Orange County, CA and Madison, WI
Mission & Purpose Revisited.
The purpose of the SecurityStudio Roadshow (#S2Roadhow) is to meet people and make partners. We want to meet people*, understand their businesses, and help them grow using simple, fundamental, and compliant solutions (S2Score, S2Org, S2Vendor, and S2Team/S2Me).
John and I
John Harmon and Evan Francen, two guys known for our beards, our love of people, knowledge of security stuff, and our BBQ prowess. We both work for SecurityStudio, and we’re working hard on the mission. Follow us and you’ll get to know us pretty well!
Roadshow Summary
A quick summary of where the #S2Roadshow has taken us so far, and where we’re going next:
- Week One in Central Pennsylvania exceeded our expectations
- This last week (Week Two) we visited Orange County, California and Madison, Wisconsin
- Next week (Week Three), we visit Chicago, Illinois and Dallas, Texas
This post is about Week Two.
Partners – Orange County
My two(ish) days in Southern California were full of really good meetings. Just like last week in PA, I met amazing people with really cool stories. For the sake of brevity, I’ll give you some highlights here.
Startup Consulting Company – Framework Security
My first meeting after landing in Santa Ana was coffee with Jerry Sanchez. Jerry is the Managing Partner and one of the founders of Framework Security, an expert-level information security consulting company. The company was established earlier this year (2019), and growing any company is hard.
Jerry has a strong background in this industry and his company is doing a great job serving customers (you know I would tell you if it weren’t so). His challenges include standing out from the noise, acquiring new customers, providing cost effective solutions (ones that SMB clients can afford), and engaging with customers relationally versus transactionally. I can sympathize with the struggle, especially given experiences in growing FRSecure over the years.
He shared a vision to grow his company, possibly employing as many as 50 people in the next few years. What impressed me the most was his ethics and credibility. He doesn’t just want to grow Framework Security, he wants to do it right.
SecurityStudio can help Jerry grow his business, and we’re excited to work together. Jerry can use our solutions to offer his customers and potential customers a wide variety of options, from free self-assessments to integrated full assessments (with higher margins) leading to long-term vCISO (or fractional CISO) relationships. Partnering with SecurityStudio will benefit him, his company, his customers, and our industry.
Jerry is a good guy, establishing a good company, and he will certainly make a difference!
Contact Information
- Framework Security – Web (https://frameworksec.com)
- Framework Security – Twitter (@FrameworkSec)
- Jerry Sanchez – LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrysanchez/)
- Jerry Sanchez – Twitter (@itjerry)
Franchiser – TeamLogic IT
I had an initial collaboration meeting with the President of TeamLogic IT, Dan Shapero. Honestly, I had no idea who TeamLogic IT was until I started preparing for this meeting. Turns out, TeamLogic, Inc. is a leading managed IT services franchiser and has independently owned and operated TeamLogic IT offices located throughout the United States.
There are ~180 franchises in 38 states, and I had no idea! I feel so sheltered and ignorant of things outside of my little kingdom (Minnesota) sometimes. The #S2Roadshow is a real eye-opener to all sorts of new things!
I know I sound like a broken record, but this was another awesome meeting! Dan has been in the IT industry for many years and he’s willing to share his hard-earned wisdom with others (including me). Our discussion focused on understanding the TeamLogic IT business model and exploring how SecurityStudio could help all his franchisees serve their customers better. Our discussion also focused on other longer term collaboration opportunities between our organizations.
Dan and I came to a quick agreements on how SecurityStudio can help his business, his franchise owners, and their customers. We’ll be doing some cool and exciting things together in the future! It’s sort of funny that I didn’t consider how a franchise network could benefit from SecurityStudio’s platform. After this meeting, it’s an obvious business model. This relationship will be very valuable to all parties (our mission and theirs).
Contact Information
- TeamLogic IT – Web (https://www.teamlogicit.com)
- TeamLogic IT – Twitter (@TeamLogicIT)
- Dan Shapero – LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/danshapero/)
- Dan Shapero – Twitter (@clikcloud)
Established Consulting Company #1 – CISOSHARE
Seriously, another great meeting?! Yes, it’s true. Every meeting I’ve had has been great!
This meeting with CISOSHARE’s CEO Mike Gentile was like having a meeting in the mirror. We both see security the same way, he have similar experiences, and we’ve both earned our stripes building security programs for 100s of clients, big and small. When he said something, I could have finished his thought for him, and vice versa. Collaboration is a helluva lot easier between two people who understand information security deeply when they are driven to do things right and can put their egos in check.
We met over lunch at a local BBQ joint. The BBQ wasn’t great, but the conversation was! Thank God.
The discussion was fluid and included topics such as our careers, our past experiences, our businesses, and our philosophies about security, among other things. The parallels between Mike and I were sort of scary. He’s even an author like me. Our lunch ran long, but we got down to business too.
CISOSHARE is Mike’s third company and he’s building a great one. According to their website “CISOSHARE is the leading provider of cyber security services for rapidly growing organizations. Located in Southern California and recently ranked in 2019 as the 3rd fastest-growing private organization in Orange County, our team establishes a culture of continuous learning and teaching in security program development for ourselves, our clients, and our community.”
Prior to the roadshow, I hadn’t really heard of CISOSHARE. Another example of being a bit sheltered in Minnesota I guess.
CISOSHARE is company that does things right, at least from what I can tell! They are a great partner candicate. We walked away from our meeting knowing that there are at least two or three ways in which our organizations (CISOSHARE and SecurityStudio) can (and probably will) work together. A CISOSHARE/SecurityStudio partnership will definitely help our mission!
Contact Information
- CISOSHARE – Web (https://cisoshare.com)
- CISOSHARE – Twitter (@CISOSHARE)
- Mike Gentile – LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegentileii/)
- Mike Gentile – Twitter (@MikeGentile03)
Established Consulting Company #2 – Tevora
One major differentiator between CISOSHARE and Tevora is who they target as customers. CISOSHARE scales down to small companies and up to the Fortune 500. Tevora focuses solely on the Fortune 500. There are many other differences in between these two companies, but their target market is one that sticks out immediately. SecurityStudio can work with both of them, regardless! Everyone benefits from simple, fundamental, and compliant solutions.
I met with Tevora’s CEO, Ray Zadjmool for lunch. He’s built a cool company and he’s done it through innovative approaches to delivering services to clients and employee retention. Ray’s a go-getter who 1) knows what he wants and 2) knows how he wants to get it. His company focuses on helping large companies achieve compliance more than information security or risk management for the sake of information security or risk management.
The way Tevora approaches information security (or “cybersecurity”) isn’t the same way I would philosophically speaking, but it works for them and their clients (obviously). Fortune 500 clients are much different than SMBs, and Tevora is filling a nice niche.
He’s running a very successful company. I respect him and what he’s doing and I think the respect is mutual. We have next steps and we have opportunities to work together. I’m pretty sure we can help each other, and I’m excited to find out!
Tevora is a cool company, run by a cool CEO, located in cool places with cool offices. They’re not just cool, but they’re also very good at what they do. Ray is nice contact and I’m looking forward to building our relationship.
Contact Information
- Tevora – Web (https://www.tevora.com)
- Tevora – Twitter (@tevora)
- Ray Zadjmool – LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/zadjmool/)
- Ray Zadjmool – Twitter (none)
Madison
John Harmon was in Madison, Wisconsin with Steve Krause (SecurityStudio’s Partner Manager). John was speaking at an event hosted by Applied Tech, a great SecurityStudio partner.
It was an honor to speak to their customers about information security. I’m not sure how many additional meetings John and Steve may have had while they were in Wisconsin; John and I haven’t been able to catchup yet.
ISACA – Orange County
While john spoke in Madison, and I spoke at the ISACA Orange County Chapter event on Tuesday night. They gave me two 
hours(ish) to speak and the interaction was amazing! There were a ton of good questions and there were many interactive discussions. This was the first group of ISACA members that I’d spoken to on the roadshow, and they were all awesome!
If you’re interested, you can download my slides here.
Special thanks to Pauline Ang for coordinating everything, and also shoutouts to these folks for making me feel welcomed; Nemi George, Sanjeev Tak (pictured), Bin Du, Yu Chen, and Bill Olah, and Jan Olson. It’s not that the the rest of the group didn’t make me feel welcomed , it’s just that these folks went out of their way during my visit.
It feels good to know that the Orange County security community is in good hands!
BBQ Reviews
A roadshow isn’t a roadshow without a healthy dose of BBQ, or lots of doses of BBQ. John and I promise to eat at all the best BBQ places we can find during our travels and provide you with the lowdown. It’s the toughest part of our job, but you can count on us. We’re in it to win it!
We rate each BBQ joint we try on four characteristics on a scale of 1 (sucks) – 10 (best); Atmosphere, Service, Portions/Value, and Taste. The overall rating is the average of the four.
Last week’s winner was Divine Swine in Manheim, PA. Read on for this week’s winner.
Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ – Overall: 7
- Atmosphere – 7
- Service – 8
- Portion/Value – 6
- Taste – 7
Lucille’s is well-known in the Orange County area, and sort of all over the southwest. They have have a bunch of locations throughout California, Nevada, and Arizona. I’d never had Lucille’s before, and I stopped here because it was the closest BBQ joint to the airport (after landing).
I had the house salad.
If you believe that, we should talk. I had the three meat combo; brisket burnt ends, sliced brisket, and baby back ribs. The sliced brisket and baby back ribs were OK, but the brisket burnt ends were amazing! I should have ordered three pounds of those (only). The atmosphere is nothing special, the service was good, and the portion was OK. If you go, get all the brisket burnt ends you can get your hands on.
Hambone’s Smokehouse – Overall: 6.25
- Atmosphere – 5
- Service – 7
- Portion/Value – 8
- Taste – 5
Hambone’s is another BBQ chain. Had lunch at the Huntington Beach location, and nothing was impressive. They drown their meat in sauce, so I ordered mine with the sauce on the side. I get why they drown their meat in sauce.
Service was good and there was plenty to eat. Unfortunately, the meat was bland (even with the sauce added). I didn’t even finish it.
Red Coal BBQ – Overall: 6.75
- Atmosphere – 7
- Service – 7
- Portion/Value – 8
- Taste – 5
John and Steve visited Red Coal BBQ in Eau Claire, Wisconsin during their road trip. The ratings are mine, based on what John told me, and they are subject to change. His exact words were:
Pork Belly pretty decent. Not much flavor to the meats over all and only one, super sugary sauce available. Coleslaw was the highlight. Thinking this whole WI BBQ venture needs a redo.
We’ll see if John asks me to change these ratings later.
BBQ Winner
The winner for this week’s BBQ showdown for the #S2Roadshow was Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ with a score of 7. We only reviewed three BBQ joints this week, and we need to step up our game next week. Next week we’re on the road for five days in two good food cities; Chicago and Dallas. We’ll step up our game!
Next Week’s #S2Roadshow
John and I are together again all week. First, we take the #S2Roadshow to Chicago for an event with HSBC. We’ll be in Chicago until Wednesday before heading down to Dallas for more meetings and an appearance at the ISC2 Dallas Cyber Aware event at the University of Texas at Dallas. If you’re in Dallas next week, come see us, catch my keynote, and/or grab some BBQ with us!
Stay tuned for next week’s #S2Roadshow updates! You can follow us on Twitter (@evanfrancen, @HarmonJohn, @StudioSecurity, and the #S2Roadshow hashtag) and on LinkedIn.
See you next week! If you want to collaborate with us, get in touch!
