Trust Engineering - Building Security Leadership at Early-Stage Startups

Learn how to establish effective security leadership at early-stage startups through a practical "Trust Engineering" approach in this 31-minute conference talk from BSidesSF 2025. Discover strategies for earning trust within your organization, navigating the inherent chaos of startup environments, and building robust security foundations despite resource constraints. Explore techniques for managing executive expectations while supporting rapid business growth, drawing from real-world experiences of being the first security leader in a startup setting. Gain insights into balancing security requirements with the fast-paced, resource-limited nature of early-stage companies, and understand how to position security as an enabler rather than a barrier to business objectives.