - I helped a client keep their $5M Walmart contract. My fee? $150K. Easy math.

→Cyber insurance denied or demanding new requirements - Insurers want proof of fractional CISOs and real security practices. I provide that.

→Post-breach, board wants guarantees that significant breach cost never happens again - I rebuild programs from scratch and build sustainable security teams.

What you get:→No kickbacks on tools. No jargon in board presentations. No shelfware reports. Just a prioritized 12-month roadmap focused on protecting revenue and satisfying your customer’s cyber security questions.

My background:20+ years in cybersecurity. Companies from 50-2,500 employees. Built security teams from scratch. Fractional CISO for dozens of organizations.

Speaker at industry associations. 

I work with manufacturers and B2B firms honest enough to say "we need help."

If you're facing vendor security requirements, insurance issues, or board questions you can't answer, let's talk.

 https://meet-with-dom-vogel.appointlet.com/

Dominic Vogel

Anyone can tell you what you're not doing.


That part's easy.


A checklist can do it.


A framework can do it.


Honestly? AI can do it right now in seconds.


Ask ChatGPT about your security gaps and it'll spit out a beautifully formatted list of everything you're missing. 


Complete with recommendations, best practices, and a prioritized roadmap.


Free. Instant. Comprehensive.


If identifying security gaps is that easy, why are organizations still struggling?


Why are breaches still running rampant?


Why are security plans still sitting on shelves collecting dust??


Why are teams still overwhelmed, disengaged, and unsure what to do next?


Because knowing what to do and actually doing it are two completely different things.


And the gap between those two things?


That's where leadership lives.


It's not writing the plan. It's making the plan come alive.


It's not identifying the gaps. It's building the team and culture to close them.


It's not recommending the training. It's inspiring people to actually engage with it.


It's not pointing out what's broken. It's holding people accountable with kindness instead of fear.


It's not producing the roadmap. It's navigating the politics, the resistance, the budget constraints, and the competing priorities to actually execute it.


That's the hard part. And that's what most consultants and definitely AI can't do for you.


Because execution isn't a technical problem. It's a human problem.


And human problems require human leadership.


Real leadership isn't about being the loudest voice in the room.


It's not about wielding authority or instilling fear.


It's not about pointing fingers when things go wrong.


Real leadership is showing up with kindness, accountability, and an unwavering commitment to making things happen.


It's sitting with a team that's overwhelmed and saying: "I see you. Let's figure this out together."


It's holding someone accountable for a missed milestone not with shame, but with clarity and care.


It's inspiring a room full of skeptical executives to care about cybersecurity not because you scared them, but because you helped them understand what's actually at stake.


It's taking a 200-page security plan that nobody understands and turning it into something a team can actually execute step by step, with confidence.


That's what I bring to the table.


Leadership. Execution. Accountability. Delivered with kindness.


Security plans get executed.


Teams get trained and the training actually sticks.


Cultures shift from reactive to proactive.


Leaders stop deferring and start owning their cyber risk.


That's the transformation I create. And I do it all through kindness.


What's rare is someone who can make it happen.


With accountability. With humanity. With kindness.


That's what I do.

I Help Manufacturing & B2B Avoid Million-Dollar Cybersecurity Losses | Fractional CISO | 20+ Years Protecting Revenue, Not Networks | No Jargon, No Kickbacks | Proud Dad & Beard Grower

We have sophisticated backups. We're covered.


That's what the construction company's IT guy told the CEO.


State-of-the-art backup system. Multiple redundancy layers. Offsite storage. Cloud replication. The works.


So when ransomware hit, they weren't worried.


"No problem," the IT guy said. "We'll just restore from backup."


Then they tried to restore a critical file.


A contract document they needed to close a $2 million deal. Time-sensitive. Client waiting.


Nothing happened.


They tried again. Nothing


They called me. I started digging. 


Hours passed. 


Then the truth came out:


The backups had never been tested.


They'd been running for two years. Generating reports that said "Backup Successful" every night.


But no one had ever tried to actually restore anything.


The sophisticated backup system was useless.


By the time they figured it out and recovered the file through other means the $2 million deal was gone.


Here's the brutal lesson:


Having a backup system and having a working backup system are not the same thing.


If you're not testing your backups regularly, you don't have backups. 


You have a very expensive false sense of security.


It's like having a fire extinguisher that's never been checked. It might work when you need it. Or it might not. And you won't know until it's too late.


Here's what I told them needed to happen! 


✅ Test your backups. Once when you set them up. Quarterly at minimum. Monthly is better.


✅ Test the full restore process. Don't just verify the backup ran. Actually restore files and make sure they work.


✅ Document your recovery procedures. When disaster strikes, people panic. You need clear, tested steps anyone can follow.


✅ Time your recovery. How long does it take to restore critical systems? Can you afford that downtime?


This isn't optional. It's fundamental.


I've seen this scenario play out too many times:


"We have backups."
"Great, let's restore."
"Oh… this isn't working."


And suddenly, what should have been a minor inconvenience becomes a business-ending crisis.


Here's what I told that construction company CEO:


"Your IT guy didn't lie to you. He thought you were covered. But he made a critical mistake: he trusted the system without validating it. In cybersecurity, trust but verify isn't just good advice it's survival."


We rebuilt their backup strategy from scratch. But more importantly, we built a testing cadence into their operations.


Now? They test quarterly. They know their backups work. They know how long recovery takes. They've practiced the process.


And they sleep better at night.


Who I am:
I'm Dom Vogel—the Dopamine Dealer on LinkedIn. I help manufacturing, construction, and B2B organizations build security that actually works—not just looks good on paper. I provide fractional CISO services that focus on validation, testing, and real-world resilience.

I put a picture of a luxury yacht on the screen.


Dead silence in the boardroom.


Finally, the chairman spoke up: "What does this have to do with cybersecurity?"


I smiled. "How many of you spend time on one of these?"


Several hands went up. This was a well-to-do board. $250M+ manufacturing company. 


Luxury lifestyle wasn't uncommon.


"Great," I said. "Now let me ask you this: How attached are you to keeping this lifestyle?"


They looked confused.


"Because if this company suffers a data breach and the board is found to have failed in its oversight duties around cyber risk management, you could be held personally liable."


"Personally. Liable."


I let that sink in.


"That yacht? Your vacation home? Your retirement accounts? All of it could be at risk if you're not fulfilling your fiduciary responsibilities when it comes to cybersecurity."


The room got very quiet.


Suddenly, cybersecurity wasn't some abstract IT issue they could delegate and forget about.


It was personal.


Here's what changed after that conversation:


They started asking the right questions.


They stopped deferring to "the IT guy" and started owning cyber risk as a board-level issue.


They brought me in as a fractional CISO to help them build real oversight, not just check boxes.


Not because I scared them. Because I made it relatable. 


These were smart, successful people. But cybersecurity felt distant technical jargon, compliance frameworks, things that happened to other companies.


A yacht? That's real. That's tangible. That's theirs.


And once they understood the personal stakes, everything shifted.


If you're presenting to a board and they're not engaged, you're speaking the wrong language.


They don't care about zero-trust architectures.


They don't care about penetration test results.


They don't care about compliance frameworks.


They care about what's at risk. And sometimes, you have to make it personal to get their attention.


I do it with kindness but also with clarity.


Because board members sometimes are only motivated when they understand their real personal stakes. 


Organizations need boards that actually lead on cyber risk instead of deferring it.


Because sometimes, all it takes is a picture of a yacht to wake people up.

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Belinda Agnew

Dominic Vogel

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The Battle

Belinda Agnew

Dominic Vogel

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Belinda Agnew's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreBelinda Agnew's LinkedIn Performance