A study on cybersecurity start-ups : a financial approach to analyze industry trends, entrepreneurship ecosystems and start-up exits

Abstract

Now a multi-billion dollar industry, cybersecurity is becoming one of the most attractive industries for investors today. Despite emerging government involvement for cybersecurity governance and even cybersecurity warfare, private sector still dominates cybersecurity today and will remain the backbone of the industry due to its ubiquitous nature and rapid technological evolution. Consequently, success factors behind cybersecurity entrepreneurship in this industry is a necessary topic to study. Entrepreneurship has attracted scholars' attention for decades, and especially in the context of cybersecurity, an industry built solely by entrepreneurs thus far, what in particular drives them to success? My studies focus on three aspects of cybersecurity entrepreneurship, and explore how they contribute to entrepreneurial success in cybersecurity. First I begin by examining key characteristics within the cybersecurity industry, and spell out the emerging trends in investments. I then study the ecosystems behind cybersecurity entrepreneurship, studying the effectiveness of government policies and the impact of culture. Finally, I explore cybersecurity start-ups and compare how they are different from the broader Software and Services industry from a financial perspective. The results from this study helps to map out the key distinctions of cybersecurity entrepreneurship and attempts to identify key interests in this area for future study.