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Episode EP. 12

Building Companies, Culture, & Cyber Offense and Defense in the Age of AI w/ Ron Gula

June 29, 2026 · 66 min ·Ron Gula

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About this episode

Ron Gula is a cybersecurity pioneer, venture capitalist, and the visionary founder behind Tenable. Having bootstrapped his way to a $50 million Series A and scaled one of the industry's most recognizable brands, Ron has witnessed the highs and lows of company building. In this episode, we explore the authentic culture he established during Tenable's early days, the critical mistakes founders make when pitching venture capital, and the shifting landscape of building startups in the AI era. Ron details the strict rules of his famous "five-slide pitch deck," explains why AI wrappers are simply integrators rather than innovators, and warns that CISOs must take charge of AI operations before they are replaced by automated platforms..

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