In 2015, Twistlock was founded with a visionary mission to secure the emerging cloud-native computing environment, an idea that some might argue was far ahead of its time. Fast forward to 2019, when Palo Alto Networks acquired the company for a hefty $410 million, it became clear that this was just the beginning of the journey. A year ago, the original founding team reunited and embarked on a new venture called Gutsy, with the goal of applying process mining techniques to enhance cybersecurity.
Today, Gutsy emerges from stealth mode with an impressive $51 million in seed funding, led by YL Ventures and Mayfield. The core team comprises CEO Ben Bernstein, VP of R&D Dima Stopel, and CTO John Morello – all three being the original founders who played a pivotal role at Twistlock.
Historically, security has predominantly focused on detection and configuration issues, analyzing misconfigurations or responding to incidents after they’ve occurred. However, Gutsy was built on the premise that systems are a complex web of interconnected processes. To truly understand and address security incidents, you must grasp how these systems interrelate to produce outcomes.
John Morello explains, “Our approach is to view the organization as a network of interconnected systems and events, delivering outcomes. By adopting a process-centric perspective, you gain a more realistic understanding of how things operate, enabling you to identify obstacles hindering your desired outcomes.” Gutsy achieves this through the application of data science techniques known as process mining, a novel approach in the field of cybersecurity.
Similar to business process mining, which visualizes connections between systems to optimize processes, Gutsy enables organizations to identify breakdowns in critical processes, such as staff offboarding, and take corrective actions to bolster their security posture. Essentially, Gutsy provides customers with a highly detailed “Google map” of their various processes, empowering them to analyze data and pinpoint the factors most impacting their security objectives.
Up to this point, Gutsy has been collaborating with a select group of design partners to refine its concept. Now, the company is emerging from stealth mode to engage with a wider range of organizations. Recognizing the potential for imitators, Gutsy has remained discreet to safeguard its innovative idea. While they aspire to benefit from being first to market, they also acknowledge the importance of customer-centricity and execution in maintaining a competitive edge.
Currently comprising 24 employees, Gutsy’s CEO, Ben Bernstein, believes the company has the right-sized team for now, as it seeks to better understand the market for its groundbreaking idea. Additionally, Gutsy is committed to diversity, and its strategy includes avoiding the concentration of talent in the Bay Area, with teams in Baton Rouge and Portland to tap into diverse talent pools.
Regarding their substantial seed funding, Bernstein explains that Gutsy wanted to ensure they had sufficient resources to nurture their idea, recognizing the future competition. He states, “We believe this funding amount should enable us to execute our vision, even if it exceeds our immediate requirements.”
