Starting and Scaling a K8s Security Company with Wei Dang

This week on Cloud Native Startup, I talked with Wei Dang, founder of cloud native security company StackRox which was acquired by RedHat in 2020. 

Highlights:

How Wei met his co-founder and how the two of them saw the need for new types of security tools. 

Why talking to people throughout the Kubernetes ecosystem led to a series of a realizations that security in a cloud native world was going to me an increasingly important part of the conversations as more people adopted Kubernetes. 

Where the name StackRox came from. 

How the first step was understanding if there was a market for a container security product. The moments wondering ‘are we building the right product’ were among the scariest. 

Why it’s important to focus at the beginning. 

How StackRox evolved from container security to Kubernetes security as the broader conversation shifted and the industry consolidated around Kubernetes. 

The moment Wei felt like there was product-market fit for StackRox. 

How Wei would define Kubernetes Security. 

The ways in which starting and growing a company forced Wei to learn new skills and gain knowledge. 

Why community is so important for companies in the Kubernetes ecosystem. 

How things have changed — and how they haven’t — since becoming part of Red Hat. 

Links

https://twitter.com/weiliendang

https://www.linkedin.com/in/weiliendang/




Emily Omier