Wiz: $6M Seed → $32B Exit | Inside the Biggest Cybersecurity Deal Ever

Gili Raanan is the Founder of Cyberstarts and one of the earliest investors behind Wiz, one of the most important cybersecurity companies of the modern era and now a $32B outcome. Before founding Cyberstarts, Gili spent nearly a decade at Sequoia and earlier built and sold 2 security companies to IBM and EMC. He also helped build the first real CAPTCHA implementation and the first web application firewall. In this conversation, Gili breaks down the Wiz story from the beginning: why he backed the team early with a $6M seed investment, how the company changed direction, what made its product market fit so powerful, and why its go to market motion scaled so unusually fast. He explains what made the founding team exceptional, what he learned from watching Wiz scale from a $66M seed valuation, and why he believes the next great cybersecurity company could be even bigger. Beyond Wiz, Gili shares the Cyberstarts framework for investing before product, team, or code exists, why he underwrites people over ideas, and how AI agents are changing the future of cybersecurity. Today Cyberstarts has raised $1.5B+ across 7 funds, backed 30 companies, and its portfolio represents over $61B in combined value (50% of the worldwide private cybersecurity companies market). We cover: • The early days of Wiz and how the company evolved from seed to a $32B outcome • Why Wiz achieved such strong product market fit • What made Assaf and the founding team special • How Cyberstarts picks founders before there is product or code • Why Gili believes AI could create the darkest decade in cybersecurity • What the next generation of $50B–$100B cyber companies could look like Subscribe for more conversations with top founders, investors, and operators shaping technology, capital, and the future. Gili Raanan:   / giliraanan   Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea Sourcery: ⁠https://x.com/sourceryy 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Try... 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐒 • Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, & travel. https://brex.com/sourcery • Turing—Turing delivers top-tier talent, data, and tools to help AI labs improve model performance—and enables enterprises to turn those models into powerful, production-ready systems. https://turing.com/sourcery • VCX—VCX is the public ticker for private tech, allowing investors of all sizes to invest in venture capital. View The Portfolio at http://GetVCX.com • Deel—Deel is the global people platform that helps startups hire, manage, pay, and equip anyone, anywhere. Trusted by more than 35,000 fast-growing companies, Deel is the people platform that just works, so teams can scale without the chaos. Visit: https://www.deel.com/sourcery • Public—Investing platform Public just launched Generated Assets, which lets you turn any idea into an investable index with AI. With Generated Assets, you can build, backtest, refine, and invest in any thesis with AI. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all ETFs. https://public.com/sourcery Follow Sourcery for the latest updates! https://www.sourcery.vc/ Disclosure Paid Endorsement. Brokerage services by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors LLC, SEC-registered adviser. Crypto trading provided by Zero Hash LLC, licensed by the NYSDFS. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool by Public Advisors. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. See disclosures at public.com/disclosures/ga. Matched funds must remain in your account for at least 5 years. Match rate and other terms are subject to change at any time. 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Gili Raanan, Founder Cyberstarts (01:05) From Sequoia to building a Cyber only venture fund (04:39) Building CAPTCHA and the first web application firewall at 27 (09:15) Why he decided to focus only on cybersecurity (12:45) The kind of founders he looks for (19:00) A portfolio with 50% of private cyber market value (26:30) What makes a company truly important (30:48) Why do Israeli founders dominate cybersecurity? (31:05) Helping founders become the best version of themselves (37:06) Israeli culture, pressure, and resilience (41:25) Breaking the ceiling with companies like Wiz (46:15) Facing fears, Yoga and overcoming internal limits (51:55) Why building startups is an emotional journey (56:25) How cybersecurity ideas actually emerge (01:06:45) Asimov’s laws of robotics and AI guardrails (01:09:55) The three biggest cybersecurity risks in 2026 (01:12:25) Inside the $32B Wiz deal (01:22:23) What makes Wiz co-founder Assaf exceptional (01:28:48) The biggest takeaways from his time at Sequoia: Doug Leone, Mike Moritz (01:32:05) What’s next for Cyberstarts?