Inside Our Secret Business Strategy at risk3sixty

Risk3sixty was named one of the Top 10 most innovative companies in Georgia by Technology Association of Georgia . As part of the award, they asked me to give a short talk in front of 900 people about building an innovate company. And that got me thinking:

What the heck makes a company innovative?

And I swear this article is not some bait and switch to talk about how we are using artificial intelligence. It is not about blockchain. It is not about quantum computing. It is not about any other pop-culture technology trend. Those things are important, but new technology comes and goes. Hype cycles run their course and only a few companies live to tell the tale.

Right?

New technology is innovative, but it is not the source of innovation. And especially not sustained innovation. No - innovation is uniquely human-centric. So the question remains:

What the heck makes a company innovative?

The Flywheel

Jim Collins is one of the most prolific business authors in history. Most people know about his book "Good to Great". But what you might not know about is his lesser known 46-page masterpiece "Turning the Flywheel".

The flywheel metaphor represents the concept of building momentum within an organization. Jim says business is like a massive heavy wheel. It requires a lot of initial effort to set it in motion. However, as focused energy is applied towards core fundamentals, the flywheel gains momentum. Once you have momentum, magic happens. And that has been the key to success for us at risk3sixty.

Our flywheel is our source of innovation.

Why? Because through our flywheel we have come to understand the fundamentals of success for our business - and we focus on them relentlessly. Day in and and day out. Forever.

I remember the day it happened. It was after reading Jim's book. Christian White and I drew our flywheel on a whiteboard. We sat back in our chairs, took a sip of coffee, squinted at the whiteboard, and smiled - we achieved clarity. The five fundamentals of risk3sixty's flywheel were born.

The bottom line is this: Innovation is not a product. It is not some secret strategy. It is not the newest technology. Innovation is a flywheel.

Five Fundamentals of Our Flywheel

Fundamental #1: Hire Strange Renegades

Jon Gordon says that in order to run a great business you have to get the right people, with the right energy, on the bus. And you have to get the wrong people, with the wrong energy, off the bus.

I think he's right.

Risk3sixty is fundamentally a people business. So the #1 thing we can do is hire great people (we call ourselves Strange Renegades). If you took a survey of our team you would notice that we have alumni from companies like Apple, Amazon, and PwC. We have people who had 4.0 GPAs at Georgia Tech. We have West Point grads and Army Rangers.

We also have non-traditional hires that spent 20 years in IT, folks who recently transitioned out of the military, or artists who went to a cybersecurity boot camp before launching a career at risk3sixty. But regardless of their pedigree - the one things you would notice is this: They are all Strange Renegades.

Here are a few examples of "Hiring Strange Renegades" in practice at risk3sixty:

1. Pay and Benefits: You can only attract the best people if you offer great pay and benefits. At risk3sixty, we offer things like excellent pay, 2x annual bonuses, unlimited PTO, generous family leave, sabbaticals, 100% paid employee healthcare, annual profit share, and so much more.
2. "GWC Core Values" Interview Process: Great people want to work with great people. And the best way to preserve culture is to ensure that you get the right people on the bus. We do that by an efficient, but thorough interview process.
3. Partnership with Georgia Tech: Every year we work with a team of Georgia Tech's top students on a semester long research project. This year we are working on some very interesting AI integrations inside our platform fullCircle. We love hiring GT students that would typically go to work for top technology and consulting firms. Shout out to John Stanford, MS, LPC and team.

Fundamental #2: Build Craftsmen

Once we hire amazing people it is our job to help develop them into craftsmen. We do this by continuously investing in our team through a combination of customized career planning, ongoing internal training programs, and outside education. The result is that people become uncommonly excellent professionals.

Steven Pressfield says in the War of Art that “An amateur has amateur habits. A professional has professional habits.” I think that's true for the individual and also true for business. Professional business's make it a professional habit to build craftsmen.

Here are a few examples of "Building Craftsmen" in practice at risk3sixty:

1. Paid Certifications and Training: We pay for all of our team's certification and training efforts so they can become experts.
2. Journeyman Program: Our leadership development program is a 6-month curriculum developed by West Point grads Jessica L. and Christian White . People in a program are given an opportunity to self-reflect, learn tactical skills, and work together to learn essential leadership skills.
3. Relationship Owner Program: We think part of being a great professional extends beyond technical ability and includes a deep understanding of managing relationships. Twice a year, we train risk3sixty consultants on how to be trusted advisors.

Fundamental #3: Artisan Products

We feel strongly that a natural outcome of building Craftsmen is that they will build artisan products. And artisan products is probably what you think of when you think of innovative companies.

Artisan product is the mark of innovation, but not innovation itself.

Instead it is a natural outcome of an ecosystem that permits innovation to run it's course. For example, at risk3sixty, we have reinvented ourselves at least four separate times as our organization has grown. Each time we leveled up to meet the unique challenges of our next stage of growth. For example, back in January we rebranded our entire company.

Is 苹果 innovative because of the Mac? No. They are innovative because of the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, the App Store and about a dozen other products they have released over the last two decades. Their products are marks of innovation, but their innovation is driven from something within the company. And that something is Apple's flywheel.

Here are a few examples of our "Artisan Products" in practice at risk3sixty:

1. fullCircle GRC Platform: Our team led by Kevin Ketts have invested millions of dollars over the last 6 years building an amazing GRC platform. We think fullCircle is the best GRC platform for companies managing multiple security frameworks. Period.
2. Multi-Framework Program Harmonization: Sawyer Miller and his team have built an amazing approach to help organizations with multiple compliance frameworks save millions of dollars and thousands of hours streamlining their program across frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, FedRAMP, and more.
3. Compliance as a Service: Many organizations need compliance off their plate so they can focus on their core business. Christopher Donaldson 's team saves companies millions of dollars by operating as an extension of their team to manage all or part of their security compliance program.
4. Offensive Security: Cory Wolff 's team has a unique combination of technical expertise and business savvy that makes them one of the best OffSec teams in the world.

Fundamental #4: Raving Fans

My roof had a leak and it destroyed my kitchen. That set off a chain of events that led to a full kitchen remodel that lasted nearly 18 months. (Nothing tests a marriage like a kitchen remodel.)

It was grueling.

I must have had 20 contractors in and out of my house during those 18 months. And if any one of them were standing next to me in the check-out line at the grocery story I wouldn't be able to point them out. They all did their job, but they would show up at inconsistent times, leave small messes, and rarely explained to me what's next in the process. None of them turned me into a raving fan.

Except Garrett.

Garrett did my kitchen cabinets. And he didn't just install them. He texted me everyday to let me know when he would show up, he helped me design around a few nuances to my house, he did great work, he showed empathy that we were living without a kitchen, and most importantly - he cared. I must have referred Garrett to half a dozen people by now. I am a raving fan.

Do you see the difference between Garrett and the other 20 contractors?

Customer loyalty is not a given. It is earned. And the only way to earn it is to build craftsmen who create artisan products that people love.

Here are a few examples of "Raving Fans" in practice at risk3sixty:

1. Client Empathy: We focus a lot of customer experience at risk3sixty. Little things like sending out a welcome package at the start of a project, sending weekly status meetings on Friday, showing up to meetings with an agenda and on time, a hundred tiny features in our product fullCircle. But all that adds up to a great client experience. In fact, our average client does 2.1 services with risk3sixty. Meaning that client's, on average, choose to do more work with risk3sixty year over year.
2. Building Community: Our content was viewed more than 8M times last year. We like to think that is the sign of building a pretty strong community that appreciates the work we are doing.
3. Raving Fans Tell Their Friends: Our best source of customers is current customers telling their friends. Every year about 1/3 of our total sales comes from existing clients telling their friends. From my experience, when people are willing to go to bat for you, we think that is a good sign. (Check out the video below with Meghan Hester tell her story!)

Fundamental #5: Inimitable Brand

When people think about "brand" they often think about a logo, a website, or a commercial. But the truth is this: Aesthetics are only skin deep. And they are easily duplicated by competitors.

Philip Kotler says "Competitive advantage is a company's ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors cannot or will not match."

The only way to build a brand that can't be imitated is by doing things that no one else is willing or able to do. For us, that means that we try to add more value than anyone else. In principle, we think that if you give first, you will get a little back in return.

That means adding value to our customers, value to our team members, and value to the community.

Here are a few examples of Inimitable Brand in practice at risk3sixty:

1. 50,000 hours on YouTube: Our security and GRC videos have been viewed for more than 50k hours by security professionals on YouTube.
2. Free Courses: We have two #1 courses that have been completed by over 5,000 students in less than a year.
3. Free Training and Talks: Last year I gave 24 talks in 12 different cities including 4 keynotes. Collectively, our team did well over 100. We know if we give first, sometimes we will get something back in return.
4. Free Guides and Templates: Our team has produced well over 100 free templates and guides for security and GRC professionals. Those guides have been downloaded by thousands of security professionals.

Conclusion: Too Long Didn't Read

The secret to risk3sixty's business strategy isn't the latest technology or some secret formula. Our secret is simple: A relentless investment in the five core fundamentals of our business. Our strategy flywheel.

1. Strange Renegades: It starts with hiring great people.
2. Build Craftsmen: Through training and investment, turn strange renegades into amazing professionals.
3. Artisan Products: Set Craftsmen free to build amazing products and provide outstanding services.
4. Raving Fans: When clients receive outstanding services and use great products, the becomes raving fans.
5. Inimitable Brand: When people love your products and services, your brand becomes one that cannot be imitated.