I’m joined today by Peter Cooper. He has spent 25+ years leading security transformations across high-stakes industries like fintech, banking, and critical infrastructure. From scaling global teams at Adyen to navigating compliance across IPOs and banking licenses, Peter now helps early-stage and growth companies build pragmatic, trust-first security. This episode explores what founders can learn from enterprise mistakes, how to bake security into culture, and why checklists won’t save you.
We talk about:
We talk about:
🛡️ When to not hire a CISO — and what to do instead
🔍 How top founders evaluate security at each stage of the startup journey
🚫 The difference between security theater vs real resilience
📈 Why every founder should define their risk appetite before they scale
👨👩👧👦 How to build “self-healing” security culture in early-stage teams
⚙️ The surprising truth about SOC2 tools like Vanta and more
🧠 Peter’s 6-phase security maturity model from Ideation to IPO
💸 Security metrics that actually matter — including how to reduce spend over time
⚖️ Compliance vs Trust — and why one won’t save you
💥 Real-world founder mistakes that triggered breaches
This episode is a must-listen for any founder navigating fundraising, customer trust, or scaling product with peace of mind. Especially if you’re non-technical — Peter explains it all without buzzwords or scare tactics.
P.S. Know a founder who thinks “we’ll worry about security later”? Share this.
#VenturingwithVishesh
For more raw conversations on #startups, #SaaS, and founder-led growth, follow @visheshd
Important Links:
You can reach Peter at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petercoopercv/
Vishesh, your host at https://vishesh.space
P.S. If you are writing on LinkedIn https://tryjerry.com
Chapters
0:00 - Peter’s Background: From Adyen to Fractional CISO
2:00 - What Startups Get Wrong About Security
4:07 - Why Security Is Often Reactive, Not Proactive
6:15 - Misconceptions Around Compliance and SOC2
9:12 - Security Debt vs Technical Debt
12:10 - The Culture Layer of Security
15:22 - Security Theater in Startups
17:50 - When to Hire a CISO (and When Not To)
21:05 - Security Responsibilities in Early Teams
23:48 - Peter’s 6-Phase Security Maturity Model
27:15 - What “Minimum Viable Security” Looks Like
30:20 - Evaluating Vanta, Drata, and AI-Compliance Tools
33:42 - Reducing Friction for Engineers
36:10 - Key Security Metrics That Actually Matter
38:55 - Common Founder Blind Spots
41:00 - Advice for Non-Technical Founders
43:05 - The Biggest Security Mistake Peter Ever Saw
45:40 - Final Takeaways for SaaS Founders