Who Can You Trust w/ Evan Francen and Michael Kennedy
Examines who Can You Trust w/ Evan Francen and Michael Kennedy and evaluates key implications for security practitioners.
Summary
Building Trust in Security Services
Evan Francen (FRSecure) and Michael Kennedy (Ostra Cyber) discuss earning reputations as trustworthy advisors. FRSecure’s rule: never sell unneeded services; Ostra formed after seeing small businesses treat ransomware as inevitable rather than addressable.
Industry Overwhelm
They describe long hours, passion-driven overwork, imposter syndrome, and mental-health strain common among practitioners. Work-life balance, they suggest, should be judged by relationship health rather than arbitrary hour counts.
Honesty Over Hype
Both founders say they regularly tell prospects when they are not the right fit, redirecting them elsewhere. Truth-telling is framed as a core value partners must hold them accountable to maintain.
Conversation Style
The session is informal—microphone issues, ADHD tangents, and audience karaoke jokes—but centers on integrity, burnout, and fixing broken incentives in cybersecurity marketing and consulting.
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