Brent Lecompte Blog: Spotlight: Threat Sketch Provides Cyber Risk Analysis That’s Affordable for Small Businesses

Spotlight: Threat Sketch Provides Cyber Risk Assessment That's Affordable for Small Businesses

Cyber threats can be a major concern for businesses of all sizes. But it can be especially difficult for small businesses to find cybersecurity solutions that are affordable. That’s where Threat Sketch comes in.

Read more about this cybersecurity tool that’s built specifically for small businesses in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

What the Business Does

Offers cyber risk analysis for small businesses.

Founder and CEO Rob Arnold told Small Business Trends, “We offer a cyber risk analysis uniquely designed for small businesses, to help business owners, executives and IT teams manage the big picture of cyber risk. We use cyber crime statistics to model threat scenarios and project potential losses. We deliver executive action-plans to help small businesses reduce risk, limit losses, and recover quickly from cyber attacks.”

Business Niche

Being cost effective for small businesses.

Arnold says, “We are dedicated to serving the needs of small businesses, some might say very small. Other companies that offer cyber risk analysis products are chasing the deep pockets of large companies that will pay handsomely for elaborate reports. In contrast, we remain focused on mass-producing simple, actionable, strategic cyber risk management plans.”

How the Business Got Started

Through an unlikely partnership.

Arnold originally came up with the idea for making cyber risk assessment simpler for small businesses. When he attended a startup weekend at Flywheel Coworking in the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, he met Nathan, who had experience with financial risk analysis. The two combined forces to create the unique product.

Spotlight: Threat Sketch Provides Cyber Risk Assessment That's Affordable for Small Businesses

Biggest Win

Being accepted into some helpful programs.

Arnold explains, “Very early on we won a slot in a one-week business accelerator program. It helped us reform our initial business plan around Lean Startup principles, and opened many doors. Then in 2016 we were granted approval to join the DHS cyber security intelligence sharing program. We are currently in the on-boarding process, and should be able to share this data with our customers in the first half of 2017.”

Biggest Risk

Spending big on a digital advertising campaign.

Arnold says, “It didn’t work out as expected, we ended up spending money on advertising that didn’t convert to customers. But it lead us to a new understanding of what small businesses are looking for when they think about hackers and cyber security.”

How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000

Getting into a new niche.

Arnold says, “Building better cyber risk and financial impact models for non-profits and government organizations. In fact, we intend to seek grants to fund research in this area.”

Team Communication

A mix of online and in-person interaction.

Arnold explains, “Our three-person team lives in Winston-Salem, NC, Elkin, NC, and New York, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come together to brainstorm. Our kick-off brainstorming event was a work retreat held at Graylyn Estate, where we were able to spend the day together working, and unwind that evening exploring Winston-Salem’s craft breweries and playing pool and taking advantage of the activities offered at the estate. In addition to retreats, we make use of Google Hangouts often to communicate and brainstorm, making the fact that we all work from home in different locations a true non-issue.”

Spotlight: Threat Sketch Provides Cyber Risk Assessment That's Affordable for Small Businesses