the backstory
After 25 years in cybersecurity, I've seen enough PowerPoint decks and generic advice to last several lifetimes.
I've witnessed countless startup ‘advisors' collect equity and hefty monthly retainers while adding minimal value beyond making a few CISO introductions or joining monthly marketing calls.
True startup advisory must deliver tangible, measurable impact. Building something different requires obsession, experience, and bootstrapping.
With decades of cybersecurity experience and a proven track record of building successful products, we have the passion, career history, and network to make echo5 a game-changing addition to the cybersecurity product building ecosystem.
The Pain
1
Traditional consultants lack hands-on experience in building and selling actual security products, leading to theoretical rather than practical guidance.
2
Clients end up paying agencies to learn about their industry and company, creating a backwards and inefficient knowledge transfer.
3
Your supply chain focus on billable hours and frameworks rather than delivering measurable impact and real-world results for security solutions.
The hard truth is that traditional cybersecurity product consulting has fundamentally failed to deliver what matters most - measurable impact on building and selling security solutions.
While firms excel at generating billable hours and theoretical frameworks, they consistently fall short in providing practical guidance for developing and marketing successful security products. This disconnect leaves startups burning through valuable resources without gaining the real-world insights needed to succeed in today's competitive security market.
Don't blame the consultants — you hired them! While many have impressive experience in building, selling, or buying security products, true value comes from having deep expertise across all three domains. What's missing isn't more theory - it's battle-tested experience in actually building and selling security products.
In an industry where the stakes are increasingly high, startups need partners who've been in the trenches - those who have developed products, led go-to-market strategies, and understand how enterprise security buyers make purchasing decisions.
What Makes Us Different?
- We've actually built products
- We've led real teams
- We've bought enterprise security solutions
- We bridge the gaps between investors, executives, marketing, sales, and R&D
What We Bring to the Table.
- Practitioner-led insights
- No ego, no fluff
- Real-world experience
- Practical, outcome-driven solutions
- Industry connections
- Digital-first collaboration
Engagement Models
At echo5, we understand that every cybersecurity startup's journey is unique. That's why we've designed our engagement models to be highly flexible and adaptable to your specific needs and growth stage.
Retainers
Our premium retainer models are tailored for 1:1 or small cohort engagements, providing structured monthly collaboration with direct access to expertise, regular strategy sessions, and clear deliverables. Ideal for organisations seeking dedicated, multi-month partnerships to achieve ongoing company objectives while maintaining predictable monthly budgeting.
A La Carte Services
Our intensive team enablement programs run at echo5 HQ in Reading, UK. These high-impact sessions - including sales training, keynotes, board workshops, and product launch bootcamps - bring together stakeholders for focused, results-driven collaboration. Each program is designed with specific outcomes and compressed timeframes to maximise learning and implementation.
Consultancy Services at echo5