Chris Tjotjos on building businesses through crashes, advisory boards, and compounding growth

Thomas chats with Chris Tjotjos on the Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast about his career from sales to leading Logos Communications and later co-founding Promithia and Simvay Systems

Chris describes early entrepreneurial “full throttle” focus, reinvesting profits for years, and the power of compounding, including examples using pennies and leveraged real estate and recurring revenue.

He recounts major disruptions - post-1999 internet implosion after buying out his partner and the 2008 crisis, and how transparency, profit-sharing via an EBIT plan, and shifting customer concentration helped stabilize and grow. A key turning point was meeting entrepreneur Jack Kale, starting an advisory board, and using book-based learning to reshape culture.

Chris explains being approached to sell Logos to Black Box, scaling the division, and critiques lack of synergy in acquisitions. Book recommendations mentioned include "Financial Freedom" Mark Harrelson, "The Vital Difference," and "Leading From The Heart," by Jack Kale, "Rockefeller: The Titan," and "The 38 Letters Rockefeller Wrote to His Son."

00:00 Welcome and Setup

00:39 Meet Chris Tjotjos

01:58 Focus Then Scale

03:04 Early Entrepreneur Grind

04:34 Compounding Mindset

06:55 Leverage and OPM

09:27 Life After the Exit

13:22 Dotcom Crash Lessons

15:29 Open Books EBIT Plan

17:39 Jack Kale Book Club

22:26 Partnership Synergy

23:33 Faith Prayer Meditation

25:31 Perspective and Mortality

26:12 Greek Roots and Big Questions

27:20 Faith Over Wealth

27:50 Servant Leadership in Business

28:12 Why Logos Was Founded

32:26 Selling After the 2008 Storm

36:55 Acquisition Lessons and Synergy

38:54 Starting Again With Promethea

40:18 Advisory Boards That Scale

43:51 Building the Board and Jack Story

47:53 Closing Reflections and Thanks

48:27 AI as a Virtual Board

49:42 When to Form a Board

In this Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast episode, Thomas chats with Dale Hoak, a former US Navy veteran who transitioned to the commercial sector and progressed from to senior director and now Chief Security Officer/CISO at RedScale.

Dale explains that leaving the military is difficult because individuals must take ownership of healthcare, career planning, compensation negotiation, and resume-building, recommending an exit strategy starting two years before separation and seeking early help (including AI tools) while understanding one’s individual value.

He credits his advancement to strong networks and mentors, hard work, and learning to understand business value and communicate cyber risk in non-technical terms to leaders and boards, using approaches like threat modeling and risk scoring. He discusses AI as a helpful but fallible tool requiring fact-checking, emphasizes continuous learning.

Dale recommends as a starting point "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and then progressing on to 2 series of books by Gary Hayslip. He listens to lots of podcasts

including New CISO and CISO Tradecraft.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

00:36 Dale’s Career Snapshot

02:08 Life as a CSO

03:06 Leaving the Military

05:00 Certs Resumes and Value

07:31 First Civilian Break

08:51 Networking as a Superpower

10:05 How Promotions Happen

13:20 Building Business Awareness

17:03 Speaking Board Level Risk

17:40 Books and Daily Routines

18:26 AI Needs Human Communication

19:51 Phone Calls and Real Talk

21:18 Using AI Responsibly

22:15 AI Resumes and Hiring Reality

23:29 Culture Fit and Honesty

25:06 Never Stop Learning

27:11 Learning Resources and Creativity

30:26 AI Accelerates Skill Gaps

32:22 Leadership Lessons and Quotes

33:21 Books Podcasts and Wrap Up

Shante Perrin on SOC Leadership, Communicating Risk, and Curiosity-Driven Career Growth

Thomas chats with cybersecurity leader Shante Perrin, who progressed from web developer and help desk roles to SOC leadership and Director of Global Security Operations.

Shante describes SOC and MSSP work focused on preventing repeat incidents through policies, procedures, customer advisement, and deploying new services and tools that improve analyst efficiency and investigation quality. They discuss the challenge of convincing customers to prioritize security before a breach, emphasizing tailored communication, active listening, documenting risk, and framing guidance around business impact and reputation.

Shante highlights interview and hiring themes such as curiosity, understanding why tools are used (not just clicking), teamwork, and cultural fit, plus using brown-bag sessions to share investigative thinking. Career advice centers on taking leaps into unfamiliar work, seeking support, and accountability.

Shante recommends David Goggins’ book "Can’t Hurt Me" and mentions journaling and self-care for sustainable performance.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

01:09 Shante's Security Ops Role

02:58 Convincing Customers to Act

04:50 Communication in the SOC

07:04 Incident Calls and Risk

09:39 Security as Business Partner

14:24 Career Growth Through Curiosity

20:01 Interviewing Beyond Tools

21:51 Curiosity Stands Out

22:45 Hiring For Likability

24:56 Humor Under Pressure

25:49 Help Desk Foundations

28:54 Learning Styles That Stick

29:56 Audio Diet And Mindset

31:38 Confidence And Speaking Up

34:16 Setbacks And Self Care

36:30 Book Pick David Goggins

38:28 Journaling And Control

39:38 Sustainable Work Rhythms

41:20 Final Thanks And Wrap

From Security Executive to Startup Founder: Sales, Focus, and Raising a Pre-Seed Round

On the Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast, Tom chats with Tommy Donnelly, CTO, President, and co-founder of Amplifier Security. Tommy describes founder life as high-ambiguity work requiring constant energy, disciplined routines, and learning new skills - especially sales - framing it as “finding” the right customers with urgency and budget rather than persuading everyone.

He explains the value of narrowing product scope, defining an ICP, and iterating cheaply to reach product-market fit before scaling. Donnelly shares hiring traits he prioritizes (ambiguity tolerance, vision alignment, data-driven iteration), discusses leadership progression from technical roles to cross-functional and external influence, outlines how Amplifer raised a $3.3M pre-seed using design partners, networked VC outreach, and standardized SAFE notes (e.g., via Clerky), recommends TK Kader founder training, and cites Patrick Lencioni’s book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.”

00:00 Welcome and Banter

01:06 Entrepreneurship Reality Check

01:56 Energy and Founder Routines

03:20 Tommy’s Career Intro

04:02 Founder Life and Learning Sales

05:18 Listening and Networking Wins

09:21 Executive Communication Shift

12:33 Finding the Right Customers

17:46 Hiring for Ambiguity

21:44 From Startup to Scale Lessons

24:04 Structure vs Chaos

24:23 Climbing to VP Reality

25:54 Leaving Bullhorn for BetterCloud

27:14 Going All In as Founder

28:30 Staying Focused and Niche

30:50 How the Pre Seed Happened

36:28 Money Is a Commodity

40:44 Founder Sales Qualification

44:28 Best Founder Training Resource

45:49 Teamwork and Hard Conversations

48:16 Wrap Up and Thanks

Casey Murphy on Boundaries, Deep Work, and Learning Fast in Startup Revenue Marketing

Had a great chat with Casey Murphy, who shares his career path from the US Navy submarine/nuclear program to Accenture, an MBA internship at Secure AI Labs, Microsoft, and his current role at Phosphorus Cybersecurity as Director of Revenue Marketing.

Casey describes his identity as a Christian and frames his “Forrest Gump” career as a series of making the next right decision rather than following a grand plan, viewing successes and failures through faith and resilience. They discuss prioritizing family, creating boundaries to avoid burnout, and the importance of deep work, especially in remote settings, using examples like an Admiral’s early-morning focus block and a CFO’s handwritten index card of top priorities.

They also discuss using AI as a learning aid while still doing painful, hands-on practice, and how printing, handwriting, and journaling improve thinking and retention.

00:00 Welcome and Catch Up

01:15 Casey Career Intro

01:52 Identity and Navy Lessons

05:35 Resilience and Priorities

07:49 Work Boundaries and Burnout

10:34 Remote Work Deep Focus

15:18 Simple To Do Systems

18:06 Learning and Upskilling

19:25 Using AI Wisely

23:38 Analog Thinking and Strategy

27:05 Wrap Up and Next Time

Andrew Kirch on Hacker Mindset, Insider Threats, and AI’s Impact on Cybersecurity

In this Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast episode, Thomas chats with Andrew Kirch, Director of Technical Operations at Stoic Cybersecurity, who describes his wide-ranging background across IT, red and blue team work, tabletop exercises, and early experience running a major DNS blacklist that helped him understand how attackers think.

Andrew argues hacker mindset is learnable through experience, stresses reputational and insider threats, and explains prioritizing vulnerabilities based on real exploitability. He shares stories involving Anonymous, Occupy Wall Street amplification, and law-enforcement work culminating in Operation Cyber Slam. The discussion covers increasing criminal organization, AI-driven risks (voice cloning, fake candidates, faster exploit development, and corporate secrets leaking via public AI), the need for continuous learning, and sources he follows such as YouTube, Ground News, CISA updates, and The Register.

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:55 Andrew’s Background

04:55 Hacker Mindset Tips

06:51 Prioritizing Real Threats

08:56 Anonymous Storytime

12:00 Operation Cyber Slam

15:24 Cybercrime As Business

17:25 How To Level Up

21:01 AI And IP Risks

24:04 Generalist Security Skills

24:41 AI Voice Fraud Threat

26:17 Fake Candidates Remote Hiring

27:39 AI Widens Attack Surface

29:28 Breach Costs and Insurance

31:01 Writing Reports With AI

34:10 Tone and Social Engineering

36:10 Cyber News Sources

39:22 Geopolitics and Ransomware

41:18 Utilities and SCADA Risks

42:53 Zero Trust and Passkeys

45:32 AI for SOC Defense

47:25 Wrap Up and Farewell

Wiley Bayes on Red Teaming, Networking Fundamentals, and Breaking into Cybersecurity

Thomas hosts Wiley Bayes on the Cybersecurity Recruiter Podcast to discuss Wiley’s career path from early Linux curiosity and the US Navy into networking, systems/cloud engineering, penetration testing, and his current role as Senior Principal Red Team Operator at Dark Wolf Solutions.

Wiley explains day-to-day red teaming on DoD contracts, emphasizing long preparation cycles, payload testing against major security tools, patience, and tailoring phishing to the audience. He advises career changers to keep learning, focus on fundamentals (especially networking), troubleshooting, and scripting/programming, and to break into IT first rather than fixating on a dream cybersecurity role unless you’re exceptionally advanced.

They discuss Dark Wolf’s custom CTF-based hiring, communication skills gained from executive briefings, concerns about shortcuts and AI, and Wiley recommends OpenBSD and Peter N.M. Hansteen’s book “The Book of PF,” plus home lab tinkering.

00:00 Welcome and Golf Talk

01:27 Career Journey Intro

02:26 Early Curiosity and Navy Roots

03:17 Why Networking Matters

04:04 Red Team Day to Day

06:35 Phishing and Security Hygiene

08:09 Transitioning to Civilian Life

09:50 Hiring with Custom CTFs

11:31 Breaking In Is Harder Now

14:45 Finding Your Path in Security

17:55 Staying Relevant and Next Steps

20:39 Pentest To Architect Shift

21:25 Communication Under Pressure

23:17 Fundamentals And Hiring Quality

25:43 Stop Chasing Dream Roles

27:57 Learning Resources And Practice

28:57 Troubleshooting War Story

32:31 AI Shortcuts Vs Real Skills

34:36 Code And Scripting Matters

36:04 Books And Home Labbing

38:37 Wrap Up And Thanks

Barak Engel on Fractional CISO Life, Resilience, and Relationship-Driven Security Consulting Thomas chats with Barak Engel, founder/CEO of EAmmune and an advisor/board member across several security organizations, about his 23-year consulting journey, including creating the virtual/fractional CISO concept in 2003 and the realities of “feast or famine” work.

Barak discusses rapid context switching (and hitting his limit while serving six CISOs at once), resilience through setbacks such as the 2008 crash and Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and how reputation and long-term relationships drive EAmmune’s referral-only growth through “concentric circles” as clients change jobs.

He emphasizes transparency, accountability, avoiding short-term exploitation, delegating to strengths (including hiring a people manager), and focusing on minimizing damage rather than preventing all mistakes. Book recommendations include Anthony de Mello’s "Awareness," Malcolm Gladwell’s "Blink," and "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy," plus Barak’s book "The Crack in the Crystal"

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:31 Origin of EAmmune Name

02:39 Resilience and Career Overview

04:51 Fractional CISO and Context Switching

06:38 Jessica Burnout Story

08:39 Lightning Angel Name Meaning

09:10 Relationships Over Everything

11:58 Bankruptcy and Customer Lifeline

15:15 Bootstrapping and Early Hustle

17:38 Strengths Focus and Delegation

19:33 Leaving Corporate and Forced Independence

22:34 Referral Growth Philosophy

23:58 Radical Transparency

24:59 Accidental Career Path

25:56 Reputation Compounds

28:12 Resilience Over Perfection

30:53 Trust Beats Skill

32:43 Owning Mistakes

34:39 Pretty Little Princess

36:04 Practice Context Switching

39:11 Humility and Humanity

43:00 Books and Farewell