What we can learn from the fastest-growing SaaS company in the world

There’s a company that has been making headlines in past weeks as it became #1 on Google’s shopping list for startups to acquire. It’s called Wiz, a comprehensive cloud security platform that is already serving companies like Salesforce, BMW and DocuSign t0 detect, prioritize, and resolve security threats across their cloud environments.

Its founder stems from the 8200 Unit of the IDF, also known as "Israel’s NSA“ like many successful entrepreneurs in the Tel Aviv’s renowned cybersecurity bubble. During my semester abroad in Tel Aviv, I remember going to startup events and pitch competitions and remember the admiration and status that 8200 graduates had – it simply made it easier for them to raise money because of the prestige that came up with being in such an elite military unit.

What’s remarkable about this company is its breathtaking growth trajectory — it is the fastest growing startup company ever, reaching 100 million ARR in revenue in only 18 months, and 10 Billion Dollar valuation in 3 years. 

It is planning to take over the cloud security market, so when Google came knocking on its door, talks were quickly wound down. 23 Billion USD was not going to cut it. Wiz has ambitions to IPO soon, and with this kind of momentum, it is definitely worth keeping an eye on. 

I took a look at some of the factors that contributed to its rapid rise, and here is what I found — in my eyes, cybersecurity is a really exciting industry to monitor, considering the growing sophistication of cyberthreats. 

The first factor that stood out was the fact that Wiz was founded by second-time founders, meaning that they had already had a startup with an exit—Assaf Rappaport sold his company Adallom to Microsoft in 2015 for $320 Million, spending 4 years after that at the tech-giant to help them build out their cloud security infrastructure. 

When the second opportunity for building a new company arose, Assaf had the advantage of experience, network and capital — a well-cited study by Harvard Business School found that second-time founders have a success rate of around 30% in their ventures. In contrast, first-time founders have a success rate of about 18%. This means that second-time founders are roughly 67% more likely to succeed in their next venture than first-time founders.

This leads me to the second factor that stood out — speed of execution. One big advantage startups have, especially those trying to disrupt legacy solutions, is that they are able to have much shorter feedback and execution loops than the big enterprise players. The company swiftly built a cloud security platform that resonated with the market's needs, leveraging its founding team's deep industry expertise. Their ability to quickly iterate and improve the product based on customer feedback allowed them to stay ahead of competitors.

Wiz expanded its operations rapidly, hiring top talent, securing partnerships, and scaling its infrastructure to support a growing customer base—all within a compressed timeline.

Some times speed can be detrimental to the quality of your end-product, but it can also have the opposite effect. This is known as Parkinson’s law — "work expands to fill the time available for its completion." Parkinson's Law illustrates how setting shorter deadlines can drive better performance by preventing work from expanding unnecessarily and ensuring that efforts are directed toward the most impactful tasks. 

Wiz to me is a textbook example of what can go right in the startup world. I think it's always helpful to study the winners in any market you operate in, because their wins tell a story and lay a foundation of what can go right. Often times big winners also have the effect to raise the standards for the rest of the industry, some times allowing monopolies to arise and dominate for decades. This is the darwinian nature of capitalism; a brutal game with few winners, and those who get it right have the kind of returns that make up for the losses of all competitors a hundredfold. This rarely happens, but when it does, it is a sight to see and Wiz might just be a prime example. I'm looking forward to keep an eye on how far this company can keep their momentum going post-IPO.

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