Winston Francois conducts buyer and market research for cybersecurity companies that need answers, not an unread 60-slide deck. We speak with the CISOs and security engineers you can't reach by phone, then tell you what your sales team won't.
The Challenge
Your buyer is almost impossible to reach
CISOs and security engineers do not answer cold outreach for research studies. They are buried in vendor pitches all day and screen out anything that smells like a survey. Most cybersecurity companies end up interviewing whoever their AEs can drag onto a call, which means the research is skewed toward people who already like you.
The category is buried in noise
Cybersecurity has more point solutions than any buyer can evaluate and a handful of platforms trying to absorb them all. When you ask internally 'who do we compete with,' you get a list of twelve names and no shared view of how a CISO actually segments the market. Without that, your positioning is a guess.
You lose deals without ever learning why
Sales blames price. Product blames features. Nobody actually calls the security engineer who chose the incumbent and asks what tipped it. Win/loss data sits in Gong calls and CRM notes that nobody synthesizes, so the same objection kills deal after deal and the company treats each loss as a one-off.
Analyst reports direct budget you can't influence
A Gartner or Forrester placement shapes which vendors even get a shortlist look, especially at the enterprise end. Most Series A/B cybersecurity companies have no read on how analysts categorize them, what criteria they're being scored against, or whether they're even on the radar for the next report cycle.
What We Do
We begin with an assessment, not an assumption. Before drafting a single interview guide, we review your last two quarters of closed-lost deals, listen in on a set of sales calls, and map your competitive landscape as buyers describe it, rather than as your pitch deck presents it. That assessment reveals the true information gaps: positioning, win/loss, analyst visibility, or all three.
Then we create a research plan around the decision you're actually trying to make. If you're preparing to reposition before a Series B raise, we prioritize category framing and message testing with security buyers who haven't heard of you. If pipeline velocity has slowed, we prioritize win/loss interviews across the last 15-20 closed deals, divided evenly between wins and losses so complaints aren't all you hear.
For execution, we handle the outreach and interviews ourselves. We don't simply send out a survey link and hope. Using warm paths through your customers, partner network, and our own security industry contacts, we bring CISOs and security engineers onto 30-minute calls. Those calls follow a structured discussion guide, producing comparable findings across interviews instead of a collection of anecdotes.
We combine qualitative interviews with a structured competitive teardown: a feature-by-feature comparison of the three to five vendors you actually lose against, a comparison of pricing models, and an assessment of how each competitor appears in analyst reports and industry forums. This resolves the fragmented-category problem by mapping how buyers truly see the market, not using your internal org chart to define competitors.
Measurement comes built into the deliverable rather than being added afterward. Each finding connects to a decision: message X outperformed message Y among N buyers, competitor Z wins on criteria A and B, and the three leading loss reasons represent 70 percent of tracked losses. Your team receives this in a format sales and product can put to work next quarter, not in a report that's read once and filed away.
We include a feedback loop as well. One-time research quickly becomes outdated in a market moving as fast as cybersecurity. We establish a lightweight cadence, such as quarterly win/loss reviews or a standing design-partner panel, so insights continue to compound rather than resetting to zero whenever you need another answer.
What we deliver
- Win/loss interview program with structured findings report
- Competitive positioning map built from buyer language, not internal assumptions
- CISO and security engineer buyer interview panel
- Analyst landscape brief (Gartner/Forrester category fit and criteria gaps)
- Message testing results across target buyer segments
- Quarterly research cadence handoff for internal ownership
If your sales team can't name the top three reasons deals are lost and back each one with numbers, your issue isn't positioning. It's research.
Our Methodology
Each engagement follows a 90-day sprint. The assessment takes place during the first two weeks: we pull closed-lost data, review sales calls, and conduct stakeholder interviews to determine which decision the research must support. Buyer interviews aren't scheduled until we're clear on the question being answered.
Execution runs from weeks three through eight. We conduct the interview program, finish the competitive teardown, and synthesize findings as we go instead of waiting until the end to document everything. Interim findings are shared at weeks four and six, ensuring the final report contains no surprises.
The final two weeks focus on handoff, not delivery alone. We bring your sales, product, and marketing leaders together in one room to walk through the findings, because positioning and win/loss research only drives change when everyone hears the same thing at once and aligns on what it means.
Our Process
Days 1-30: assessment and interview recruiting. We review deal data, listen in on calls, and begin buyer-interview outreach at the same time so scheduling doesn't cost us weeks. By day 30, you'll have a research plan, with the first five to seven interviews either booked or finished.
Days 31-60: most interviews take place during this period, alongside the competitive teardown and analyst landscape review. On day 45, we hold a working session to discuss emerging patterns and refine the discussion guide if an unexpected theme begins appearing.
Days 61-90: synthesis, the final report, and a cross-functional readout. We also establish the right rhythm for ongoing research, whether that's a quarterly win/loss review or a standing customer advisory panel.
The team is structured as a lean pod: one engagement lead conducts interviews and manages the relationship, while one analyst leads the competitive and analyst-landscape research. Both report directly to the person on your side accountable for the outcome, typically the CEO, founder, or VP Marketing. There is no account manager layer and no departmental handoff. Engagements generally cover the complete 90-day sprint before shifting to a lighter quarterly retainer for ongoing win/loss tracking.
- Sharper positioning grounded in how buyers actually talk about the category
- Shorter sales cycles once the top objections are known and pre-empted
- Higher close rates against the specific incumbents you lose to most
- Clearer input into the next fundraise narrative and analyst briefings
If your cybersecurity company needs market research & insights leadership, we should talk.
Expand your marketing team output with our experts
Let us take a custom approach to your growth goals by assembling and leading the best-in-class marketing team to support your next stage.
Frequently asked questions
What does a market research engagement cost?
Cost varies by scope: a targeted win/loss study covering a few competitors costs less than a complete buyer research and category positioning sprint. After the initial assessment call, we'll provide a fixed figure based on the number of interviews and level of competitive depth the decision truly demands. We don't bill hourly, removing any incentive to pad the study.
How does this differ from working with a research agency or analyst firm?
Most research agencies deliver a report, then move to their next client. We remain involved throughout the 90-day sprint and into execution, joining the readout with your sales and product teams so the findings meaningfully affect next quarter's pipeline. We also understand the cybersecurity buying process in particular, from how CISOs assess vendors to how procurement incorporates security reviews – expertise generalist agencies typically lack.
How quickly will we see results?
The first interim findings arrive around week four, followed by the complete report and cross-functional readout by day 90. Some clients respond to emerging patterns before the sprint ends, updating sales talk tracks once the same loss reason appears in three or four interviews. The full cumulative impact, including sharper positioning and shorter cycles, generally becomes visible during the two quarters following the engagement.
Will you need access to our CRM and sales team?
Yes. For win/loss work, that access is non-negotiable. We require closed-lost and closed-won records to select interview candidates, and we need to observe a sample of live sales calls to see how your reps currently position against competitors. Without this access, the research is generic rather than tailored to your pipeline.
How is ROI measured for this type of engagement?
We connect findings to concrete, measurable changes: win rates against the top two competitors before and after positioning revisions, sales cycle length after objection handling incorporates the research, and pipeline velocity within segments where messaging was retested. We won't give you a vanity metric such as 'insights generated.' Each deliverable corresponds to a decision your team makes differently afterward.
Which size or stage of cybersecurity company is the right fit?
Series A to growth-stage cybersecurity companies with $5M-$100M in ARR benefit most, typically because they have sufficient closed-lost deal volume to make win/loss interviews statistically meaningful, but lack the internal research function to handle the work themselves. If you're pre-revenue or buyers don't yet have a competitive shortlist to choose from, the engagement is too early. Return when you have a real pipeline ready to analyze.
