This post is based on an interview with Andy Lustig. It is part of our series of interviews of OODA Network members. Our objective with these interviews is to provide actionable information of interest to the community, including insights that can help with your own career progression. We also really like highlighting some of the great people that make our continued research and reporting possible. For the full series see: OODA Expert Network Bio Series.

Career Progression:   As the son of a State Department employee, Andy lived in many interesting places, including Vietnam and Brazil. Andy took a job with Cooley LLP right out of law school.  In the past twenty years, he has developed a specialty in venture capital, mergers and acquisition.  He uses these skills to help technology startups – from incubation to maturity.  While he works in many market segments, he confessed that his passion is getting solutions into the Federal Space, where they are needed to help warfighters on the battlefield.

Much of what Andy does is connect the dots.  By locating strategic financing, he can help small startups with good ideas accelerate their growth right out the gate.  This is a critical period for a new company, and also an exciting one!  “There is a ton of energy and stress at this stage.” Andy says. “I work with investors that are looking for the ‘next big thing’.  With a well-timed injection of capital, I can help move the needle so they can scale quickly in this competitive landscape.”

Over the past twenty years, Andy has worked with many companies and learned a great deal from the way they have developed.  “I attend all of my clients board meetings, so I can see which way the winds are blowing and find trends that are helpful to everyone.” Andy says.  “Many companies are so focused on their daily efforts that they develop tunnel vision. I help them see the big picture.”

“The Cyber Technology space is very crowded right now.” Andy says.  “There is too much ‘noise’ in the market.  Cyber tools are oversold, and the customers are exhausted.  It’s very difficult to get them to pay attention to your solution.  Especially if it’s point-to-point.”  Additionally, the cyber-talent shortfall continues to challenge companies. “They are understaffed and drowning in possible cyber solutions.” Andy says.  “Most companies can’t weed through all of the options. It slows down their ability to acquire capability.  They need solutions that make their trusted cyber team more effective.”

Andy likes efficiency plays, like the model used by Expel IO https://expel.io/.  They provide tools that are force multipliers to the existing cyber teams.  “Solutions that provide ‘cyber security as a service’ are exciting because they make your existing solutions dramatically more effective.  With a good balance of trained employees and security services, you can get the work of fifty talented cyber experts from a much smaller staff.”

Andy notes that there is a massive amount of undeployed capital out there; money that will help the technology sector weather a recession.  He also thinks it’s very competitive.  Everyone wants to find the next-big-thing.  This drives many investors to seek companies in earlier stages than they would before – $1-5M annual revenue, for example.   He considers that a good thing.  “It pushes money into the early stages of innovation.  While you might have more failures because of it, the good innovations shine through.”

One thing that Andy is incredibly proud of is his work with Mission Link.  He helped found this organization which connects national security leaders together in an environment where they can collaborate and strategize ways to accelerate innovation.  Early next year he will launch MissionLink NEXT, to study the new National Security landscape and better address the entire mesh of interconnected devices and needed solutions.

Surprises:    Andy is amazed by the quality of people he works with.  He’s met many smart leaders throughout his career.  He has built a tremendous network of talented entrepreneurs, investors, technologists, intelligence and cyber experts, etc.

Advice for Decision Makers:     Andy recommends that leaders “get to know your blind spots.   Surround yourself with smart, trusted people, (like in advisory boards) to fill your gaps.”

Security Improvements:  Technologies like Racktops Software Defined Storage  https://www.racktopsystems.com/ are making a big impact on security.  Improving the way we manage and protect data is critical.  Solutions that make this easier are critical to our security posture.

Risks in The Near Future: “We are seeing a leakage of cyber threats into the physical world, and that’s concerning” Andy says.  “As we continue to deploy connected IOT solutions, we will see more network intrusions that crossover into the physical world to create real-world problems.”

Technology of Interest:  Technologies that help us apply machine learning algorithms to our networks are transformative. DeepSig is a good example. https://www.deepsig.io/  By using AI we can optimize models directly from the data, creating and securing communications systems in complex environments.

Views on Thought Leaders:  Matt Devost and Bob Gourley from OODAloop provide great insights on new technologies.  Steven Witt from DataTribe is a good source on how to transition from the Intelligence Community to Entrepreneurs.

Quick Hits:

• Book Recommendations: Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins.
• Favorite piece of content on OODAloop: Andy uses to understand a type of capability or issues effecting a certain industry.  It helps him for meetings and conferences.
• LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-lustig-90bb2a/