Audience 1st

The challenge is clear: BISOs must bridge the widening gap between security priorities and business demands, often dealing with a space that is fraught with competing interests and high stakes. But how do BISOs balance the demands of risk mitigation with the realities of operational goals? How can they make meaningful connections with vendors who often fail to understand the nuances of their role?...

The art of successful startups isn't just in building the right product—it's in listening, pivoting, and solving real problems. In this episode of Audience 1st Podcast, I sat down with James Farrow, co-founder of Cyft, to explore the intricate dance of startup growth, MSP market demands, and the mindset shifts required for success. We covered everything from Cyft’s pivot from the MDR market to MSP...

The biggest threats in cybersecurity don’t come from outside attackers—they come from within. From toxic personal agendas to a lack of cross-functional collaboration, the real risk lies in how people operate, not just the systems they use. It’s a hard truth for many leaders, but one that can transform organizations if embraced. In this episode of Audience 1st Podcast, I had a real, raw conversatio...

We love to glamorize the adversary-chasing, midnight-oil-burning cybersecurity lifestyle. I’ll admit, even I do it sometimes. But the reality of malware research—the intense mental fortitude, the relentless strategic thinking—is often far less romantic and far more essential than we give it credit for. Malware researchers aren’t just fighting sophisticated adversaries. They’re engaged in a high-st...

When was the last time you took a hard look at how disconnected your “customer insights” really are from the people you’re aiming to serve? For years, companies have banked on traditional research firms and analyst reports, hoping these broad-stroke insights will guide their GTM strategies. These methods serve a general narrative – not the nuanced truths that drive real connection and real value....

In this episode of Audience First, Dani Woolf welcomes cybersecurity expert and CISO of CYE, Ira Winkler. They delve into vendor practices, inclusion in cybersecurity events, and the need for meaningful content from marketers. Winkler highlights his initiative, CruiseCon, designed to be inclusive for all levels of professionals, and shares advice on building genuine relationships in the field. The...

In this episode of Audience 1st, Cecil Pineda, CISO of R1 RCM, and Yuval Wollman, President of CyberProof, delve into the cybersecurity in the healthcare industry. They discuss the impact of recent cyber attacks on healthcare organizations, specifically the Change Healthcare attack, the importance of vision in cybersecurity, and the challenges faced by CISOs in aligning security practices with org...

In this episode, Dani Woolf, CEO and Founder of Audience 1st, brings her 15 years of experience in tech marketing to the table. She shares her journey from working in-house as a marketer to running a qualitative customer research agency, driven by her frustrations and burnout in understanding the audience.  Anthony Johnson, CEO and Founder of Delve Risk, with his 25 years in cybersecurity, contrib...

In this episode of Audience 1st Podcast, host Dani Woolf and Sivan Tehila, Founder and CEO of Onyxia Cyber, discuss the role of CISOs and the importance of aligning security initiatives with business objectives. Sivan emphasizes the need for a strategic approach in managing security programs and highlights the significance of leveraging data to optimize security stack capabilities. Through Onyxia,...

In this episode of Audience 1st Podcast, host Dani Woolf welcomes Ben Siegel, Founder and CEO of The CyberNest. They delve into the importance of peer-led, community-driven research for cybersecurity professionals. Ben outlines The CyberNest’s growth from a free community to launching a specialized platform security teams aimed at facilitating better information sharing and collaboration within or...

In this episode of Audience 1st Podcast, Avishai Wool, CTO of AlgoSec and Joshua Copeland, Director of Managed Security Services at Quadrant Information Security and professor at Tulane University, join host, Dani Woolf, to discuss the complexities of cloud security and the challenges practitioners face when migrating to the cloud. They delve into the shift towards cloud-based infrastructure and t...

In this episode of Audience 1st Podcast, Andrew Monaghan, Founder of Unstoppable.do and Host of Cyber GTM Talk. joins host, Dani Woolf, to discuss the power of value selling to drive success in the tech industry. With real-world examples and practical insights, Andrew and Dani dig into into the importance of understanding customer needs, engaging in ethical sales practices, and transforming the go...

In this episode of CyberMAYnia, Dani Woolf shares insights on the challenges faced while applying traditional marketing strategies in cybersecurity, Dani emphasizes the importance of customer research for business growth and customer retention. The discussion also explores the role of generative AI in marketing and how marketing in the cybersecurity space will evolve in the upcoming years. Key Tak...

In this live episode from the CISO XC Conference in Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, cybersecurity professionals engage in a candid discussion on the challenges, frustrations, and human aspects of the cybersecurity industry. Dani Woolf, Host of Audience 1st Podcast, and Allan Alford, Host of The Cyber Ranch Podcast, uncover the top aspects of cybersecurity that has CISOs hopeful, among them: Increased Di...

In this live episode from the CISO XC Conference in Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, cybersecurity professionals engage in a candid discussion on the challenges, frustrations, and human aspects of the cybersecurity industry. Dani Woolf, Host of Audience 1st Podcast, and Allan Alford, Host of The Cyber Ranch Podcast, uncover the top frustrations of CISOs, among them: The Need to Balance Empathy: Emphasize...

Join Dr. Chase Cunningham, Elliot Volkman, Clark Barron, George Kamide and me for what may likely be the most brutally honest RSA POST-Conference Recap you'll get from real security practitioners AND cybersecurity marketers. Whether you're a regular attendee, a first-timer, or someone who's always wanted to go but couldn't make it, this is your chance to hear it straight from the insiders. Here's...

Join us for what may likely be the most brutally honest RSA Conference Truths you'll get from real security practitioners AND cybersecurity marketers. Whether you're a regular attendee, a first-timer, or someone who's always wanted to go but couldn't make it, this is your chance to hear it straight from the insiders. Here's how it's going down: → We're going to kick things off by diving into the m...

In this episode, Dani Woolf shares her journey from being a digital and demand gen marketer to founding an agency focused on helping cybersecurity companies understand their buyers. Dani discusses the importance of building trust with IT buyers and provides insights into why they are skeptical. She emphasizes the need for marketers and sales professionals to shift their mindset from profits over p...

In this episode, Dani Woolf interviews James Farrow, co-founder of Cyft , about his journey from cybersecurity sales to building a solution that TRULY helps IT buyers and MSPs. James shares his change moment when he realized the importance of understanding customers as people and the challenges they face in the buying process. He discusses the insights he gained from conducting customer research a...

In this episode, Clark Barron, host of Demand Gen Therapy, interviews Dani Woolf about the challenges and disillusionment faced by B2B marketers today. They discuss the importance of deep introspection and understanding customers on a qualitative level. Dani shares her experience of circumventing obstacles to gather the necessary information to improve her marketing efforts. They also explore the...

In an industry whose goal is to protect people, purely profit-driven marketing makes no sense - and certainly doesn’t work. After over a decade of running digital marketing for high-growth B2B technology startups, my guest, Dani Woolf, realized marketing is wildly different in information security.  It took her four years after joining the cybersecurity industry in 2018 to create Audience 1st, a c...

Ross Haleliuk joins the Audience 1st Podcast to discuss his background and his work in the cybersecurity industry. He shares his motivation for creating his blog, Venture in Security, and explains how he aims to simplify complex cybersecurity concepts for readers. Ross also discusses the challenges and opportunities in the industry, including the need for better evaluation methods for security too...

In this episode, host Dani Woolf is joined by Sue Bergamo, James Azar, and Chuck Herrin to discuss the challenges of API security in the context of digital transformation. They highlight the lack of visibility, tools, and control in organizations when it comes to API security. The panel emphasizes the importance of understanding the data flowing through APIs, having a clear ownership structure, an...

In this episode, Dani Woolf interviews David B. Cross, the Senior Vice President and CISO for the Oracle SaaS Cloud. They discuss the importance of organic and dynamic conversations in podcasts, David's background in cybersecurity, and his passion for helping customers. They also dive into the challenges and opportunities in the cloud security market, the maturity of professionals in the industry,...

Today is part three of this season’s 3-part kickoff series where Dani Woolf gives you all the lessons learned from a year and a half’s work doing deep qualitative customer research. In this episode, Dani and Clark Barron, Founder and Host of Demand Gen Therapy, explore the practical applications of customer insight in cybersecurity marketing. They emphasize the need for marketers to understand the...