Ken here from Cyberse. Welcome to Secure (with Context), your no-BS guide to smarter security decisions.
Twice a month, we’ll:
✅ Cut through vendor hype
✅ Help you discover creators
✅ Provide free tools to help you buy and build with confidence
...with a touch of the jaded-dark-humor that you can only get from a fellow cybersecurity practitioner.
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3 Headwinds Holding Back Cybersecurity Growth in 2026
Mid-sized vendors that have moved past early startup mode but are not yet household names are facing real pressure right now.
1️⃣ Growth increasingly feels pay to play as the cost of partnerships experienced hires and market visibility continues to rise.
2️⃣ Differentiation is becoming more difficult as established incumbents are able to outspend others on sales and marketing.
3️⃣ At the same time enterprise buyers are consolidating around platforms which makes the market feel more concentrated and harder to break into.
At Cyberse the reality is clear, there is no universal playbook.
Progress comes from making focused bets staying capital efficient and building the right relationships over time.
If these dynamics feel familiar you are not alone.
We are navigating the same landscape right alongside you.
We are excited to reshare Cyberse Navigator, our expert backed AI platform designed to help security buyers make clearer and more confident decisions.
Cyberse Navigator brings independent expert insight and practical context into the process of evaluating cybersecurity solutions, so teams can cut through noise and focus on what actually fits their needs. It also helps teams understand how their security investments compare to peers and where to prioritize next.
This reflects a broader shift in the industry toward transparency and accessibility in security decision making. By combining AI with community knowledge, complex cybersecurity choices become easier to navigate without added cost or friction.
Source: Compare solutions or benchmark your cybersecurity program
🚨 We finally added an About Us page to our Cyberse website and it feels like an important milestone.
Cyberse started with a simple idea. Make cybersecurity easier to understand, easier to evaluate, and easier to buy without the noise, pressure, or vendor bias that dominates the industry.
The new About Us page shares more about why we built Cyberse, who it is for, and how we think about community, independent expertise, and practical decision making for security leaders.
If you are curious about the mission behind the marketplace or want a bit more context on where we are headed, it is worth a look.
🔗: About Us
Excited to share that our founder was at the Eighth Annual Managed Security Services Forum Denver this past Thursday, February 12th.
Ken was part of the Discussion Panel on Understanding the Balance Between Business and Technical Acumen for the Leader of the Future.
Panelists included Mike Pedrick, VP Cybersecurity Consulting at Nuspire, and Alex Young, CISO at Sierra Space.
This event brought together a strong group of security leaders and operators to talk through real world challenges in managed security and what was next for the industry.
We have been testing out more short form video reels for content as we lean into becoming more multi modal. Take a look at the clips we have posted and reach out with your feedback. We are especially interested in what topics and formats resonate most so we can continue building content that is useful to the cybersecurity community.
📹 People often ask what the hardest part of being a founder is.
CONSTANT FAILURE!
Most days are about trusting your instincts, figuring out who to lean on, and looking for signs of momentum where none seem obvious yet. You keep building, hiring, partnering, and refining—not because it’s guaranteed to work, but because you believe it will.
The funny part? Those small wins build momentum… and momentum is what carries you through the lows.
If you’re still building today, you’re already doing the hard part.
📹 Not every organization needs or can afford a full time CISO but that does not mean they can afford to go without security leadership.
Virtual CISOs have emerged to fill that gap by giving organizations access to seasoned security leaders who can guide risk decisions resilience planning and security strategy without the full-time price tag.
Watch the video to hear Ken Frantz discuss how the vCISO role works in practice and why it has become a critical model for growing organizations.
🔐Cybersecurity loves to obsess over the newest threats, but that is not where most damage is happening.
Phishing, email compromise, and stolen credentials continue to dominate attacks, especially across small and mid-sized businesses, because they are optimized to turn access into cash fast.
While attention stays on the cutting edge, attackers keep winning with the basics.
Watch the video to hear Nathan Taylor share what he is seeing firsthand and why these fundamentals still matter.
Cybersecurity is entering a more disciplined era where capital efficiency, platform consolidation, and practical leadership matter more than hype.
The winners will not be those who chase every trend, but those who stay focused on fundamentals and build with intention.
Whether you are a vendor, operator, or founder, the pressure is real but so is the opportunity.
Momentum still belongs to those who keep showing up and making thoughtful bets.
Let’s keep sharing what works, learning from each other, and building security programs that really make a difference.
👋 Got thoughts? Hit reply. I read every message.
Ken Yao
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