Focusing on What Really Matters: A VP Product's First Six Months at a Cyber Company - Product Builder Podcast episode with Eyal David
00:37:49

Focusing on What Really Matters: A VP Product's First Six Months at a Cyber Company

Host: · Guest: Ariel Ornstein · About the host

In this episode

  • When you join a new company, the train doesn't stop — over-communicating is a must, and you make decisions on the move without halting the business.
  • You can't, and don't need to, fix or build everything. The job is to understand what's critical now, what's important but can wait, and — no less — what you don't yet know is important.
  • Inflated scope is the great killer of delivery: the more you inflate, the harder it is to get out of it, the harder it is to break into small parts, and a feature's tail drags on long after launch.
  • The ability to say no — especially to last-minute proposals — is critical; if something truly moves the needle, it probably didn't pop up at the last minute.
  • Every piece of tech debt should translate into user or business value (efficiency, hours saved, reduced risk). If it can't be translated — you don't do it.
  • A good product manager leads with problems, not solutions, knows how to measure the product's value with KPIs, and rolls up their sleeves hands-on with engineering as an equal partner.

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Episode Description

Ariel Ornstein, VP Product at the cyber company Ionix, joins Eyal David after half a year in the role. The conversation revolves around one question: how do you identify and focus on what really matters — both in the product and as a product manager entering a company that's racing forward and never stops. Ariel, who started as a QA and became a product manager who moved between fintech and cyber, shares how he approached onboarding, how he built a heatmap and prioritization, and why inflated scope and a lack of discipline around KPIs are product killers.

Read the full transcript
Full transcript with speakers and timestamps

Selected quotes

“Over-communicating is a must in these cases.”
— Ariel Ornstein
“We understand that you can't fix everything, and you also don't need to fix everything.”
— Ariel Ornstein
“No matter what tech debt you throw at me, go translate it into value for the customer — and if not, then you don't need to do it.”
— Ariel Ornstein

Questions & answers

What does Ionix do and who does it serve?

Ionix focuses on the external attack vector and protects all of an organization's internet-facing assets. The main customers are enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies. The product first helps map the attack surface (visibility), then helps you understand what really matters — not theoretical risk but risk that can actually be exploited — and also helps with remediation.

What are the three main problems the product solves?

First, organizations already struggle to understand which assets they have and what their attack surface is, because any employee can sign up for a new service and expand the surface. Second, the growth in the number of threats and vulnerabilities, from tens to tens of thousands. Third, the shrinking attack window — from days to few days and sometimes hours.

What's the difference between fintech and cyber from a product manager's perspective?

Fintech has heavy regulation and compliance that slow every action — but that also becomes a secret sauce and a competitive advantage. In cyber (as at Snyk) there's less compliance on the company itself, so you can move much faster. In terms of the content domain, fintech is easier to learn on your own than application security.

What does Ariel look for when hiring product managers?

Three things: preparation and the ability to understand the business (especially now that ChatGPT is a prompt away); data and KPIs — knowing how to say what value the product delivers, how it's measured, and what you do when you miss the target; and working well with engineering out of collaboration, not dictation.

How does Ariel recommend getting into the world of cyber?

First and foremost, keep learning — today ChatGPT can serve as a personal instructor for any field. In addition, you can enter through adjacent skills: even without a security background, experience with discovery work and data lets you jump into cyber, where you need a mix of deep-security people and people who bring other things to the table.

Product Management Cyber Exposure Management Prioritization Scope KPIs Hiring Product Managers Tech Debt

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