Hiring
When to Make Your First Security Hire
Coming soon
The timing question every founder asks—and the signals that tell you it's time.
Hi, I'm Daniel Grzelak
I advise tech startups on cybersecurity
You're building fast and security feels like a distraction. I help founders and engineering leaders figure out what actually matters—so you can make good decisions without slowing down.
Security Leader
CISO, Chief Innovation Officer, Managing Consultant, Red Team Engineer across startups and enterprises
Conference Speaker
AusCERT, Ruxcon, Kiwicon, AISA National, HK InfoSec Summit, and more
Security Researcher
AWS security research on privilege escalation, S3, IAM, Terraform state exploitation, and more
Product Builder
Created awseye.com, AWS Security Digest, Project Spacecrab, and other security tools
What I help with
I help founders answer the security questions that keep them up at night—without the overhead of traditional consulting.
When to hire
Know the right moment to make your first security hire—not too early, not too late.
Who to hire
Define the role, write the job spec, interview candidates, and pick the right person.
How much security
Right-size your security investment for your stage. Skip the overkill, cover the essentials.
Early technical decisions
Make foundational choices that won't haunt you at scale—auth, logging, access control.
Security tools & stack
Which tools to buy, which to skip, and how to avoid vendor lock-in nightmares.
Security product shaping
Building a security product? I help teams refine positioning, features, and go-to-market.
Breach preparedness
Have a plan before you need one. I help you think through incident response so a breach doesn't become a crisis.
Industry introductions
Need a breach response firm, pentester, or security pros for product feedback? I connect you with the right people.
Mentoring
New security hire or inexperienced security lead? I mentor them so they ramp up faster and make better decisions.
How we work together
This isn't consulting. I'm a sounding board—someone who's seen this before.
1
We talk
Tell me where you're at and what's on your mind. No prep required—just an honest conversation about your situation and goals.
2
I advise
I share what I've seen work (and fail) at other startups. You get actionable recommendations, not a 50-page report.
3
You decide
You're in control. Cancel anytime—unvested equity is forfeited and we part ways cleanly.
From the Security Kit
View all posts
Tools
The Startup Security Tech Stack
Coming soon
Every tool you need (and don't need) at each stage of growth.
Strategy
10 Things to Do Early
Coming soon
Decisions you can make now that prevent pain later.
Let's figure out your security together
No pitch decks, no sales calls. Just a conversation about where you're at and how I might help.