Session: The Road to VP of GTM: How to Find Value in Every Stop Along Your Cyber Career
Introduction: Who she is and what she will be discussing. As well as covering the core takeaways from this talk.
Lay the groundwork: She will give a brief overview of how – in general – there is no one clear path that leads to a career in cyber, especially for startups. She will emphasize how prospective applicants need to be open and willing to learn from the experiences they encounter along their path to a cyber career.
Walkthrough of her early career: She will address elephant in the room – how she does not have the “pedigree” to be in cyber – if you are looking at it strictly in terms of the “right” background typically expected to be in the cyber space. She will detail how she got her start in natural sciences with a company that made defense systems and communication systems for defense, DARPA projects, projects around cancer therapy, machines, etc. She will also discuss the transferable skills she picked up along the way from these rich experiences that spanned Science, Product management, M&A and GTM and how she implements those skills in her cyber career now.
Return to school: Deepika will briefly describe her experience and thought process behind going back to school and getting a degree in business and how that made a difference in her pursuit of a cyber career.
Typical day: She will go over a typical day in the life as the Vice President of Go to Market and Strategy at Securin. She will detail how in a typical day she and her team touch every aspect of creating interest, understanding customer needs, building out a team and creating lasting relationships between Securin and its customers. She will also discuss how all of the "pitstops” she experienced throughout her career set her up for success as a cyber security professional.
Resources: She will walk through resources that are available to anyone looking to get their start in cyber. This will include discussing organizations that she personally works with as a board member including a local garden-based education club, a founding member of Firstboard.io that enables women to be board members in private industry as well as other organizations she volunteers for including; The living Classroom and WISP.
Closing statements “There are many paths and many needs in the industry, and I found what I can do well and so can you.” – any questions?
Bio
Creative Product and GTM leader with 18+ years of experience in launching and scaling enterprise-grade products.
Strong track record of identifying and understanding customer needs and competitive insights, and translating them into a compelling product portfolio.
A key member of executive leadership teams, responsible for board and investor communications on all things product. Product strategy, delivery, and GTM across a range of technologies including Cybersecurity, Data Storage and Backup, IOT, and Particle Accelerators.