I talk about digital writing & personal progress

Here's a quick rundown of how I've spent my last 5 years:

1. Studied math and played football at Princeton. I graduated in 2018 with a degree in financial engineering and played center for the Tigers. In college, I was a 280-pound offensive lineman, so for the last 5 years, I've had to completely rewrite my personal operating system on the health & fitness front. I currently weigh 185 pounds and have learned a lot along the way!

2. Graduated and immediately started working for BlackRock in New York City. I worked as a junior hedge fund trader for 4 years, focusing on global macro markets. This was my dream job and the only corporate job I've ever had. In fact, it's the only job *interview* I've ever had (since I interned there as a junior in college).

3. Realized working for someone else was not going to be the long-term path for me. 12 months into working on Wall Street, I saw someone in their mid-40s ask their boss for permission to go to their son's Little League game. At that moment I realized I wasn't cut out to take directions or instructions from other people for very long.

4. Started to write on my old blog, then on Twitter. Rather than quit immediately, I started to passively explore other opportunities by writing online, starting out on my old blog (which no one knew existed), then transitioning to Twitter in July of 2020.

5. Changed my trajectory with a 30-day writing challenge, which led me to start Ship 30 for 30. In September 2020 I was ready to give up writing entirely. But I gave it one more shot, this time moving from a weekly blog post to a daily Twitter thread. The challenge was a huge success. It took me 9 months to reach 100 followers and 1 month to go from 100 to 2,000. And that personal writing challenge turned into the foundation of Ship 30 for 30, which started as nothing but a Slack accountability group to help people publish consistently.

6. Scaled Ship 30 while working remotely for all of 2021. I built and scaled Ship 30 with Nicolas Cole to over 2,000 students in 2021—all while continuing to work full-time (remotely) for BlackRock. But towards the end of 2021, Ship 30 hit an inflection point and it no longer made financial sense for me to continue working on Wall Street.

7. Left BlackRock in March of 2022 to write and build on my own. After weeks of weighing the pros and cons and trying to project my path forward, I made the decision to leave BlackRock and chart my own path. 15 months into making that decision and I'm confident it's the best one I've ever made.

Dickie Bush 🚢

Recently, I coached a small mastermind of entrepreneurs with one ambitious goal:

To grow take-home profit by 50%+ during our first 6 months working together. 

So, I wrote the manifesto I wish someone handed me 5 years ago.

Here are 9 business principles that have served me well:

1. Speed is king

Your goal as an entrepreneur is to:

• Build things faster
• Collect cash faster
• Answer questions faster
• Respond to people faster

This does not mean act recklessly.

But it does mean questioning the tempo & timeline of the way you & your organization currently operate.

2. Raise your standards

You are exactly where you are because you tolerate it.

Your employees perform exactly how they do because you tolerate it.

Growth requires a raising of the minimum amount of performance you tolerate.

3. Think bigger—no one else will

To raise the standard, you must have something that motivates you to put forth new discretionary effort.

This will fall into either:

• Family impact
• Social impact
• Customer impact
• Or material goods

You tolerate the current level of your business because (whether consciously or subconsciously) it is meeting the demands you’ve placed on it.

4. Profit, profit, profit

You must obsess over the profitability of your business.

5. Data, then decisions

Doing things is easy.

Figuring out the right things to do is hard.

And it’s hard because you lack the information to make the right decision.

Which is why you need a tracking system that makes decisions for you.

6. Do the money math

Every single goal you have in this world is a simple set of equations.

And that’s especially true in business.

You should have clear models of:

• Every marketing platform
• Every payroll allocation
• Every sales process

Each should be modeled well in advance so you know exactly what you are building.

7. Solve in sequence

The people who move fastest:

• Work on things in the right order
• At the expense of everything else they could work on
• For months and years on end

This is the discipline you are going to need.

8. Care for your customer

It’s a shame, but most people in the internet education space do not give a single F about the people they work with.

9. Enjoy the ride

I can look back and smile on every single moment of my 4 years as an entrepreneur, even though I was not smiling in the moment.

Which means you can take the same approach now, no matter how challenging something is.

—
📌 The fastest vehicle to take home 50% more money right now:

Ghostwriting.

All you need to add $36,000/year is to land 1 client paying you $3,000/month.

I started a ghostwriting side hustle while working 50+ hours per week at my corporate 9-5.

And demand here on LinkedIn is huge.

Want to know how to land high-paying writing clients in 2026?

This free, 5-day email course has everything you need to get started: https://lnkd.in/gpPJpAS9

Here's some advice for anyone afraid of being laid off and replaced by AI:

Clear your entire calendar for the next week.

Use that time to immerse yourself in new AI tools like Claude Cowork.

Don't fear AI.

It won't replace you if you are:

• Using it intelligently
• To remove bottlenecks in your work
• And build yourself leverage that compounds forever

This is why I'm hosting my 2-week Claude Cowork Bootcamp starting TOMORROW.

Here's the schedule:

• Session 1: Setup & build your first Claude Skill
• Session 2: Write in-depth newsletters in minutes
• Session 3: Prepare your mind & materials before every meeting
• Session 4: Chain complex workflows together
• Session 5: Templates and browswer automation
• Session 6: Build your own custom Claude Skills

And no, you do not need ANY coding or AI experience.

But don't wait!

Enrollment closes TONIGHT at midnight.

Click here to secure your spot (before doors close): https://lnkd.in/gDzCitKk

Last January, this writer got fired.

And 2 days later?

My team & I started mentoring him.

And Warren's been running his digital business full-time ever since.

Just look at this small handful of wins he's collected so far:

• 3 sales calls & 1 new client in a single week
• Made his first $3,000 as a ghostwriter
• Booked a 6-month ghostwriting retainer
• Landed a $5,000 email course project

And if there's ONE thing you should know about him:

He's got an insanely good work ethic (even on the tough days).

For example, he got *every* possible response you can get from outreach in a 24-hour period:

• A lead telling him to “drop it”
• Another just brushing him off
• And a 3rd wanting to hop on a call

But he still kept going.

This is how I know Warren's one of the most committed students we've seen inside our Premium Ghostwriting Academy.

And clearly, it continues to pay off for him.

So, let Warren be your reminder never to give up.

I promise you, it's worth it.

📌 The good news?

It gets easier when you have a proven blueprint to follow.

That way, you can use your limited time on the simple actions that will *actually* help you make money the fastest.

Even if you:

• Suck at sales
• Don't have an audience
• Have never ghostwritten before

Click here to get instant access to the same proven blueprint Warren used: https://lnkd.in/gVpFVgvi

Lester Chng

Cyber CEOs Brand Strategist. I build your brand as you build your business. | Senior Cybersecurity Advisor | Author | Naval Officer | CISSP | 🇨🇦🇸🇬 |

You head a leading cybersecurity firm.
But your online presence doesn't reflect it.

In fact, being invisible is damaging. 

You understand the power of thought leadership.
You know LinkedIn shapes deal flow and adds credibility in the industry.
You just don’t have the cycles (or the copy) to share your expertise and experience.

You have stories worth telling.

The insights from being in the trenches.
The deep conversations with your ace teams.
The hard discussions with your clients. 

Don’t let this wisdom go to waste.

That’s where I come in.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How we work together.

Profile & Positioning
=> Rebuild your LinkedIn profile so visitors see industry authority, not “another vendor.”

Content engine
=> Ghostwritten posts that leverage your insights and expertise into engaging LinkedIn posts. 

Outreach campaign
=> Targeted DM campaigns and audience-building strategies that build your authority and land you on podcasts and conference stages.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You focus on growing your firm and protecting your clients.
And we will ensure the industry, clients, prospects, and investors can’t ignore it.

Let’s build the personal brand that commands the cybersecurity conversation and drives business.


Worked with global client portfolio 
- MSPs
- MSSPs
- Agentic AI SOC
- AI-powered GRC 
- Operational Resilience 

Senior Advisor, Financial Crimes Unit Exercises. BMO Fusion Centre

Execution of Financial Crimes Unit Exercise and Drill Program
• Design and execution of exercises and drills to operationalize the Financial Crimes Unit Fusion Centre
• Scenario creation and exercise execution for Information Security, Enterprise Fraud Management, Physical Security, and Global Crisis and Continuity Management teams 
• Providing effective challenge of incident response readiness through exercise observation
• Execution of enterprise-wide Purple Team Exercise


Cybersecurity Exercises: Purple Team, Ransomware, DDoS, Malware, Data Corruption, Data Breach, 3rd Party Incidents
Fraud Exercises: ATOs, Attack on Payment systems, Business Email Compromise, PII Breach
Physical Security Exercise: Active Assailant, Civil Unrest, Bomb Threats
Crisis Exercises: Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Operational Resilience, Fire Incidents, Natural Disasters, Utilities Disruption

15 Feb 1942 - The day Singapore surrendered to Japan.
This day was chosen as a solemn commemoration.
"Never Again".

It wasn't until 1984, that the Total Defence concept was launched. The government saw the necessity for a whole-of-society approach that went beyond just the military.

• Civil Defence
• Social Defence
• Military Defence
• Economic Defence
• Psychological Defence

Digital Defence was added as the 6th Pillar, 35 years later in 2019. 

• fake news
• cyberattacks
• disinformation campaigns

There was a need to tackle these new challenges.

Additionally, a fourth Service of the SAF, the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS), was stood up to underline the importance of this domain.

Would I have crossed over if I were still in active service...

Running naval wargames and designing cyber exercises at a bank are more similar than people expect.

It did help that the big boss at the bank was a former naval aviator. 

He knew with a fusion centre structure of managing security incidents across cyber, fraud, physical security, and crisis management, the teams needed a robust training program to drive operational excellence and achieve full operating capabilities. 

That was the first task. 

Get back to basics. 
Sort out the procedures. 
Drill the response teams. 

Do you run drills for your teams?

Or assume they will respond to your expectations?

No alternative text description for this image

You know Canada is on the up when Dad sends you a TikTok (no i dont have an account) about the upcoming increase in defence spending.

What about Canada do you appreciate?

I like the cold...... what about you?

undefined undefined

bootcamp

Sign up here:
https://catalystcorporatetraining.classe365.com/form/view/AutoBootCamp?_gl=1*9rfqtg*_ga*MTQ4NTczNDM0MC4xNjk4MjQxODM1*_ga_YYXBQS6S5Q*MTcwNzgzMzEyNi4xODEuMS4xNzA3ODMzMTYwLjI2LjAuMA

Building a cyber company is not for everyone.

Do you even have the commitment to do so?

I interviewed Eldon Sprickerhoff to get his insights for the next generation of founders. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and a mentor at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University. 


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 “𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱”

𝘘: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴?


I kept seeing the same patterns: some passionate and brilliant technical founders hitting predictable walls - raising capital without understanding dilution consequences, scaling teams without proper foundations, pursuing growth without sustainable unit economics, or worse: flailing in the market with a product/offering that didn’t have an obvious value or importance.

What frustrated me was that these weren't unsolvable problems. They were challenges we had faced and eventually figured out, often painfully. I realized this knowledge could help others avoid the same expensive mistakes.

The recurring theme was the gap between technical excellence and business fundamentals. Founders could build incredible technology but struggled with identifying their true “ideal client profile”, minimally viable offering, go-to-market strategy, fundraising dynamics, or organizational design. "Committed" became my way of sharing survival strategies that weren't readily available elsewhere.


𝘘: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴?

Right now, I'm focused on helping the next generation of cybersecurity founders build enduring companies. Through my consulting and advisory roles, I'm seeing exceptional technical talent that needs guidance on the business side.

The masterclass is a way to scale that impact. I can only mentor a handful of founders directly, but the principles I learned building eSentire are broadly applicable. I want to help founders avoid the mistakes that nearly killed our company early on and accelerate their path to product-market fit and sustainable growth.

What excites me most is seeing founders take these lessons and apply them in ways I never imagined - solving problems that didn't exist when we started eSentire. The cybersecurity landscape keeps evolving, and I want to help the best founders navigate it successfully.


If you enjoyed this interview series, please follow Eldon and get his book at https://lnkd.in/gS2HNAnY


P.S. Have you read Committed? 
Get it already.

Having a brilliant idea is exciting.

But how you overcome uncertainty with conviction is key.

I interviewed Eldon Sprickerhoff to get his insights for the next generation of founders. Eldon is an active entrepreneur, investor, mentor, author, advisory and board member at the intersections of information security, computer science, machine learning, SaaS, and finance. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and a mentor at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University. 

He is best known for founding eSentire, a leading global cybersecurity Managed Detection and Response company.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 ‘𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢’ 𝘵𝘰 ‘𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺’?

I suppose that the most uncertain part was whether organizations would actually pay for continuous security monitoring as a service. In 2001, companies were used to buying products or hiring consultants for projects - not ongoing security operations.

What gave me conviction was simple: I knew from my time in New York that security threats didn't take breaks, but most companies couldn't afford 24/7 security teams, even if they knew that the threats existed. The gap between the threat reality and what organizations could resource internally was massive and growing. That disconnect was the opportunity.


If you enjoyed this interview series, please follow Eldon and get his book at https://lnkd.in/gS2HNAnY

He aims to be the Rick Rubin of Canadian cybersecurity startups: helping the right teams sharpen their edge, amplify their strengths, and scale faster.

P.S. What is the current opportunity in Cyber?

Scaling Cybersecurity Companies: Strategic Advisor & Growth Architect

Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University

eSentire

Dear LinkedIn,
Here is what it is like using the app. 

Suggested

Suggested

Suggested

Sponsored

Suggested

Sponsored 

Suggested

Sponsored


What’s up with this feed?

Did you even consider the experience?

Pls bring my connections’ posts. 

Sincerely,
Everyone.

LinkedIn

It is RSAC in a couple of weeks. 
Yet your meeting calendar is scarily empty.

Your VP Marketing has been urging you to post more on LinkedIn during the lead-up to RSAC.

But is has been crazy busy with client demos, contract negotiations, partner agreements, manpower turnover, investor updates, fund-raising, and just LIFE.

The start of the year flew by and you didn't realize RSAC is just around the corner. The conference that costs a pretty penny but you don't feel like you have good momentum going into the event.

Your last LinkedIn post was a report of a company announcement 3 weeks ago. Your DMs are all full of spam. And you ignored your VP Marketing's email to post more.

But where do you start? What do you post about?

I have 2 resources for you.
1. The Cybersecurity CEO’s Personal Brand Blueprint
2. 5 LinkedIn Posts Templates for Cyber CEOs

You have 1 week to catch up.

Don't waste another year at RSAC.

DM or comment "RSAC" and I'll send you both.

When I first moved to Canada, I remember reading about their Navy and Air Force capabilities (don’t ask me why I didn’t bother abt the Army). 

12 Halifax frigates. Ageing, 1990s
4 Victoria subs. Second hand. 
6 OPVs. Still coming online. 
12 Patrol crafts. 

F18s - started from 1982….


And to defend coast to coast….
to the True North

Was an impossible task. 

This Defence budget and Strategy is long overdue and may be the silver lining in this rocky new world. 

We are all pulling in the same direction. 

Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University will offer every company in every Catalyst program strategic insights to help them explore and pursue opportunities in Canada’s growing defence sector.

Stay connected and pull together.

Every company begins by solving a problem.

Do you have clarity of exactly what that is?

I interviewed Eldon Sprickerhoff to get his insights for the next generation of founders. Eldon is an active entrepreneur, investor, mentor, author, advisory and board member at the intersections of information security, computer science, machine learning, SaaS, and finance. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and a mentor at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University. 

He is best known for founding eSentire, a leading global cybersecurity Managed Detection and Response company.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥?

Before starting eSentire, I was providing information security consulting at a prime broker in New York, supporting both the brokerage itself and the hedge funds they hosted. I was building out defensive processes and systems to protect their Internet-connected infrastructure from increasingly sophisticated threats.

What I kept noticing was the gap between what organizations needed and what they could actually sustain. Security didn't operate on business hours - threats were 24/7 - but very few organizations could afford dedicated security operations teams. Even well-funded financial institutions struggled to staff and maintain continuous monitoring. Smaller firms had no chance.

I also saw that traditional consulting wasn't solving the core problem. Companies would hire us for projects, we'd implement solutions, then leave. But security isn't a project - it's an ongoing operational challenge. The defensive systems I built needed constant attention, tuning, and response capabilities.

This experience became the foundation for eSentire. I realized that if sophisticated financial firms couldn't solve this problem internally, there had to be a better model - one where security expertise and continuous operations could be delivered as a service rather than a one-time project or expensive internal build-out. That insight, combined with the operational knowledge I gained in New York, gave me the platform to build something fundamentally different.


If you enjoyed this interview series, please follow Eldon and get his book at https://lnkd.in/gS2HNAnY

He aims to be the Rick Rubin of Canadian cybersecurity startups: helping the right teams sharpen their edge, amplify their strengths, and scale faster.

P.S. What other qns would you ask him?

4 types of people in tabletop exercises.

And how to deal with them.

It is every facilitator's nightmare. You spend hours designing and scheduling a tabletop exercise and you practice and envision every conversation, pushback, scenario.

Yet you still feel unprepared because you don't fully know who the audience is, what they are like, and whether they will chew you up and spit you out.

Here are the 4 archetypes and how to manage these characters.

1. The Know-it-all

If we all conduct a blind survey in the room and ask everyone to close their eyes and point to the person who "Knows-it-all", they will all point to the same person.

How to tell who this person is?

Don't worry. When the exercise reaches the first discussion point, this person will start talking about Step A to Z on what he or his team will do. He knows his plans, critical processes, who to call, what to ask, what to investigate, how long it takes, priorities etc

How do you handle the "Know-it-all"?

This is a good thing.
Don't discourage the sharing. Instead leverage what the person is sharing and post some of the things he raised to other teams.

Example:
Know-it-all: For this particular incident, we will triage and send out the initial report within 30 mins

You: That is excellent. Operations team (or any other team that should receive the report), is the information within the initial report sufficient or what other types of info will help your team's processes?

Know-it-alls are good for keeping the flow of the exercise. Leverage them well.

2. The Forever-Skeptic (FS for short)

Signs of the FS.
- This will never happen
- We have implemented tools for this
- This inject is not applicable for our env

I know. 
You may find yourself sweating at this point. But don't worry, leverage your exercise design partner to help expand on the inject to make it relevant.

OR if all else fails. 
This is one trick that works.

Ask the FS straight up. 
"Is there a similar inject or scenario where in your experience and expertise, you know will triggers an event/incident that needs your team's response?"

1. This strokes FS's ego.
2. You have trapped FS. He can't say there is no such scenario.
3. Smile and pivot from FS's suggestion.
4. Rem to tie it back to the overall scenario.

3. The Conversation Hogger

Signs of the Hogger
- This is a no brainer. If you record the whole, the hogger probably took up 70% of the air time.

It is likely that the hogger has gone too far down a rabbit hole. 

Acknowledge the hogger's contribution and bring others in the convo.

4. The silent ones

No sound. No inputs. No involvement.
Ask them directly what they think or they would do. 
Do it with every inject.

What other characters are there and how do you deal w them?

The reason your posts fall flat? 
They read like press releases.

Most posts I see on LinkedIn read like they were written by a corporate communications team.

They’re clean. Safe. 
Approved by six people.
And boring as hell. 

Here are a few lessons that I gained after writing >1000+ posts. 
⸻

Lesson 1: Write as you would speak. 
You don’t need big words or long sentences.
Short. Direct. Clear.
If you wouldn’t say it in a conversation, don’t write it in a post.

⸻

Lesson 2: Share what it means, not just what happened.
Describe what you learned from it.
What changed for you? 
For your clients?
That’s the part people care about.

⸻

Lesson 3: Write to one person.
Think of someone specific — a client, a peer, a younger version of yourself.
Write as if you’re speaking to them.
That’s what makes people stop scrolling.

⸻

LinkedIn isn’t a press room.
It’s a coffee chat. 

Incorporate these lessons and the posts will start landing.

Whose posts do you enjoy reading?

Basic TTX design: Start w scenario. 
Advanced TTX: Start w objectives. 
Expert TTX: Start w decision points. 

Simple trick. 
Work in this order. 

Start with decision points. 
Build up the objectives. 
Fit the scenario in. 

This makes the exercise effective. 

Sounds simple. 
Until you try it out. 

What have you seen teams start with when designing exercises?

Running the Naval Wargaming & Simulation Centre provided a strong foundation for running cyber exercises.

Here was what a typical week looked like.

• detailing injects
• designing exercise scenarios
• preparing exercise with instructors
• running exercises for warfare teams
• keeping up to date with naval tactics
• tracking and assessing performances
• planning out future exercise schedules
• conducting pre and post-exercise briefs
• discussing the ship's exercise objectives
• ensuring teams are up to date on Red Team tactics

Now you can understand the transferable skills in Cybersecurity exercises.

The best way to avoid mistakes is to learn from others who have trodden a similar path. 

I interviewed Eldon Sprickerhoff to get his insights for the next generation of founders. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and a mentor at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University. 

He is best known for founding eSentire, a leading global cybersecurity Managed Detection and Response company.

𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲

𝘘: 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮?

Three lessons stand out:

First, product-market fit isn't a one-time achievement - it's continuous. What worked for early customers often needed to evolve as we scaled. This came from painful experience watching our initial approach struggle as we tried to expand.

Second, in security, trust is everything but takes years to build. This lesson came from losing deals early on simply because we were unknown, regardless of our technical capabilities. We had to earn credibility one customer at a time.

Third, technical founders need to learn business fundamentals or find partners who have them. We learned this through trial and error - understanding unit economics, founder-led sales processes, and operational scaling didn't come naturally but became critical to our survival.


𝘘: 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴?

A few moments were definitive:

The decision to focus on MDR as its own category rather than trying to be a general security consultancy. This came from recognizing we needed to own a specific problem rather than compete in a commoditized services market.

Choosing to build certain technology components rather than resell others' tools - and this changed throughout the life of the company. This was risky and capital-intensive, but it became our moat. We decided based on the belief that you can't deliver differentiated outcomes with commoditized tools; we made the choice to build on well-established frameworks (enterprise-level plumbing) and then build our own solutions on top.


The choice to pursue enterprise clients over SMB at a certain stage. This shift required completely rethinking our go-to-market, but the economics and retention made it necessary. We made this call when customer acquisition costs versus lifetime value forced us to evolve.


P.S. Are you capturing these moments in your journey?

Most cyber CEOs ask:

What shld I write about on LinkedIn?

Here’s a simple filter I give clients 

Write about this:
- Reason for product pivots
- Questions boards asks
- Insights from clients 
- Investor concerns 
- Tough decisions

Avoid writing this:

- Repost cyber news
- Random infographics 
- Vague “AI is risky” takes
- Generic breach commentary

If another cyber CEO could copy-paste your post and it still works, it’s probably not helping your positioning.

It’s 2026 and it’s still a VUCA world. 

Volatilite
Uncertain
Complex
Ambiguous 

No wonder there is a continued demand for crisis mgmt professionals. 

VUCA was introduced in 90s to describe the post Cold War period. 
Still as relevant today. 


In fact, things may escalate. 

BANI is added to the frame with pandemics, AI, and whatever’s next. 

Brittle
Anxious
Nonlinear 
Incomprehensible


Stay safe out there. 

P.S Just saw the missile attack on the base in Bahrain where I was stationed back in the day.

A Mag 7 acquires your Cyber company for Billions.

No wonder everyone is now a cyber founder... BUT

I interviewed Eldon Sprickerhoff to get his insights for the next generation of founders. He is best known for founding eSentire, a leading global cybersecurity Managed Detection and Response company.

𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆’𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

𝘘: 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘺𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴?


The biggest difference is that the market now better understands the category. When we started, we had to explain why continuous monitoring mattered, let alone explaining what we meant by “Embedded Incident Response” or “Collaborative Threat Management” (two early terms we used to describe what benefit we were bringing to the market).

Today, MDR is established - founders don't need to educate the market on the concept, but they face different challenges.

The bar for differentiation is much higher. Buyers are more sophisticated and have many options. You can't win just by being "better" - you need to solve a problem fundamentally differently or serve an underserved segment.

Capital availability has changed dramatically. In the early 2000s, cybersecurity funding was extremely scarce. Today, capital is somewhat more abundant (especially when addressing the market from the perspective of AI), which means you can scale faster but also face better-funded competition earlier. The pressure to grow quickly can actually hurt companies that haven't found true product-market fit.


𝘘: 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘺𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦-𝘶𝘱𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩?

I look for a few signals:

Do they have deep conviction about a specific problem, or are they chasing a market opportunity? The best founders I meet can articulate exactly why their solution needs to exist based on real experience, not market sizing slides.

Are their customers renewing and expanding? Revenue growth matters, but retention and expansion tell you if you're actually solving the problem. Churn hides in early-stage metrics.

Can the founder articulate their unit economics clearly? If they can't explain their CAC, LTV, and path to profitability, they're likely building on quicksand regardless of how impressive the top-line growth looks.

Finally, are they learning and adapting? The founders who succeed aren't the ones who execute their original plan perfectly - they're the ones who recognize when something isn't working and adjust intelligently. This has been coined as a new flavour of MVP: Minimally eVolveable Product.



If you enjoyed this interview series, please follow Eldon and get his book at https://lnkd.in/gS2HNAnY

Imagine exercising the exact scenario a couple of weeks before an incident. 

This is how some teams would have managed the lead up to this weekend. 

The sharpest teams would have tracked the escalation and highlighted the threat scenarios weeks ago. This can only happen if your threat intel teams covers beyond just cyber. 

The risk teams would be pulled in and have a quick reassessment. This can only happen if your intel and risk teams know how to work together. 

The exercise and security teams collaborate to rapidly design and develop exercise scenarios. This can only happen if leaders carve out time. 

The leadership team prepare briefs to the executive leadership and board. This can only happen if there is trust. 

Can you predict when something kicks off? Nope but you can certainly prep for it in advance. 

And when you run the exact scenario weeks before it actually happens. 

Imagine the credibility your team gains. This doesn’t happen by chance but by an intricate and established machinery. 

P.S 
how are you actively managing risks?

If the message is still unclear, do this. 
- review last few major incidents 
- identify the most relevant scenarios
- refresh or recirculate response plans
- stand up a quick incident drill 
- plan for a near term exercise 
- run the exercise and note lessons
- update leadership on readiness


Write a quick doc on this process. 
That is your response playbook. 
Don’t fumble the next crisis.

5 things Cyber CEOs do on LinkedIn that harms their brand and rep. 

Before you dismiss it as trivial, your prospects, clients, partners have and will take a glance at your profile. 

How will you show up in their snapshot assessment? Can you risk of they form an early impression?

1. Empty Profile

This may be acceptable in 2010. 
It will raise more questions than answers and you don’t want that. 

2. Unprofessional Pic and Banner

If you don’t accept a shoddy website, why would you accept an unpolished profile?

3. Boring copy across page 

From your headline to your about section and even your outdated experience page. 

If it screams a lack of attention and effort, doesn’t really move the needle forward does it?

4. Effortless content

Repost, repost, repost, repost

And you wonder why this platform sucks. 


5. Full on AI Bonanza

We have all seen it. 
Posts with more fluff than insights. 
Comments that don’t make sense. 
Spam DMs that lead to being reported. 

This is a straight road to being banned.  



When was the last time you audited your profile and campaign?

P.S what else are folks doing wrong here?

One simple reason to keep showing up on LinkedIn that we always forget. 

It takes repetition. Alot of it. 

It is simply not good enough to just post once every 2 months and expecting people to notice you, much less remember your name. 

To make matters worst, you write about random topics. 

One day it’s National Cyber Strategy. 
The next is how Moltbook is the next catalyst for the end of the world as we know it. 

But yr company’s solution is AI SOC. 

How do you expect to form an impression, an association, and god forbid ….. get inbound leads?

People have short term memory. 
People are extremely busy. 
People are distracted. 

Stick to 1-2 topics. 
Post 1-2 per week. 
Keep at it.


P.S have you given it a good go before concluding this channel doesn’t work?

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