Varonis CEO presents a founder's guide to leadership

Varonis CEO Yaki Faitelson shares leadership lessons for tech founders, highlighting a risk framework that weighs upside versus downside, the importance of hiring adaptable talent, and preparing to act when luck appears.

Varonis CEO Yaki Faitelson outlines leadership lessons aimed at technology startup founders. He reflects on steering Varonis through past market disruptions and on strategic shifts such as moving from on-premises software to a software-as-a-service model and expanding via acquisitions. Faitelson emphasizes thinking in probabilities and negotiating with risk when making major decisions. He also highlights people, humility, and readiness as central to long-term progress. Noted points: - Faitelson describes a simple risk framework: ensure the upside exceeds the downside and that the downside will not be fatal to the business. - He urges founders to embrace uncertainty, think in probabilities, and ask whether decisions serve the customer. - The article notes Varonis shifted from on-premises to SaaS and grew through strategic acquisitions as examples of major decisions. - Hiring is presented as critical, with emphasis on adaptable team members and pairing top performers with "force multipliers." - Faitelson acknowledges luck in startups—especially the people who join and stay—while stressing planning, execution, and readiness when opportunities arise. Summary: The article reports that Faitelson’s approach blends a clear risk test, a focus on people, and humility about luck, which he says helped guide Varonis through challenging market periods. Impact on the sector is described in terms of leadership practices rather than specific outcomes. Undetermined at this time.