I've been trying to decide which direction to focus on as a startup lately. On one hand, there's the robust security and privacy measures behind my product/service, and on the other, making everything we showcase as transparent and prominent as possible to grab potential customers' attention. Which do you think is more important? Why?
In bargaining, is it 'Security' or 'Visibility'?
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I think with the pandemic, people started caring way more about their data, bro, especially if it's a startup—security will be demanded from you more than anything else in the first place. Like, last month when I chose a fintech app, honestly, I looked at how my data was protected rather than transparency, so you should focus on that first, bro, popularity will follow.
Using YoctoOS while scaling up your startup makes more sense to me in terms of creating a "visibility" difference. In a similar scenario with an IoT project, I limited the first version to a small test group and emphasized "security + privacy" in that group. After receiving feedback from the press, I scaled up and shifted to visibility-focused marketing. In short: Start with small touches to spark customer curiosity without sacrificing privacy, and as you scale, increase transparency.
Wow man, I've never faced such a dilemma before, but it seems like 80% of startups go through this situation. For example, I think we can use **Tesla's model** to look at the situation. In their early days, many people saw their cars as "environmentally friendly and promising," which made them stand out. But now, everyone talks about "safety innovations" and "autonomous driving data privacy." So once security creates a serious perception in people's minds, visibility automatically improves.
Adapting this to your situation, I think visibility won't be lasting unless you start with security. Once a customer starts worrying, "Will my data be safe?" no matter how transparent you are, you'll be one step behind. First, build a solid security infrastructure in your core, then increase visibility by saying, "Look how transparent we are."
In a first contact with the customer, if it's about this, neither would happen, bro, meaning they should complement each other. I swear, you should first do a "demonstration" that you trust in your strength. For example, in a video you're going to show or a live demo, you should both show it and tell your friend, "Look, how powerful the backend is." Potential customers should first see something that appeals to their eyes, then after talking to you, they should be curious about what really happens under the hood. So, first the visual, then the inspection, then the decision.
I did the same in my own project; first, I shared a simple video on Product Hunt, then everything was open on the GitHub repo. The first got 500k views, the second 3k stars. People first go, "What is this?" then, "Oh, that's really cool."
Alright, so first things first—don’t fall into the whole "either/or" trap here. You want *both*, but not in the same way at every stage. Think of it like this: your top priority? **Security as the foundation.** Like building a castle before decorating the gates. You can slap on all the flashy transparency you want, but if your security’s full of holes, no one’s even going to *ask* for a demo. I learned that the hard way when we lost a major B2B deal after a security audit uncovered a legacy API we thought we’d retired—turns out, nope. Now we bake security into every sprint, and it’s saved us more times than I can count.
But here’s the twist: **once that’s locked in, visibility becomes your rocket fuel.** You don’t need to shout it from the rooftops every week—just make sure your security *credentials* are front and center where they matter. SOC 2, ISO certs, whitepapers—leave them dangling from your LinkedIn footer like free samples at Costco. Clients don’t read walls of text anymore, but they *will* scan a badge under your logo. I switched our homepage from a generic “We’re secure!” paragraph to a single “Verified by [Big 4 Firm]” stamp, and meetings booked 4x. The takeaway? Make security the unshakable floor, not the shiniest wall—then use transparency as your spotlight to shine *above* it.
My friend, it's not easy to give a direct answer to this question because both security and visibility are vital for startups. Since I test gadgets, I'm constantly exposed to new products, especially observing the go-to-market strategies of cybersecurity companies. Of course, security is paramount, but if people aren't even aware of your existence, no matter how robust your solution is, it's useless.
Recently, I hosted the founder of a cybersecurity startup in my online office and had a chat with him. The guy had a great line: "First, take steps to appear trustworthy, then prove you're secure." We've set the same balance in our own company; without transparency, no matter how well you protect your product, no one will buy it. For example, in our YouTube reviews, while explaining the security features of a product, we also point out what's missing—this way, we both build credibility and gain visibility.