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 $ ...