Aug 8How to give yourself the best chance of landing that jobThis is the updated version of an article I wrote a few years ago, refreshed with additional tips. I’ve interviewed over 500 candidates for open roles and have had my fair share of sitting in the interviewee’s seat over my 20+ year career. At this point, I’ve been on both…Career Advice3 min readCareer Advice3 min read
Jul 8Do all social media apps suck when it comes to privacy?Meta’s new Threads app just launched and set a record for sign ups, sparking another debate about its lack of respect for consumer privacy. Threads passed 30M sign ups within 24 hours of launch, and 70M within 48 hours, both records in terms of launch day traction. Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s…Privacy4 min readPrivacy4 min read
Jul 4Top 10 things to consider if you want to build an effective team in an early-stage startupWe’re coming up on the 4-year mark from the founding of Avertro. We’ve made good team decisions. But we’ve also made a number of mistakes. What follows is honest and blunt. Reflecting back, here are the top 10 things to consider if you want to build an effective team in…Team Building3 min readTeam Building3 min read
May 10Cybersecurity and the Australian Federal Budget 2023I looked for the cybersecurity line items in the budget so you don’t have to. Initial thoughts The budget documents deliberately call out that the government will be spending $101.6 million over the next five years (and $11.8 million per year ongoing) to support and uplift cybersecurity in Australia. As I said…Cybersecurity4 min readCybersecurity4 min read
Oct 25, 2022Cybersecurity and the Australian Federal Budget: October 2022 EditionAs with the past few budgets, I looked for the cybersecurity line items so you don’t have to. Initial Thoughts Not much to see this time around. …Cybersecurity2 min readCybersecurity2 min read
Jun 19, 2022RSA Conference 2022 RecapKey takeaways from the world’s largest cybersecurity conference This wasn’t my first RSA Conference in San Francisco. Given the state of the world however, it was the first time I’d been able to attend for a number of years. It was a privilege to be back. …Rsac20225 min readRsac20225 min read
Mar 29, 2022Cybersecurity and the Australian Federal Budget 2022I looked for the cybersecurity line items in the budget so you don’t have to. Initial Thoughts I commented in my corresponding post when last year’s budget was released that: “This (2021) budget continues the historical trend of spending a significant amount on national security, which includes cybersecurity, but having most of…Cybersecurity4 min readCybersecurity4 min read
Sep 21, 2021Behind the scenes of year two at a venture-backed cybersecurity startupAvertro just turned two. These are some of the real moments from our second year. If you’re wondering what happened in year one, I wrote about it last year. 5th September 2020 “Oh s***, we’re a year old,” I thought to myself. …Startup14 min readStartup14 min read
Sep 9, 2021Founder mental healthToday is R U OK Day, so I’m asking myself if I’m really ok. Team member: Ian, are you ok? I feel like you ask everyone else if they’re ok. But I don’t know if they ever ask you back. So, I’m asking. Me: You know there’s always something bothering…Mental Health4 min readMental Health4 min read
Aug 15, 2021How to get an entry-level cybersecurity job in 2021There is no shortage of people wanting to break into the industry, so how do you stand out? The unicorn A few years ago, I hired someone into our team at one of my previous employers. Despite having zero commercial cybersecurity experience yet wanting to break into the industry, they weren’t sure…Cybersecurity8 min readCybersecurity8 min read
