In this week’s instalment of the Future Tribe podcast, we chat with CMO of Thycotic and best-selling author, Steve Kahan. Steve has worked in the start-up scene for over 30 years and in that time has been able to help companies such as Thycotic go public or be sold, resulting in a total value of more than $3 billion. As you can imagine, Germaine and Steve spend a great deal of this episode talking about the benefits of starting your career off at a start-up as opposed to a large corporation. Our guest also gives some solid advice on how to differentiate a good start-up from a bad one and how to find positions in these companies, as they can often be hard to find. The episode concludes with Steve talking about how he was able to find a good work-life balance despite his busy schedule. 

What we talk about

• Working at a start-up vs. working at a large corporation


• Alternative employment routes


• Content marketing and value creation


• Finding a work-life balance

Links from this episode

https://beastartupsuperstar.com/ (Steve’s Website)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevekahan (Steve’s Linkedin)

https://www.amazon.com/Be-Startup-Superstar-Ignite-Working/dp/1119660408 (Steve’s Best Selling Book)

Find us elsewhere

https://futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe Website)

https://www.instagram.com/futuretri.be/ (Future Tribe on Instagram)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/germainemuller/ (Germaine on LinkedIn)

https://www.instagram.com/germa_ne/ (Germaine on Instagram)

https://futuretheory.com.au/ (Futuretheory Website)

Transcript 

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated automatically and as such, may contain various spelling and syntax errors

Germaine: [00:00:00 ] . [00:00:00 ] Hello, future tribe. Welcome to another episode of the podcast on this week's episode, we've got Steve Kahan from Thycotic. How are you, Steve?

[00:00:08 ] Steve: [00:00:08 ] I'm doing great. Thank you for having me.

[00:00:10 ] Germaine: [00:00:10 ] No worries at all. Um, let's get the ball rolling. What's what's Thycotic all about to start off with and what do you do there?

[00:00:17 ] Steve: [00:00:17 ] So Thycotic is a cybersecurity company focused on protecting, what's known as privileged passwords that exists throughout any organization's infrastructure. And I'm the chief marketing officer.

[00:00:31 ] Germaine: [00:00:31 ] Okay. So is it sort of like a last pass, but you know, were way more advanced for sort of enterprise? Is that, is that how we can think of you?

[00:00:41 ] Steve: [00:00:41 ] In a way, right? So  last pass a good product, and it sort of works for, personal users, some, sometimes small businesses and really where Thycotic  focuses in on is nonhuman passwords as well as human as well. So if you think about [00:01:00 ] it, Every operating system, database application, et cetera, has a password associated with them.

[00:01:06 ] And big companies have no idea how many passwords they have. And so they go unmanaged and as a result, they're not secured and we help to secure them and reduce their risks.

[00:01:19 ] Germaine: [00:01:19 ] Right? So API keys, things like that as well, I assume.

[00:01:23 ] Steve: [00:01:23 ] Yes.

[00:01:24 ] Germaine: [00:01:24 ] Okay. And how big Thycotic to get, give an idea of, the, the team behind you?

[00:01:30 ] Steve: [00:01:30 ] Sure. So actually when I started at Thycotic a little over four years ago, we were 6 million in revenue. And now , four years later we'll be 106 million. So we've been on a rapid growth, Trajectory. And it's really the result of the market that we play in. And I think working with some amazingly talented people and just really great solutions,

[00:01:56 ]Germaine: [00:01:56 ] let's, um, let's sort of rewind a little bit.

[00:02:00 ] [00:01:59 ] How did you find yourself at Thycotic? You give us an idea of sort of your journey to get there. Yeah. And, let's start with, what you sort of did out of school. and you know, Give us a bit of a timeline.

[00:02:12 ] Steve: [00:02:12 ] Sure. So, uh, now, as you might be able to see if you, if you happen to be able to see the video that I've got a few lines in my face and some gray hair.

[00:02:22 ] And so I've actually been in the technology space and mostly in cyber security for 30 years. And so, when I graduated university, I  went to school and would hear very often from my father when I would grow up, he'd say, Steve, get your degree, go to work for a large corporation. You work hard. They'll take care of you and you'll have a great career.

[00:02:47 ] And of course he would say your mother and I would much prefer that you become a doctor or a lawyer. But short of that, getting a job at a large corporation will do. So that was the path I took. And so I [00:03:00 ] graduated university. I went to work at a. A large, organization processing claims. And I remember staring at my bank statement and the pile of claims.

[00:03:11 ] I had a process that day. Wondering how on earth will I ever get ahead? And I work long hours, the student loans would take a hold of my paychecks before they ever get a chance to hit my bank account. So about a year or so into that role, I asked myself an important question and that was how could I earn a great living and love the work I do.

[00:03:36 ] And that led me into the startup world. And now I am, at my seventh startup, in a 30 year span. all six prior have either sold or have gone public, generating over $3.5 Billion in shareholder value.

[00:03:53 ] Germaine: [00:03:53 ] Wow. That is a, that's some big numbers right there. so how's the Thycotic. So cause you know, one of a [00:04:00 ] 106 million, quite a solid sort of traction for, for a startup, how old's Thycotic to start off with.

[00:04:07 ] Steve: [00:04:07 ] So Thycotic. When, when I joined, I joined along with our CEO. He and I had worked together in the past when a venture capital company invested in the company. And, and Thycotic was a few years old when we joined and now, we've are about eight years, uh, in the making. And so the, the first few years, it sort of struggled the around, around it was bootstrapped company.

[00:04:35 ] It had a good product, uh, but really the founder, uh, needed some help and capital to grow the company. And it's when the. Insight venture partners actually bought into the company and brought in people like myself and the CEO. When we. Really took a great start and a great foundation that the company had also a tremendous culture [00:05:00 ] and, uh, built on it and did sort of the things that, that experienced, technology executives would do too.

[00:05:07 ] help, the company, get on that growth path that we have been fortunate enough to achieve.

[00:05:13 ] Germaine: [00:05:13 ] Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. And, we're jumping around a little bit, but now you said this is your, this was his seventh startup you worked at, is that correct?

[00:05:21 ] Steve: [00:05:21 ] That's correct.

[00:05:21 ] Germaine: [00:05:21 ] Yeah. So let's rewind. I'm actually, how old are you now, if you don't mind me asking, just to sort of pull things on an actual year, year sort of timeline.

[00:05:30 ] Steve: [00:05:30 ] For sure. So I'm actually 58 years old, so, I'm old and over the Hill.

[00:05:37 ] Germaine: [00:05:37 ] Hey, Hey, you, you don't know how science is going for, for all we know we've got a, you know, another hundred years left in ya. ,So let's go back 30 years. So that'll put you at say 28. Um, is that when you started your first startup job?

[00:05:51 ] Steve: [00:05:51 ] Yeah, actually a few years before that. Right. So I, I started, at first startup, I kinda made all the mistakes in the world just in terms of [00:06:00 ] joining that company. But,  the company that I joined, it was pretty cool. It was a, I was the first person hired into marketing. And, it was, hired into a company with a small team of crazies hell bent on changing the world and changing the way applications were being developed.

[00:06:18 ] And so it was pretty cool. I mean, uh, when I joined, uh, interestingly in the first week, I remember looking at the office next to mine and there were people. Rolling out the copy machine. They unplug, plugged it, put it on a Dolly, roll that right out. And I came to find out a few days later. It was because of the company couldn't afford to pay for that copy machine.

[00:06:43 ] Germaine: [00:06:43 ] Wow.

[00:06:44 ] Steve: [00:06:44 ] And, uh, it was, you know, pretty interesting, but I was blind to it. I was so pumped and excited to work on this venture with this team that just was so passionate, had this just a total commitment and belief that somehow we would figure it out. And just a [00:07:00 ] few years later, that company that couldn't afford to pay.

[00:07:03 ] For the copy machine, it went public and I got the bug and never left the startup world.

[00:07:08 ] Germaine: [00:07:08 ] Wow. , what year was that? When you joined?,

[00:07:11 ] Steve: [00:07:11 ] Oh my goodness.

[00:07:11 ] Many, many years ago. I mean, it was probably 25 years ago.

[00:07:16 ] Germaine: [00:07:16 ] Yeah. Yep, yep. Yep. So you were the first person going into marketing or into that? Sort of the marketing roles at that, that organization.

[00:07:23 ] How did yo