PRAETORIAN

team survival guide

March 2015 | Issue 03

And The Oscar

Goes To...

Villa Austonia,
Off-site 2015

The Prosise
Effect

In the end, Praetorian was the

last one standing

Planning Praetorian's future by

day, and partying by night

In January 2015, Chris officially

joined Praetorian

#03

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WELCOME

CORE VALUES

Message from
CEO/Founder
Nathan Sportsman shares his
thoughts and welcomes you
to the Guard

SUMMER

04

07

We would like to welcome

you to the Praetorian Team

Help us create a truly extraordinary company

06

15

The Praetorian
Way

Summer
Hackathon

The core principles that are

critical to your success at
Praetorian

We provide products and

services that make everyday
life safer and more secure

On the evening of the event,

the office air was buzzing
with excitement

Rise of the
New Guard

03

COMPANY

Delivering
Culture

Business
Principles

ON THE COVER

16

ORIENTATION
08 Week One Overview
10 Get Started Checklist

24
And The Oscar
Goes To...

02 PRAETORIAN

26
Villa Austonia,
Off-Site 2015

30
The Prosise
Effect

11 Crossword Puzzle
12 Tech Stack Essentials
14 The Reading List
18 The "Assembly" Test

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TEAM TRAVEL

SERVICES

19

22

Our summer interns elected

to spend their last day at
Schlitterbahn with the team

The expertise and integrity

of our information security
consultants are trusted by
today's leading organizations

Schlitterbahn
Summer

Fanatical Service Execution

SALES

MARKETING

32

34

22 Strategies to win without

selling

Exploring our marketing

strategy and learning how
you can help

Unselling: Sell
Less, Win More

Content
Marketing

WELCOME

ife is a continuation of
experiences and our time
is limited. Through your
acceptance of this opportunity,
you have chosen to disrupt
familiarity in the pursuit of
something more. You have
chosen risk over safety. You
have chosen aspiration over
satisfaction. You have chosen
greatness over good enough.
In return, we are committed to
providing you an opportunity

that you will not find anywhere

else. In return, we are committed to ensuring your time at
Praetorian encompasses a set
of experiences that will remain
with you for the rest of your
life.
We are embarking on an extraordinary vision and dreams
of this magnitude are never
easy. The path forward will be
extremely challenging, but the

friends we find in adversity are

those we cherish most. You
are not alone in this choice.
We will succeed together.
Welcome to the Guard.
Nathan Sportsman
Founder / CEO

PRAETORIAN 03

RISE OF THE
PRAETORIAN
GUARD

04 PRAETORIAN

NEW RECRUITS
We would like to take this
opportunity to welcome you
to the Praetorian team.

he strength and integrity of our team

defines Praetorian. Together, each
one of us creates Praetorians culture and demonstrates our commitment
to provide the highest quality services,
research, and products to our customers.
Praetorian is a company that has grown
over the years into one of the industrys
respected and rising leaders in information security. We will provide you the
opportunities to gain expertise in our
industry, develop your professional skills,
and enrich your professional life. Ensuring
the overall professional and personal wellbeing of our team members is the most
important factor in determining our ability
to become a viable industry leader. This
is a principle we are committed to, as our
team members are our number one asset.
Praetorian strives to be an organization
where each and every team member
has responsibility and accountability. We
are committed to achieving excellence in
everything we do. We strongly believe that
realizing this objective is dependent upon
maintaining the overall caliber of our team
while continuing to foster a supportive
environment in which they can continually
thrive.
This Survival Guide was developed to ensure the rapid assimilation of new recruits
and to instill in you the core beliefs, principles, and history of today's Praetorian
Guard. This artifact memorializes major
company events leading up to you being
here today. As a new team member, it is
your responsibility to familiarize yourself
with the contents of this guide. It should
be an excellent resource for answering
any question you may have about the
company's history prior to your recruitment.

PRAETORIAN 05

CORE VALUES

BUSINESS
PRINCIPLES
We do no harm.
Although we are a for profit organization,
it is still possible to conduct business in
a way that is designed not only to ensure
success for the company, but also help
the greater good. As a company, and as
individuals, we do not engage in activities
that intentionally harm others. The services, research, and products we provide
are meant to make the world a better,
safer, and more secure place.

Our clients' interests

always come first.
Our experience shows that if we serve our
clients well, the companys success and
our individual success will follow. Doing
right by the client and by the company
should never be mutually exclusive.

We make great efforts

to ensure our advice is
objective and truthful.
We are trusted advisors to our clients and
to the public, and must never misinform,
mislead, deceive, or betray them. If we are
not completely confident in the truthfulness or objectiveness of our statements,
we will withhold comment.

Our assets are our people

and our reputation.
If either of these is ever diminished, they
are extremely difficult to restore. We are
dedicated to complying fully with the letter
and spirit of the laws, rules, and ethical
principles that govern us. Our continued
success depends upon unswerving adherence to this standard.

06 PRAETORIAN

Praetorian Guard by Madspeitersen

We believe great is not

good enough.
Great should only be seen as a starting
point in anything we pursue. We strive to
build on and improve everything we do.

We take great pride in the

professional quality of our
work.
We have an uncompromising determination to achieve excellence in everything we
undertake. Though we may be involved in
a wide variety and heavy volume of activity,
we should always place quality over quantity. The firm and its team members will
only take on work that they are confident
they can perform to the highest degree of
quality and service. Neither the firm nor its
team members will accept work outside of
their areas of competence.

We stress creativity and

imagination in everything
we do.
While recognizing the old way may still be
the best way, we constantly strive to find a
better solution to a client's problems. We
pride ourselves on having pioneered many
of the practices and techniques that have
become standard in the industry.

We make painstaking
efforts to identify and
recruit the very best person
for every job.
We select our people one by one. In a
Knowledge-based business, we know that
without the best people, we cannot be the
best firm. Our people are our core intellectual property.

CORE VALUES

We stress teamwork in
everything we do.
While individual creativity is always encouraged, team effort often produces the
best results. We have no room for those
who put their personal interests ahead of
the interests of the firm and its clients.

We must maintain constant

dedication.
Our peoples dedication to the firm and
the intense effort they give their jobs are
greater than one may find in most other
organizations. We believe this commitment is an important part of our success.

We offer people opportunity

for rapid advancement.
Advancement depends primarily on merit
and not experience. We place no limits on
the responsibility our best people are able
to assume.

Our business is highly

competitive, and we
aggressively seek to expand
our client relationships.
However, we must always be fair competitors and must never denigrate other firms.

Integrity and honesty are at

the heart of our business.
We expect our people to maintain high
ethical standards in everything they do.

Our clients confidential

information is always
protected and treated with
the utmost due diligence.
To use confidential information improperly
or to guard it carelessly is a most serious
breach of confidence which would cause
incalculable damage to the firm.

We strive to anticipate the

rapidly changing needs of
our clients and to develop
new products and services
to meet those needs.
We maintain that the world of information security is rapidly evolving and that
complacency can lead to extinction.

DELIVERING
CULTURE

hese core principles are critical to

the success of creating a strong culture at Praetorian. You should think
of these values as the DNA of Praetorian's
company culture. Defining our values
in this way creates the foundation from
which culture can be built in a clear, intentional way. Without living by these clearly
defined values, team members will have
different ideas about what the culture of
the company is supposed to be, and what
is expected of them.
These defined principles serve as the basis
for institutionalizing Praetorian's culture;
that is, putting in just the right amount
of structure at the appropriate time to
ensure that the intended culture scales
as the company grows. These values, and
the set of key associated behaviors that
embody them in our company, should be
invoked when making key strategic and
tactical decisions. Do so, and you will help
create a truly extraordinary company.

PRAETORIAN 07

YOUR FIRST WEEK AS A

PRAETORIAN GUARD
KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT DURING YOUR FIRST
WEEK... AND WHAT WE EXPECT OF YOU

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08 PRAETORIAN

WEEK ONE ASSIGNMENTS

Get Started Checklist

10

Complete all Get Started Checklist sections, including: Gear up, Identity/Creds,
Tech stack, and other new hire items.

Crossword Challenge

11

Designed to test your knowledge of

security terms and introduce you to life
at Praetorian, this crossword puzzle will
challenge even the greatest of recruits.

Required Reading

14

Throughout this Survival Guide you will

find excerpts and links to full versions of
required readings and a list of recommended reading.

The "Assembly" Test

18

Assembly is a low-level programming

language for a computer, microcontroller, or other programmable device.
Our "Assembly" Test is also low-level.

Mentor Meeting

All new recruits will be assigned a mentor. Your mentor will be a lifeline during
your orientation at Praetorian.

GET STARTED CHECKLIST

GETTING STARTED

COMMUNICATION

SURVIVAL GUIDE

Enroll in direct deposit

Setup Praetorian email signature

Read the complete Survival Guide

Enroll in 401k plan (optional)

Create bio and post it to Box.com

Complete crossword challenge

Review employee benefits

Obtain head shots

Complete "Assembly" test

Opt-in to health insurance

reimbursement plan

Update LinkedIn profile

Check all boxes on this page

Obtain copies of all required readings
and explore recommended readings

Obtain AMEX card (if applicable)

JOIN THE TROOPS

GEAR UP

Complete meeting with mentor

Obtain signature from mentor upon
completion of this checklist

Announce yourself via email to

company@praetorian.com and in the
Warrior Room on HipChat

Obtain Praetorian apparel

Obtain company business cards

Join rooms of interest on HipChat

Signup for Twitter if you don't have an
account and follow everyone on the
team

Obtain laptop and desk

Follow @PraetorianLabs, follow

company on LinkedIn, and [like]
company Facebook page

TECH STACK
Setup VPN access
Signup/setup all tech stack services:
Google Apps, HipChat, Box.com, Lastpass,
Gitlab, VPN, Canopy, Evernote, Expensify,
7Geese, Asana, 10,000ft, RingCentral, and
Salesforce (if applicable)

I have completed the requirements issued to me during my first week of employment.

Recruit signature

Mentor signature

Date

Praetorian
1

CROSSWORD
CHALLENGE

3
4

5
6

8
9

This crossword puzzle was designed to test your

knowledge of week one learning objectives and
introduce you to life at Praetorian.
Answers can be found throughout this Survival
Guide. If you get stuck, ask a team member. You
should be able to finish this puzzle by the end of
week one.

10

11

12
13

14
15

16

17

18

Across

19

3. They are often the first line of defense for

networks, databases, servers, and applications
20

4. Version three of this Testing Guide is

Across
recommended for reading

Down
Version three of this
Testing
Guide
is
1
Lock your computer screen when y
Down
recommended for reading
leave or youll get hit with this 5 let
6. Impersonating a legitimate entity to illegally
6 Impersonating a legitimate entity to
word 3 times
acquire information via email, phone
calls, voice1. Lock your via
computer
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oris
youll
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hit with thisinfluences
5 letter
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email,
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new people's first impressions of ou
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company's credibility
10
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store,
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10. An individual who attempts to gain
2. This is what typically influences most newGenerate,
people's first
impressions
of our comp
unauthorized access to an information
passwords with this tech stack esse
unauthorized access to an information system
company's credibility
system
5 A data block that transmits the
12 This 15,700 sq ft Villa was used to
identities of the sending and receiv
12. This 16,000 sq ft Villa was used
to host
3. Generate,
store,
and retrieve complex passwords
this tech stackinformation,
essential
host
ourour
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This thrilling mammal guards the
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2015 3-day company off-site13
event
main room at our 5.
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of defense
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networks, databases, servers and
13. This thrilling mammal guards
thePraetorian,
main room cloud
error-control
and message
16 At
storage information,
and
applications (starts with P)
at our Austin Headquarters
document collaboration are made
8 You must provide evidence of
7. They often the first line of defense for networks,
databases,
servers
easy with this service
completion
to win
thisand
hunt
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group who typically
owns
buyers
9 A cloud-based performance
16. At Praetorian, cloud storage
applications
(starts
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the first 70-80% of the
management platform
collaboration are made easy with during
this service
revenue cycle
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8. You
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to win the
this hunt
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andmust
imagination
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buyers
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also
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18. We stress __________ and 20
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maximizing this form of capital
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manage
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4

14. Name of the sales philosophy we believed in before we knew what to call it

20. Going forward, our marketing strategy will be

focused on maximizing this form of capital

15. The company uses this service to manage its phone numbers and extensions

PRAETORIAN 11

ESSENTIALS

SURVIVAL GUIDE 101:

TECH STACK ESSENTIALS

BOX

10,000 FT

We use Box to store all of our content

online, so we can access, manage and
share it from anywhere. It also enables
us to collaborate on all sorts of documents together.

10,000ft is a project management

and planning tool that gives you the
big picture of your business, teams
and projects.

EVERNOTE
Knowledge sharing and discovery are
critical for our success. Evernote makes
the ideas, research and expertise of our
team easily discoverable, creating an
open, productive and smarter workplace.

EXPENSIFY
Expensify streamlines the way we report
expenses, the way expenses are approved, and the way we export that
information for accounting purposes.

12 PRAETORIAN

ASANA
Against the speed, complexity, and scope
of our modern work, email is no longer
up to the task. Figuring out what needs
to get done, getting on the same page,
and finding the right information in email
is inefficient.

ESSENTIALS

GET FAMILIAR WITH THESE TOOLS & SERVICES. THEY WILL MOST
LIKELY BE OPEN ON YOUR DESKTOP AT ALL TIMES. THESE TOOLS
ALLOW US TO OUTPACE LARGE ENTERPRISE COMPETITORS WHO
ARE STUCK ON LEGACY SYSTEMS.

LASTPASS

HIPCHAT

LastPass to generate, store, and retrieve

complex passwords. LastPass is there
when you need to login, generate a password for a new site, or access shared
company credentials.

Self-hosted team chat that's persistent,

searchable, and loaded with goodies:
video calling, screen sharing, and more
emoticons than you can shake a stick at.

SALESFORCE
Salesforce is used by our Sales and Marketing team but it is important for everyone to understand the power that this
platform brings to Praetorian's operations. You'll hear more about Salesforce
during the presentations in week one.

7GEESE
7Geese is a cloud-based social performance management platform that
empowers you to achieve more with
social goals, get recognition, and receive
continuous feedback in an engaging,
private social network.

GOOGLE APPS
We leverage Google's Business Apps for
email and calendar management, as well
as Google Hangouts from time-to-time
for online meetings and presentations.

PRAETORIAN 13

ESSENTIALS

THE READING LIST

REQUIRED & RECOMMENDED

01

The Art of Software

Security Assessment

02

The Tangled Web:

A Guide to Securing
Modern Web Applications

03

Web Application
Hacker's Handbook

This book is required reading at

Praetorian and approaches software assurance as an engineering
discipline.

Thorough and comprehensive

coverage from one of the foremost
experts in browser security.

This recommended reading will

serve as a practical guide to discovering and exploiting security flaws in
web applications.

04

iOS Hacker's
Handbook

05

Android Hacker's
Handbook

06

Learn to identify, understand, and

foil iOS attacks. Discover security
risks and exploits that threaten iOSbased mobile devices.

The first comprehensive guide to

discovering and preventing attacks
on the Android OS.

Learn to discover and exploit security holes in this comprehensive

guide to everything shell.

07

08

09

Brute Force Vulnerability Discovery:

Master one of todays most powerful techniques for revealing security
flaws!

The latest tactics for thwarting digital attacks with the world's bestselling computer security book.

TCP/IP Illustrated
Volumes 1-3
The TCP/IP Illustrated series provides a complete picture of the protocol suite that drives the Internet.

14 PRAETORIAN

Fuzzing

Shellcoder's
Handbook

Hacking Exposed
Series

COMPANY

THE PRAETORIAN WAY

We provide products and services that make everyday life safer and more secure.

ith unwavering enthusiasm for

what we do, we are driven to
fundamentally change the world
for the better. Motivated by purpose, we
are all here to make a difference. Our
impact on society and each other will be
indelible. Bounded by a core set of values,
we hold a deep commitment to our work
and one another, as our greatest strength
lies in our camaraderie. These points may
seem a bold ambition, but we embrace
this as a true ethos that drives success.

The effort to employ this commences from

the ground up day in, and day out. Each
member of the Guard should approach
tasks with an Owners Passion. Business
owners, large or small, are infamous
in many ways for their determination.
Characteristics such as intensity, grit, and
availability are catalysts for Praetorians
delivery of unparalleled services and products. Success begins with the depth and
breadth of our client base, which drives
Praetorians prominence and industry

standing as an invaluable knowledge center. From this, we not only gain incomparable personal and professional reward,
but also achieve our goal of fundamentally
changing the world for the better.
Once a Praetorian, always a Praetorian.

PRAETORIAN 15

SUMMER OF 2014

SUMMER
HACKATHON

raetorians first annual hackathon

was held in early August 2014. The
hackathon was scheduled to be an
all-night eventfrom sundown to sunrise.
On the evening of the event, the office air
was buzzing with excitement. The fridge
was stuffed with Red Bull and the team
was ready to start hacking. There was a
lot at stake: $750 for first place, $500 for
second, and $250 for third. Not bad for a
nights work.
At 8pm, the festivities began. Everyone
started off strong, but starting strong
is the easy part. What really makes you
stand out is how youre doing at 4am
when youre loopy from sleep deprivation and can hardly see straight due to
the 3 Red Bulls youve drunk in the last 90
minutes.
Nonetheless, everyone stayed strong and
ambitions were high across the board.
Nick was on a quest to factor weak RSA
keys. Anthony Marquez and Romulo were
looking to further their understanding
of Apache Mesos. Mark was working on
developing his own take of a damn vulnerable web app. Kelby was researching static
code analysis, and Coleton started his
project which is now known as DERT (DNS
Enumeration and Reconnaissance Tool).
Nathan and Matt spent the night wrapping
up reports and designing the curriculum
for the Best of Black Hat series. Anthony
Weems and Hayden teamed up to create
a deviously challenging set of cryptographic puzzles and, lastly, Paul spent the night
with his wife at the hospital delivering a
new baby girl.
By 4am, it was clear that the lack of sleep
was taking a toll on some people. In an
effort to regain some motivation, the team
huddled into Matt DJ Gunz Staroliss office for the much anticipated rap battle. In

16 PRAETORIAN

Hackathons Showcase both the Builders- and Breakers-side of Praetorian

the end, Matt and Mark Juiceman Judice

were the only two who came equipped
to battle, and they left it all on the field
that night. The battle gave the guys just
enough steam to make it through the rest
of the night. And then, just as the sun was
starting to peak above the horizon, it was
over. All the projects had been submitted
for judging.
Breakfast at Kerbey Lane was suggested,
but the general consensus from the team
was that bed was next on the agenda.
After a much-deserved rest and a couple
of days off for the weekend, the judges
had made their decisions. Congrats to 1st:
Weems and Hayden, 2nd: Coleton, and
3rd: Kelby. Great work guys!
The bonding that a team can do over a
sleepless night is hard to describe, but this
is an event that we look forward to having
for many more years to come. Hack on,
Praetorian.

As the only judge who was

present for the event I'm
extending a most special
recognition to our very own Juiceman.
When the lights cut on and the heat rose
in the booth, you showed the confidence
to step up and slaughter.
Big ups bruh!

Now for your moment of Zen:

SUMMER OF 2014

CRYPTO CHALLENGES
AND WINNERS' CIRCLE

uring the summer hackathon,

Hayden and Weems worked
through the night to develop eight
cryptography- and steganography-related
challenges. The goalto add a new tech
challenge to our hiring process intended
to draw in curious and puzzle-oriented
individuals for potential interviewing.
Once the challenges were set up, we
issued a challenge to the world. The first
five puzzle solvers to complete all eight
challenges would be immortalized in our
Crypto Hall of Fame. A smattering of
participants started rolling in, most flying
through levels 0 through 3 in a matter of
hours, with almost everyone getting stuck
for ages on level 6. In particular, one avid
puzzle solver, @darthnull, was having
significant trouble solving this sixth level. I

hopped on the challenge server, fired up

tcpdump, and began watching @darthnull attempt the solution in real-time. For
whatever reason, all his guesses were in
the form JenkinsXxxYyy. Not wanting to
give too much away, I sent a cryptic hint to
let him know he was on the wrong path.
Jenkins is the Mad Hatter's real name,
dont follow him into the rabbit hole."
Almost immediately, I received a lengthy
response that described his thought process and previous attempts. We continued
to exchange emails over the weekend,
amassing over 3,000 words between us.
Twenty-four hours later, we had our first
Hall of Fame winner.

PRAETORIAN 17

"ASSEMBLY"

YOUR "ASSEMBLY" TEST

WHY HAVE YOU PUT TOGETHER LEGO SETS? GREAT QUESTION...
ASK YOUR MENTOR WHEN YOU COMPLETE THE TEST.
Assembly is a low-level programming language for a computer, microcontroller, or other programmable
device. Much like the programming language, our "Assembly" test is also very low-level. During your first day
at Praetorian you will select a LEGO set and get to work.
18 PRAETORIAN

SUMMER OF 2014

I made a Praetorian
From left to right: Weems, Marquez, Starolis, Rfizzle, Anna, Michigan, Kelby, Papa Paul, The Butcher, Nick, Nathan, Juiceman, Kiersten

SCHLITTERBAHN SUMMER

puzzle. Which one

doesn't belong?

014s end-of-summer adventure was

a company trip to Schlitterbahn. The
day started off with a van, some coolers, and plenty of sunscreen. After a quick
Sinister Death ride down to San Marcos,
we got our wristbands and set up shop
in our private cabanas. We then naturally
divided ourselves into two groups: The
people who are afraid of Schlitterbahn water and The risk takers. The risk takers
waited in the hour-long line for the Master
Blaster, conquered the wave pool, got
their feet tickled by the creepy tube ride
lady, and were yelled at for breaking various rules along the way. The other group
sat under the shade of the cabana, eating
vodka-infused watermelon, doing riddles,
and reading Game of Thrones out loud
to one another.
When the risk takers got back to the cabana, it was time for food. We grilled some
burgers, ate and drank some more, and
then engaged in the next logical activity:
rap battles. Matt DJ Gunz Starolis spit the
rhymes while Mark Juiceman Judice laid
down the beat with his previously undisclosed beat-boxing skills. Hayden The
Butcher Blauzvern redeemed himself
from his first historic rap session by spitting some pretty sick flows.

I may look like Patrick Swayze,

but I flow like Jay-Z.
After a long day out in the sun, everyone
was eager to be home...some people
more so than others. The traffic was
so bad going back up I-35 that Nathan
decided running home would be faster, so
he excused himself from the van and went
for a nice quarter-mile jog down the shoulder of I-35, much to other cars amusement. Eventually we made it back home
and went to ZTejas to finish off our day
with margaritas and pickle shots. Unfortunately, nobody informed the waitress that
a pickle shot often contains alcohol. This
also made Nathans humorous shot face
on virgin pickle juice pretty hilarious.
The trip was a perfect end to an amazing
summer. Great times were had and great
memories were made. We cant wait for
next summers adventures!

1. Tom's rat tails

2. Envy sick ape
3. Torn shaman pants
4. Blood bingo
5. Tom's new hyena
You dont know him. Hes not one of us.

"If you're lucky enough to do

well, it's your responsibility to
send the elevator back down."

PRAETORIAN 19

SUMMER OF 2014

SCAVENGER HUNT
SHENANIGANS
The hunts start at 9AM and ends promptly at 1PM. No tasks after 1PM
count! You must be back at agreed upon location by 1:15PM. For each minute late 1 point will be deducted! You must provide evidence of completion.

t all began on a hot, late-summer afternoon. The X-Games had just begun in
Austin and the streets were packed with
people there for the show. Praetorian
decided that we needed to get in on the
fun, so we split ourselves into two teams
for a light-hearted competition: Team
Win and Super Team Domination. The
competition was set in a scavenger huntstyle format. Sarah had cooked up a list
of fun, crazy, and ridiculous tasks for each
team to complete throughout the day,

20 PRAETORIAN

and whichever team completed the most

tasks would be named the winners and
have eternal bragging rights. The MVP of
the winning team would also be rewarded
with major bonus points.
Once everyone was divided into teams, a
little strategizing at the office was followed
by a race to the elevator. For the next
eight hours, both teams went on a taskcompleting frenzy, running from one challenge to the next. We were handcuffed

by police officers, played leapfrog with

strangers, tugged on a bald mans fully
grown beard, chugged a large iced Dunkin
Donuts coffee inside Starbucks, adorned
Kelby with makeup and a mohawk, and
raced car2gos and pedicabs through the
streets of downtown Austin. Wellat least
one team did. With 90 minutes left to get
points, Team Super Team Domination
decided to go relax at a karaoke bar and
focus more on the tasks that involved
eating and drinking. The night ended with

SUMMER OF 2014

Featured findings: "Do it like Bernie" at the state capitol. Ride in a car2go, fit 3 or more people in a
car2go, and race 2 car2gos. Prancercise! (2 block minimum). Mustache!

Nick and Kelby serenading an entire karaoke bar with Whitney Houstons I Will Always Love You. The performance brought
most of the audience to tears; it was truly
as beautiful as one can imagine.
In the end, Team Win lived up to their
name and won by a landslide victory.
Kelby was crowned MVP, as he truly went
the extra mile to get his team the win. The
scavenger hunt was a time to get to know
one another. Interns, new full-timers, and

existing full-timers all worked together

to complete some of the most ridiculous
tasks imaginable. We learned that when
we work together, we can accomplish
anything, no matter how ridiculous. And
you know what they say You never really
know someone until you put makeup on
them and shave their head.

PRAETORIAN

21

SERVICES

Praetorian by glazyrin

FANATICAL

SERVICE EXECUTION

The expertise and integrity of our information security consultants is trusted by today's
leading organizations

ur team delivers business enablement solutions through information security and risk consulting,
advisory, and assessment services.
Praetorian Professional Services balances
the benefits of strategic security consulting with a tactical, hands-on approach to
technology consulting and security training. From a strategic standpoint, Praetorian provides enterprise security program
consulting that aligns security initiatives
with an organizations overall business

22 PRAETORIAN

objectives, corporate governance, and

regulatory requirements. From a tactical
perspective, Praetorian performs in-depth
technical assessments of supporting IT
infrastructure and client facing products.
As a consultative firm, Praetorian brings
many years of experience to the table
and our in-depth understanding, technical prowess, and business acumen add
significant value in enhancing our clients
security posture. Through time-tested,

thorough methodologies, our consultants

work to improve the organizational security postures of our clients while maintaining risk to an acceptable level. We act as
trusted advisors who help organizational
leaders better understand and minimize
overall risk across IT assets, so they can
focus on what is importanttheir core
business.

SERVICES

Why today's leading

companies choose
Praetorian:
Superior Technical Prowess
All consultants come from computer
science and engineering disciplines. Our
team members include published authors, federal security policy and program
contributors, patent holders, open source
developers, industry researchers, thought
leaders, and conference presenters.

Comprehensive Reporting
Deliverables include comprehensive
reporting that is valuable to both the
technical and executive levels. For technical staff, we detail the immediate threats
across the enterprise and recommend the
appropriate responses. For executives, we
clearly communicate systemic issues and
solutions, prioritizing risk management
strategies based on resource constraints
and risk goals.

Trusted Business Acumen

Our teams superior business acumen is
derived from a wide range of backgrounds
and specialties. Previous employers
include Symantec, McAfee, MIT Lincoln
Labs, Rapid7, Sun Microsystems, Dell, IBM,
Cisco, Morgan Stanley, Citi, National Instruments and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Risk Management Success

oday, creating a truly secure IT infrastructure requires access to highly

specialized knowledge, intelligence,
and expertise in order to stay at least one
step ahead of the evolving risks. Because
Praetorian is an authority on information
security, businesses can leverage our
subject matter expertise to solve these
challenging business problems. We offer
a comprehensive portfolio of security
services and solutions tailored to meet
specific client requirements.
During each engagement, Praetorian consultants meet with stakeholders regularly
and communicate high-risk findings immediately. At the end of each engagement,
we deliver a comprehensive report that is
valuable to both the technical and executive levels. For technical staff, we detail the
immediate threats across the enterprise
and recommend appropriate responses.
For executives, we clearly communicate
systemic issues and solutions, prioritizing risk management strategies based on
resource constraints and risk goals.

Praetorians risk assessment and management solutions employ an optimal balance

between people, process, and technology.
Praetorians expertise and client base
spans all major verticals. We regularly provide expertise to Fortune 500 companies
across the financial, technology, healthcare, insurance, oil & gas, and manufacturing sectors.

Our team is trusted by todays leading

organizations, including:

Praetorians risk assessment and management solutions use an optimal balance

between people, process, and technology.
Risk management is the key to a successful security strategy. We help organizations identify risk related to their information security and prioritize those risks so
that resources can be allocated in the
most cost effective way.

PRAETORIAN 23

AND THE
OSCAR

GOES TO...

or the second year in a row, Praetorian had the

privilege of working with the Academy Awards.
Of all the first-year security vendors that were
enlisted to help secure The Oscars new online voting
system, only Praetorian was invited back for a second
year. Other notable vendors that were part of the initial security project included, but were not limited to,
FireEye/Mandiant, McAfee/Foundstone, and Accuvant.
Through deep technical expertise, business acumen,
and client commitment, Praetorian stood head and
shoulders above the competition. The value we
delivered that first year ensured our spot for the year
to come.
As it did the year prior, the Academy hosted a celebration dinner at the completion of the project and
the close of another successful awards show. Already
a tradition, the after party was held at the Edison
in downtown Los Angeles. Housed in the original
Edison Power Plant that was built in 1910, the bar
has a unique historical and artistic feel that has left a
memorable impression across both visits. During the
first year, Josh Abraham and Nathan Sportsman shut
down the bar with their Academy Awards point of
contact. Just as the scope of work expanded into year
two, so too did Praetorians presence at the celebration dinner and after party.
In March 2014, Nathan, Matt, Paul, and Anthony set
out to catch an early Thursday morning flight to Los
Angeles. That was the plan at least. Fly in, attend
Academy meeting, eat dinner, party after, and fly out
early the next morning. What the group didnt anticipate was an airport overrun by travelers getting out
of town for spring break. Anthony, having arrived 15

24 PRAETORIAN

The Edison is a steampunk themed nightclub

located inside the Higgins Building basement in
Los Angeles. The location was Los Angeles' first
ever power plant, built by Thomas Higgins.

The Edison, Los Angeles, California

minutes before the other three, made it

on the flight. The others did not. The three
airport drifters nibbled on breakfast tacos
and downed a buckets worth of Shiner
Bock while debating whether to risk it on
standby or just let Anthony go it alone.
They were already guaranteed to miss the
Academy meeting and there was a good
chance of missing the dinner as well, but
they had to try. This was the Academy
after all.
The four managed to reconnect in Los
Angeles two hours before the celebration
dinner. After a quick check-in, the team
suited up and headed to Le Ka Restaurant
to meet their hosts. The entire restaurant
was taken up by the Academys group.
Eyon, Academys project lead, was a
disciplined host who prepared something
sincere to say about everyone in attendance. The dinner was memorable, and
the after party that followed took it over
the top. The Praetorians were the last
standing at 2am after the lights came on
at the famous Edison after party. Matt and
Paul continued to talk with Eyon and other

Academy crew until 3am, at which point

the Edison staff officially gave us the boot.
8am and at the airport again, less than 24
hours after the trip began, and still awake
from the night before, the four sat silent
reflecting on the events. It was a struggle
getting there and the team almost didnt
make it, but in the end Praetorian was the
last one standingin both work and play.
"You are truly the elite. Between
Accuvant, McAfee, Akamai, and PWC, you
completely stood out and [everyone]
knew it. You earned the chance for our
business through the proposal process
and you earned the right to be at the
table with your engagement execution. I
truly hope Praetorian's growth explodes
beyond all of your wildest dreams. You
guys deserve it."

-Eyon, The Academy

PRAETORIAN 25

BRIGHT FUTURE

VILLA AUSTONIA, 2015

DUDE, YOU'RE GETTING A DELL

s 2014 was coming to a close,

Praetorian planned for the annual company all-hands meeting to
reflect and prepare for 2015. The 2015
off-site took place at the Villa Austonia, a
16,000-square-foot villa owned by the Dell
family and located in Westlake Hills. The
schedule included meetings during the
day and games and partying at night. Day
1 of the off-site started off with a surprise
guest speaker, Futurist Byron Reese. Byrons speech on progress and the future

26 PRAETORIAN

established a theme of positivity and

optimism for Praetorians future.
After Byron left, we went on to discuss
2014 performance and quickly pivoted to
a high-level overview of our 2015 goals
and beyond. The company set aggressive 50% increase targets across revenue, headcount, and capital reserves. It
became clear that rapid growth was the
objective for 2015.

Day 1 meetings wrapped up with a team

consult to establish new committees, and
then we enjoyed a dinner prepared by
private chefs. After dinner we began our
company Academy Awards, which were
equal parts silly and heartfelt. The ceremony was an excellent segue into the first
official night of partying. While most party
details are best left within the company,
I think its worth mentioning that some
people braved swimming the length of the
pool in near freezing weatherat 2am.

BRIGHT FUTURE

The meetings and discussions planned

for Day 2 took a look at the company at
a more granular level. During the day, we
discussed our 2015 goals for services,
sales, and marketing. After the day of
meetings wrapped, we began the Drunk
Olympics. Despite having a pretty structured game plan, it didnt take long for
the games to devolve into unstructured
chaos. Once again, its best to omit details
(although some did attempt to swim in the
pool for a second time).

ment

Founded

Overall, the off-site was a success. Our

meetings and discussions set the tone for
Praetorians future, we all had a blast with
each other, and we miraculously managed to get our full deposit back from the
owners.

1992

mbers, INC.

500|5000,
2001
PrincipalCIO REVIEW
RECOGNITION

y,

man,

fens,

es,
rector

1996

Praetorian Named to Inc. Magazines

The Inc. 500 | 5000 List of Americas
Fastest-Growing Companies

2010

The end of 2013 marked the year in which

we crossed the revenue threshold for applying to the Inc. 500 | 5000 list. For those
who are unfamiliar with the list, every
year Inc. magazine celebrates American
entrepreneurship by releasing a business
ranking of the fastest-growing privately
held companies in America. This iconic
magazine is one on which Steve Jobs has
graced the cover, and this elite list is one
in which many companies awarded a
spot have gone on to become household
names such as Microsoft, Zappos, and
Pandora.

1998

2005

In the Darwinian struggle of business,

where 80% of all businesses fail in the first

2001

eighteen months and 96% of all businesses never achieve over a million in revenue,
its awesome to memorialize our wins
along the way. Landing a spot on the 2014
Inc. 500 | 5000 list has definitely been a
cause for celebration.

not only the leading high-value enterprise

security consulting companies in the U.S.,
but also recognizes companies impacting
the information technology marketplace.
rtha Stewart, host of the CNBC show The
Profit Marcus Lemonis, Container Store
Founder and CEO Kip Tindell, and Chobani
Founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya.

next victory is just around the corner and

clearly in our sight. Just another technical
challenge to overcome.

In addition to recognition from the business community, Praetorian continued

to achieve significant momentum and
recognition from the security industry.
Praetorian was named one of the years
20 Most Promising Enterprise Security
Consulting Companies by CIO Review
magazine. A distinguished panel comprising CIOs and CEOs of public companies,
industry analysts, and the CIO Review
editorial board finalized the selection in
early 2014. The annual listing represents
not only the leading high-value enterprise
security consulting companies in the U.S.,
but also recognizes companies impacting
the information technology marketplace.

Description

A provider of a range of software security services including

consulting, training in both instructor-led and eLearning, mobile
And while 99.6% of all businesses never
application
and cloud
achieve
over $10security,
million in revenue,
this services
The company develops secure software, helps organizations assess
and mitigate risk with existing software, and provides training on
The 2014 Inc. 5000, unveiled online at Inc.
best practices in software security
com and with the top 500 companies featured in the September issue of Inc., is the
most competitive crop in the lists history.

A provider of information security solutions that combine

The
annual Inc. 5000
event honoring
technology,
services,
support and training
all the companies on the list was held
October 15 through 17, 2014. Speakers
included some of the greatest entrepreneurs of this and past generations, such
as Michael Dell, Martha Stewart, host of
the CNBC show The Profit Marcus Lemonis, Container Store Founder and CEO
Kip Tindell, and Chobani Founder and CEO
Hamdi Ulukaya.

A provider of support and technology to protect patients sensitive

information
A provider of security services ranging from penetration testing
and application code assessment through to semiconductor
reverse engineering

In addition to recognition from the business community, Praetorian continued

to achieve significant momentum and
recognition from the security industry.
Praetorian was named one of the years
20 Most Promising Enterprise Security
Consulting Companies by CIO Review
magazine. A distinguished panel comprising CIOs and CEOs of public companies,
industry analysts, and the CIO Review
editorial board finalized the selection in
early 2014. The annual listing represents

A provider of security assessments, third-party risk management,

security engineering, and regulatory compliance services to its
federal and commercial client
A provider of security assessment and training services
PRAETORIAN 27

A provider of penetration testing, application security, network

BRIGHT FUTURE

PRAETORIAN
2015 OFF-SITE
28 PRAETORIAN

BRIGHT FUTURE

PRAETORIAN 29

BRIGHT FUTURE

THE PROSISE
EFFECT
In January 2015, Chris officially
joined Praetorian and our sales were
up 71% YoY by the end of Q1. Thats
an early glimpse into the full impact
of the Prosise effect.

ISS, @stake, Foundstone. If

you trace back the lineage
of todays leading security
companies, many draw their
roots from one of these three
sources. CrowdStrike, Cylance,
Damballa, Immunity, Intrepidus Group, iSEC Partners, Leviathan, Mandiant, Matasano,
PhishMe, Security Compass,
SourceClear, Veracode, VSR,
and yes, Praetorianare all
connected to one or more of
those pioneering firms. I start
the article here because historical context is important
especially when understanding
and appreciating cause and
effect.
Before Praetorian, I had the
chance to work at one of these
trailblazing firmsFoundstone. When I joined Found-

30 PRAETORIAN

stone, McAfees acquisition

of Foundstone was already
entering into its third year.
By that point, many of the
founders and old guard had
already departed and those
who remained were working
within the larger McAfee organization. Two of the original
co-founders, George Kurtz
and Stuart McClure, while
still around, had moved on
to C-level roles within McAfee
itself, and the other two cofounders, Will Chan and Chris
Prosise, had since moved on
to Morgan Stanley and early
retirement, respectively. Kevin
Mandia, one of the early employees of Foundstone, had
also gone on to found Mandianta company that recently
sold to FireEye for $1 billion.
Even so, you could still feel the

culture permeating the walls

of the Orange County office as
senior resources recounted
the good ole days.
During my time at Foundstone,
I only had direct interaction
with one of the original founders. George Kurtz, through his
grueling and often last-minute
deadlines, quickly instilled in
me a just get it done mentality and a heavy dose of
self-reliance. I contributed to
some of his Black Hat PR and
worked alongside him across
two editions of the Hacking Exposed book series. All
and all, I respected him as a
demanding but competent
leader.
Sadly, as things rolled on, the
culture at Foundstone started

to shift. As McAfee applied

more pressure on quarterly
numbers, the company began
adopting 90-day shot clock
habits that sacrificed longterm viability for short-term
gains. Training budgets were
slashed and bench time for
research started to evaporate.
Inevitably, the company began
prioritizing headcount over
culture. While the organization
doubled in size, the passion
and curiosity of its new recruits
waned. This ultimately led to
the departure of its remaining
core. Oddly enough, during the
starters and leavers portion
of my first conference call with
the company, I announced
myself as a new member of
the team, and Aaron Higbee
announced he was leaving to
found Intrepidus Group. The

BRIGHT FUTURE

way in which those same-day announcements adumbrated the future never left
me.
George was the first person I told when
I decided to leave the company. Like any
good manager, the first question he asked
was, What can we do to make you want
to stay? Once he understood that what I
wanted was to share the same experience
he had in co-founding a company, there
wasnt much left to discuss. That was the
culture, though. Something about it was a
breeding ground for future entrepreneurship. Ironically, after Intels acquisition of
McAfee, George himself would go on to
found his second company, CrowdStrike.
As for the other original founders, I had
heard stories about the glory days, but
I never had the chance to meet any of
them during my tenure at Foundstone.
Fortuitously, I heard that one of them,
Chris Prosise, was moving from New York
to Austin. I jumped on that news as a possible way in. I knew Chris ran a financial
mailing list that included money managers and HNIs. I asked a friend to vouch
for me and I was eventually added to the
private mailing list. I provided commentary where I could and slowly got to know
Chris as much as is possible through email
exchanges. After enough time had passed,
I asked Chris to dinner.

another company. I dropped Praetorian

from the topics of discussion and the
conversation shifted from business to
personal. One of the things we discussed
quite a bit was hunting.
Later that summer, Chris invited me to a
day of clay shooting with he and his son,
Theodore. I enthusiastically accepted,
but based on our last conversation, I was
there to just enjoy the day and its company. I had no intention of bringing up Praetorian again. Ironically, I think Chris set up
this outing to do just that. I spent the day
stoking signs of interest and answering
qualifying questions. It wasnt clear what
had changed from our last two meetups,
but I happily obliged the new interest in
Praetorian! Four years after our first encounter, Chris began coming around the
office. The team quickly took to him, with
his appreciation for life, his experience in
building out companies, and his words of
encouragement to us all.

A successful meeting has an

agenda, minutes and action
items. Action items have
due dates and owners.
Silence is agreement.

Nathan Sportsman
Founder/CEO, Praetorian

By the end of that dinner two things became clear: 1) I wanted Chris to work with
us at Praetorian in any way possible, and
2) Chris was quite content in retirement
and enjoyed spending his time playing
the markets. Now wasnt the right time to
pitch the company. This was going to be a
slow play. That was 2011.
In February of 2014, I asked Chris to dinner again. I wanted to feel him out and
nonchalantly give an overview of Praetorian. During that dinner a few more things
became clear: 1) Chris was being approached by several companies for both
advice and investment, 2) Chris was on to
my motivations for the dinner, and 3) Chris
wasnt interested in becoming involved in

PRAETORIAN 31

SALES

22 STRATEGIES TO WIN
WITHOUT SELLING
T

he more you sell, the less the client

trusts you to tell them the truth.
The more you sell, the less inclined
the client is to listen. The more you sell,
the more you tend to look (and act) like a
hammer looking for a nail where any nail
will do. In reality, the more you sell, the
less you win.

This excerpt from Peter Bourke's

e-book "UnSelling" is intended for
INTERNAL USE ONLY

32 PRAETORIAN

This position is entirely counter-intuitive to

the average sales person, mostly because
we are taught from the first day of sales
training that the key to success is great
sales techniques. You can find thousands
of books on the art and science of selling
techniques, tricks, even scripts to sell
the prospect. Our corporate sales training
classes always insist that sales is about
understanding the prospect's needs and

then articulating your solution so that the

prospect is compelled to choose your
obviously superior solution right? Not so
fast!

Background on UnSelling
I was trained, starting in 1980, by one of
the premier sales organizations in the
world the IBM Corporation. I went on to
work at some great and highly successful corporations/organizations including
Nynex (now Verizon) and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) where I headed
up worldwide business development for
this market- leading consulting organization for much of the last half of the 90's.
Interestingly, even these well-respected

SALES

organizations instinctively tend to default

to a selling model focused on compelling the client to choose our product, solution, or approach because it is superior.
Then in 1997 while at Accenture I conducted a market-wide evaluation of potential
sales methodology companies and evaluated an array of sales methodology firms
you've heard of (and likely been trained
by) including Miller Heiman, Target Account Selling, and Solution Selling, among
others. I ended up hiring a sales methodology and training organization I had
never heard of The Complex Sale (TCS).
TCS was founded by Rick Page (author
of the best-selling book, Hope is Not a
Strategy) and I chose Rick's firm because
he understood what few people I had
previously met really understood that
sales success, particularly when selling
consulting and professional services offerings, has little to do with having the best
features and functions of your solution. In
fact, the best solution loses more than half
the time in competitive deals over half!
Based on our success at Accenture and
my personal alignment with Rick's fundamental methodology and thought process,
I decided to leave Accenture in 1998 to
share both Rick's methodology and my
philosophy about UnSelling to many new
and different clients in services-based
businesses. I have managed and coached
thousands of sales people and led countless large pursuits. And while this little- understood concept of UnSelling has proven
successful in many different organizations
with whom I've worked, I'd be remiss in
not acknowledging the insight and knowledge that Rick and his team of Principals
have helped me understand and embrace
and have been instrumental in the market-tested development of these concepts
which have been integrated in this book.
I can confidently say that TCS has developed the most effective sales methods
and tools to help sales people and teams
to win deals they can't afford to lose.
Before we cover the UnSelling philosophy
and approach in-depth, I should provide

one additional dimension central to developing this concept. Since the mid-90's,
while at Accenture, we made a decision to
institutionalize the process of conducting
win-loss reviews when we had either won
or lost a large, strategic opportunity. And
in nearly every organization I have worked
with since that time I have either instituted
(using third party client research firms)
or personally conducted face-to-face
executive interviews with client executives
who were deeply involved in the decision
process to find out the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth related to their decision.
The reason a third party review is so powerful is that, in most cases, the client won't
tell the sales team the truth. When asked,
Why did we lose? you can likely guess the
most common client answer, It was really
a price decision. Why is it that the client
usually says price when asked by the
direct sales team? Because it's the easiest
answer to give and usually is difficult for
the sales person/team to refute. In fact,
it's really pretty easy for the salesperson
to then go back to management and explain that it wasn't their fault because it
really came down to price. My experience
in these post-mortem reviews is that the
client's rationale is rarely based primarily
on price. In most cases the losing team
was outsold and the client doesn't want to
have the confrontation to say otherwise.

advisable to refer to the prospect as a client. I recognize that they may have never
bought anything from us to this point but
when you adopt the UnSelling approach,
the premise is that we can and should
add value from the first meeting with the
prospect and they can accurately be considered a client.
Finally, any sales person (or organization) that embraces UnSelling will want
to ensure that all sales-related resources
are aligned in dealing with your clients. If
one person is very consultative and collaborative and the sales engineer or sales
support resource (or God forbid, the sales
manager) is in full-throttle-selling mode,
the client's perception will be reduced to
the least common denominator which
is that we are a classic selling/telling organization and should be treated as such.
Don't be victimized - get all of your sellingrelated resources on the same page with
this philosophy!
Let's dive in and perhaps the best place
to start is exploring why "selling" doesn't
work...

All of these experiences in coaching

large opportunities, in conducting these
win- loss reviews, and in teaching sales
strategy to thousands of sales people with
TCS - have been combined to develop
this UnSelling philosophy. This may be the
single, most powerful set of strategies to
sell more effectively for the average sales
person or team.
You'll notice I commonly (and interchangeably) use the terms client and prospect
throughout this book. Perhaps it's my
consulting upbringing but I have always
felt that in order to embrace the appropriate relationship between buyer and
seller, it's not only acceptable but even

ACCESS FULL E-BOOK:

http://praee.com/unselling

PRAETORIAN 33

CONTENT
MARKETING

What happens in an Internet Minute?

Our marketing strategy, going forward, is built on a belief that the way buyers
research and purchase products and services today has fundamentally changed.

t wasn't that long ago when

we lived in an age of information scarcity. Google has only
been around as a mainstream
company for less than 10
years. In the world priorone
of information scarcitya buyer could not gain easy access
to the information that he/
she needed. If a buyer needed
to learn something about
a product or service, it was
understood that he needed to
talk to a sales rep.
Now, those days are over and
companies that fail to adapt
will likely fall behind. Today,
we live in a world of information abundance and buyers
are using easy access to
information to seize control
of their own buying process.
As a result, they don't typically

34 PRAETORIAN

engage with sales reps until

they are 70-80% done with the
buying process. Buyers are
now conditioned to wait until
they have reached a level of
information parity, or become
even more knowledgeable
than a sales person, before
making themselves known to
a company. In this new world,
marketing teams need to step
up and take on a bigger role in
the revenue cycle because it
is they who own the customer
during that first 70-80% of the
buying cycle.
Content is key to this whole
process. This does not refer
to traditional marketing collateral, but rather content
such as blogs, whitepapers,
webinars, podcasts, industry
research, code, tools, videos,

or any other form of information sharing. You will hear the

phrase "content marketing"
quite often during your time at
Praetorian.
The goals of our content
marketing strategy include:
building brand awareness,
strengthening customer
retention/loyalty, lead generation, increasing website traffic,
promoting thought leadership,
enabling sales, as well as lead
nurturing. The content we
generate will be broken into
three stages: early, middle,
and late stage content. Early
stage will consist of thought
leadership and promoting
best practices to build brand
and awareness. Middle stage
content will house buyers
guides, RFP templates and

industry information to help

structure a buyers research.
Late stage content will be
company-specific information
used to help evaluate and reaffirm a buyer's section of our
services.
We spent the last two years
building a solid foundation to
support our content marketing strategy. That foundation
includes our people, brand,
website, values, and everything
else that Praetorian represents today. Going forward,
our strategy will be focused
on maximizing the value we
get from intellectual capital.
Developing a content marketing culture, where everyone
participates and contributes,
is critical to our strategy's success.

CREATE MORE VALUE

THAN YOU CAPTURE
Tim O'Reilly's mantra is "create more value
than you capture" and it's one we subscribe to
at Praetorian. If you read our blog you know
that we share everything. We share code and
our tools. Our team includes published authors, patent holders, open source developers,
industry researchers, and conference presenters; all of whom provide great value to clients,
the community, and each other.
All successful companies do this.

PURSUE REPUTATION,
PROFITS WILL FOLLOW
The words reputation and brand are often used
interchangeably. At the core of our brand are the
people who bring it to life, the Praetorian team. Team
members at all levels impact how external audiences
perceive our brand, its personality and its promise.
The fact that we are able to continue to do what we
do is because, over that time, weve worked with
clients who have trusted us with their networks, their
software and their company. Our reputation is key to
attracting and retaining the best customers.

DESIGN &
AESTHETICS
"Hey, you guys have a nice website."
We hear this a lot from new prospects, but why is it so important to
pour so much time and energy into
designing and developing a worldclass website?
According to a study from the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, the
appeal of the overall visual design
of a site, including layout, photography, typography, font size, and color
schemes, is the number one
factor people use to evaluate a
websites credibility. It's also important to note that our website is often
the first impression we get to make
with a new client. Therefore, our
website's visual appeal often defines
the client's first impression of our
company's credibility.
First impressions set expectations
and often influence the experiences
our clients have with Praetorian and
our services. When you first visited
Praetorian's website, what was your
first impression like? What did its
visual design say to you about our
company?

BRANDING
REDUCES RISK
Who is the biggest B2B brand of all time?
IBM. There's even a saying, "nobody ever
got fired for buying IBM." If we are seen as
thought leaders and trusted advisors, our
buyers' perceived risk will be reduced and
sales will increase.

PRAETORIAN 35

RISE OF THE

Praetorian
GUARD

PUBLISHER
Praetorian Team

SURVIVAL GUIDE

PRAETORIAN ISSUE #03

EDITORS OFFICE

Carnegie Hall Engagement Closeout Meeting, Tour, and Concert

From left to right: Anthony Marquez, Josh Abraham, Matt Starolis, Bob
Dooling, Nathan Sportsman, Katy Sportsman, Sarah Kalmbach

Praetorian
401 Congress Ave
Suite 1540
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: +1 800 675-5152
www.praetorian.com
info@praetorian.com

With Dr. Martin Hellman, Co-inventor of Public Key Cryptography

From left to right: Bob Dooling, Anthony Marquez, Kelby Ludwig, Martin
Hellman, Nathan Sportsman

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Any policies and procedures outlined in
this magazine are not intended to confer
contractual rights of any kind upon any
team member, or to create contractual
obligations of any kind for the Company.
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY.

The Dragons of Serpens Official Book Signing

From left to right: Nathan Sportsman, Richard Penshorn, Sarah Kalmbach,
Matt Starolis, Anthony Weems (author), Andrew Chang-Gu, Chris Prosise,
Mark Judice, Paul Jauregui

Copyright 2015 Praetorian. All rights reserved.