Insight Partners’ Post

Abnormal Security is on a journey to “understand humans better than humans.” This was the goal for cofounders Evan Reiser and Sanjay Jeyakumar when they first created Abnormal in 2018, which now protects almost one-fifth of the Fortune 500. In a world where most successful social engineering and phishing attacks exploit email as a channel, the cofounders saw an opportunity to apply their tech to email security. Managing Director Stephen Ward recognized the team’s potential from their first meeting, “I wanted to show the scale of my commitment… so I jumped on a 6 a.m. flight from New Jersey to San Francisco and came in person. We were supposed to speak for an hour, but we spent three hours on the whiteboard working on the product roadmap.” Reiser admired Ward's chutzpah, he says. “It means a lot when someone is willing to make a six-hour trip to come and shake your hand.” But the Abnormal team isn't just focused on cybersecurity: “When your core focus is human behavior, the opportunity snowballs with the more platforms you protect. We’re just getting started. The best from Abnormal is yet to come.” Find out more about how Abnormal Security is working to protect humans with AI: https://lnkd.in/e7CGtMCs #startup #ScaleUp #founder

With the weather heating up, it’s time to talk about tech’s hottest topic: #artificialintelligence. AI has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have for many SaaS companies. Writer, Weights & Biases, and 6sense have all embraced AI, but each offers a different lesson for #startups and #ScaleUps, including: 1️⃣ Scaling an AI-forward company and building a board that believes in your vision 2️⃣ Uniquely understanding the pain points of your customers when building out AI capabilities 3️⃣ Transforming your current product offering with AI Read their insights in the latest edition of Flight School here:

With #PrideMonth coming to a close, we have a final OUTsight ERG spotlight to round out the month. Meet Amir Ravandoust. We asked Amir about his experience at Insight, early career advice, and wisdom from prior mentorships. ❓What do you do at Insight? (Amir) I am a member of the scaled buyout team, focused on diligence, acquisition, and transformation of our large-scale investments. I also occasionally step into our portfolio companies in interim operating roles such as CFO and COO, to accelerate the upfront transformation of the business and set the management team up for growth and success. 🧠 What is one thing you wish you had known when you began your career? (Amir) Asking for help earlier and more frequently. I used to think that I had to figure everything out myself. I became much more productive and effective the moment I normalized asking for help and advice from others. 🤝 Talk about a significant mentorship moment in your life. (Amir) While working closely with a company to transform its sales strategy, I was facing a lot of push-back from the middle management layer who did not want to disrupt the momentum of the business. The CEO, who was also a mentor of mine, told me to spend more time with the sales team in the field, meet customers and partners, and sit through product demos to better understand the business and gain more credibility with the team. In addition to making the project successful, my mentor’s advice has become a critical part of how I do my job: I embed myself within teams to better understand their concerns and perspectives to improve the way I support and advise them. To see our spotlights from throughout the month, keep reading here: https://lnkd.in/eYD4RX3t

Congratulations to our portfolio companies on these June ScaleUp milestones! We’re thrilled to celebrate your accomplishments 🎉   ⭐ Exiger was named the winner of the 2024 TRPM Service Provider Innovator Award by the Third Party Risk Association. ⭐ Optimizely was recognized as a Leader in two IDC MarketScape reports: Worldwide Enterprise Headless Digital Commerce Platforms 2024 and Worldwide Headless Digital Commerce Applications for Midmarket Growth 2024.   Learn more about these wins on our blog here: https://lnkd.in/evWjU_64   Congratulations again to these stellar ScaleUps!

📈 How do your SaaS marketing metrics stack up against essential benchmarks? With Insight’s new SaaS Marketing Periodic Table using data from high-growth software companies, get a visual gut-check on the most top-of-mind marketing metrics for your startup or ScaleUp. ✅ Select the ARR segment that best fits your business. ✅ Click into a metric to see how best practices differ based on your ASP. ✅ Each card contains the definition of the metric, and how to calculate it. Compare your marketing budget, program efficiency, people resourcing, and conversion rate metrics here: https://lnkd.in/ePZ-b8Pa

In Insight's latest webinar, go-to-market experts Barrie Markowitz, 🦄Pablo Dominguez, and Travis Kassay tackled a crucial question for every ScaleUp leader: What should you not do when entering a new market or segment? In this discussion, they explained how to strategically traverse the complex dynamics of new markets, including: 🔔 Overcoming the challenges of U.S. market expansion  🔔 Considering upmarket vs. downmarket strategies  🔔 Integrating advanced tools like generative AI and SEO  🔔 Navigating analyst relations 👉 Watch the recording here: https://lnkd.in/eEKV5VDT

Congratulations to Sensi.AI on their Series B raise! Insight is proud to support Sensi as they revolutionize home care with their advanced audio platform. We look forward to partnering with Romi Gubes & team on this exciting chapter in Sensi's ScaleUp journey! https://lnkd.in/ga_reTH3

As we continue to celebrate #PrideMonth and Insight's OUTsight ERG, meet Maya Frid. Maya offered her advice on career, mentorship, and more. ❓What do you do at Insight? (Maya) I'm an analyst on the Capital Partnerships team. I support our team's fundraising efforts by handling the scheduling and logistics for all of our LP diligence sessions, both virtual and in-person, as well as logistics for many of our LP-facing events, such as the AGM.  I really enjoy this role because it gives me the chance to meet and interact with many different members of our firm across all levels. 🧠  What is one thing you wish you had known when you began your career? (Maya) One thing I wish I realized earlier in my career was the importance of being proactive. I used to think that keeping my head down and working hard would be enough for me to get noticed and grow in my roles, but now I know that nobody is going to pluck you out of obscurity and put the opportunity in your hand. You have to take the initiative and be vocal about what you want. You can't be afraid of hearing the word "no" — if you won't ask for it, you won't get it. 🤝 Talk about a significant mentorship moment in your life. (Maya) One person who had a huge influence on me was a female partner at the law firm where I worked right out of college. I'm a first-generation immigrant to the U.S. and neither of my parents work in a corporate environment, so as a recent college grad, her guidance was extremely helpful to me in learning how to navigate the corporate sphere. She gave me advice on everything from dress code to the nuances of interpersonal relations, and she never made me feel silly for asking questions. One particular piece of advice that stayed with me was the benefit of building relationships and surrounding yourself with a network of supportive people who are willing to give honest feedback to help you grow. That same network empowered me to make the change from working in the legal industry to finance, which brought me to Insight.

Continuing our #PrideMonth celebration and spotlights from our OUTsight ERG, meet Will Kenney. We asked Will about his experience at Insight, early career advice, and thoughts on mentorship. ❓ What do you do at Insight? (Will) I’m an investor and focus on early growth deals, typically Series A-C. I spend much of my time in developer tooling or ‘software for hardware’ – tools that support manufacturing, aerospace & defense, and other hardware-intensive industries. 🧠 What is one thing you wish you had known when you began your career? (Will) A VC mentor told me early in my career that I needed to be less afraid to close doors. I’m a naturally curious person, and I wanted to try everything — I’ve worked in philanthropy, consulting, investing, and at startups. However, being afraid to close doors — to narrow my focus — was preventing me from going deep on any one passion or industry that I could become an expert on. There’s always time to go back and open a door another time, but giving myself the freedom to go all-in on one endeavor (and not fear the opportunity cost) has allowed me to embark on a more intentional and informed career path. 🤝 Talk about a significant mentorship moment in your life. (Will) While it may be atypical for young kids to have a family ritual of watching 60 Minutes every Sunday, my parents wanted to ensure I developed a global perspective at a young age. As I grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, I felt exposed to a wide range of issues and the trends that drove them due to the incredible effort my mother and father put into my early education. This is particularly true of my interest in technology, as the Internet transformed society in the late '90s and early '00s. My parents wholeheartedly supported my love for all things tech (including me yelling “dot com” while still in diapers). It’s because of their support that I was able to eventually study computer science and come join Insight’s investment team. They will always be my most important mentors.