When Build vs Buy Is Rigged: Selling to Enterprises That Prefer Building In-House
Amir Kavousian
BSides NYC 2025 (0x05) · Day 1 · Entrepreneur
In the competitive landscape of cybersecurity startups, a founder's most formidable adversary often isn't another vendor, but rather the deeply ingrained "build in-house" culture prevalent within many enterprise security teams. Amir Kavousian, a seasoned second-time founder, delves into this critical challenge, offering a candid exploration of the psychological and strategic hurdles faced by early-stage security companies attempting to sell their solutions. His talk, "When Build vs Buy Is Rigged," posits that the decision-making process within these large organizations is far from purely technical or financial; it is fundamentally human-driven, influenced by individual motivations, career aspirations, and internal political dynamics.
AI review
Competent BSides talk aimed squarely at security founders navigating enterprise sales cycles, not a security research session. Kavousian's three-persona framework is practical and clearly battle-tested, but the content is essentially a well-organized sales psychology primer that any SaaS founder blog or go-to-market consultant could have delivered. No novel frameworks, no data, no surprises for anyone who has spent time on either side of enterprise procurement.