Evergreen Advisors’ Entrepreneur Spotlight features Jason Kaplan, CEO of SixMap, a cutting-edge cybersecurity company and valued client of Evergreen’s Outsourced CFO Advisory practice. This Q&A article explores Kaplan’s perspectives on the dynamic cybersecurity landscape, SixMap’s innovative solutions, and how outsourced CFO services play a crucial role in scaling operations.
Q: As a successful serial entrepreneur, what compelled you to join the SixMap team?
I was compelled to join SixMap for three reasons.
- First, DataTribe, the lead investor—I had gotten to know the DataTribe team over several years and liked their model, their focus, their vibe, and their team.
- Second, the Founder—Austin Murdock is one of those rare people who combine an enormous intellect with the ability to tell a story. Despite being early in his career, he has demonstrated an ability to solve hard problems that others cannot. I felt we would make a great team.
- Finally, the market—I spoke with several CISOs and other security practitioners I know, and it was clear that the market we serve needs innovation. Essentially, no one was happy with their current solution. SixMap is ready to force a tipping point and reap the benefits.
Q: How do you personally stay ahead of emerging cyber threats and trends?
I read extensively from news sources, industry leaders, and analysts. The challenge is that there is so much cybersecurity-related news every day that you could spend all your time reading.
I focus on a few key sources that cover the business, security, and policy aspects of cyber, ensuring I stay informed without becoming overwhelmed.
Q: How do you see the cyber threat landscape evolving in the coming years, and what emerging risks should companies be most concerned about?
Since AI is already widely discussed, I’ll approach this from two different angles:
First, the network—Companies and the infrastructure they run are becoming increasingly complex and difficult to track. From a corporate standpoint, there are so many transactions and layers of transactions (Evergreen knows this better than anyone) that even tracking corporate hierarchy over time is a challenge.
For security leaders, the first challenge is getting a detailed, accurate view of exactly who they are protecting. Once that is achieved, the next step is gaining a complete, up-to-date inventory of network assets. Questions arise, such as:
- What happened to the domain of that acquired company?
- Who informed security about the new marketing website or the cloud asset an engineer set up?
- What about the camera someone added to their computer?
In short, the threat landscape is more complicated than ever and changes rapidly. Fortunately, SixMap solves this problem.
The second issue evolving rapidly is deepfakes. It is alarming how easy it has become to mimic a voice or video. This will pose a major security challenge in the near future.
Q: Tell us about SixMap’s Computational Mapping Platform. How has this innovation, along with your other AI initiatives, transformed your approach to cybersecurity solutions?
Computational mapping was built using applied AI and machine learning, making it fundamental to our solution. This core capability allows us to deliver clarity, completeness, timeliness, and accuracy beyond any existing solution.
The hard part of network mapping is ensuring the “map” is truly complete. SixMap, through computational mapping, solves that problem.
Q: If you could give one critical piece of advice to a board of directors of a company, what would it be and why?
I’ll answer this from the perspective of an early-stage company.
My advice is to deeply understand the technology and the problem it solves. This is the advantage of working with DataTribe Board members and our independent Board members.
Early-stage companies evolve quickly, struggle with product-market fit, and often have a narrow focus on a solution before they can scale. If Board members do not understand the core market, problem, and solution, it becomes difficult for them to add meaningful value at this stage.
Q: How has having an outsourced CFO partner, Evergreen specifically, supported SixMap in scaling its operations and growth?
Eric Clarke and Evergreen have been fantastic partners. I have worked with outsourced CFOs before, but none have added value like Evergreen.
Eric and his team provide accurate and timely reporting, participate in company meetings to understand context, and offer strategic advice on everything from Board reporting to revenue modeling. They also have experience with companies at our stage, which makes their insights invaluable.
More importantly than any of that, Evergreen and Eric care.
Q: For other tech entrepreneurs looking to scale, what financial lessons has SixMap learned that you’d pass along?
From SixMap and other startups I’ve been involved with, my greatest financial lessons have been about alignment.
You must align fundraising, sales, and product readiness:
- If you raise a lot of capital but struggle to add customers—whether the product is ready or not—you fail.
- If you build a great product and have customers but lack the capital to scale—you fail.
- If you raise money and somehow add customers (on smoke and mirrors) but don’t have a real product—you fail.
Q: What does success for SixMap look like in the cyber industry?
From a mission standpoint, success means protecting the Nation (and our allies) and enterprises on the global internet. We believe in this mission and think we are uniquely positioned to help.
To achieve this, we must succeed as a business, which means delivering industry-leading cybersecurity products and providing unrealistically good service.
If we do that, the outcome will take care of itself.
If you’d like to learn more about SixMap and their cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions, head over to SixMap’s website to explore their offerings. If you’re interested in discussing how Evergreen’s Outsourced CFO Advisory team can support your company’s growth and financial strategy, reach out to our team today.
