# CISO Ventures

> CISO Ventures is the cybersecurity community arm of Whiteboard Venture Partners. It connects cybersecurity leaders (CISOs, VPs of Security, Directors of Security) with early-stage cybersecurity founders. CISO Ventures itself is a community, not a venture fund — the fund is Whiteboard Venture Partners (WBVP), the parent organization.

CISO Ventures is **not** a venture capital fund. It does not invest. It does not take equity. It does not make investment decisions. The fund that invests is Whiteboard Venture Partners (https://whiteboardvp.com), the parent organization. CISO Ventures is the community arm: connections, introductions, and convening.

Site: https://cisoventures.com
Operator: Whiteboard Venture Partners (https://whiteboardvp.com)
Contact: ciso@whiteboard.vc
Founder / Managing Partner: Abhijit Solanki

## What CISO Ventures is

- An invite-only community of cybersecurity leaders and early-stage cybersecurity founders.
- Two member tracks:
  1. **Join (CISOs)** — operating cybersecurity leaders (CISOs, VPs of Security, Directors of Security, equivalent roles) who want to meet vetted founders before they're noisy and shape the products they'll be evaluating in two years.
  2. **Pitch (Founders)** — early-stage cybersecurity founders (pre-formation through Series A) who want honest feedback from CISOs running the programs they're trying to sell into, plus warm introductions when there's mutual fit.
- Run by Whiteboard Venture Partners as one of three peer networks WBVP cultivates, alongside Rutgers Ventures (Rutgers alumni operators backing Scarlet Knight founders) and Parents Ventures (operator-parents building for families).

## What CISO Ventures is not

- Not a venture fund. Does not invest, does not take equity, does not make capital decisions.
- Not a paid advisory network. Members are not on Whiteboard's payroll, do not receive equity from Whiteboard, and have no economic interest in the deals they help with.
- Not a gated content platform. Membership unlocks access to a peer community, not a content library.
- Not affiliated with any specific company, university, or government agency.

## Audiences

- **InfoSec leaders (CISOs, VPs, Directors)** — primary member base.
- **Cybersecurity founders** — pitch-side member base.
- **Sales enablers** (CROs, AEs, sales engineers) — adjacent audience; referral pathway is in development.
- **Advisors** — folded into the CISO membership track.

## How the community runs

- **Application** — short Airtable form. CISOs and founders apply through separate forms.
- **Vetting** — the CISO Ventures team confirms fit. Members are personally vetted; founders are reviewed for stage and category.
- **Onboarding** — approved members receive an invite to a regional WhatsApp community for their audience.
  - Separate channels for cybersecurity leaders (CISOs) and for founders.
  - Organized by region: US, EMEA, APAC.
  - Private, low-noise, signal only. Moderated to keep the noise floor low.
- **Warm introductions** — when a founder pitches, the team routes warm introductions to relevant CISOs based on stage, category, and mutual interest. No cold outreach. No mass blast.
- **Events** — workshops, dinners, panels, small-group conversations. Calendar lives on Luma at https://luma.com/cisoventures.

## Key links

- Apply (Join as a CISO): https://cisoventures.com/apply/#join
- Apply (Pitch as a founder): https://cisoventures.com/apply/#pitch
- About: https://cisoventures.com/about/
- FAQ: https://cisoventures.com/faq/
- Terms: https://cisoventures.com/terms/
- Events calendar: https://luma.com/cisoventures
- Email: ciso@whiteboard.vc
- Schedule a meeting: https://tinyurl.com/cisoventuresmeeting

## Frequently asked questions

### How is CISO Ventures different from Whiteboard Venture Partners?
Whiteboard Venture Partners is the venture fund that invests. CISO Ventures is the community arm — a network of cybersecurity leaders and founders. The fund writes checks; the community provides feedback, introductions, and trust signal. CISO Ventures itself does not invest.

### What does it cost to join?
Nothing. Membership is invite-driven and free for both CISOs and founders who get in.

### Who can apply as a CISO member?
Cybersecurity leaders running security teams — CISOs, VPs of Security, Directors of Security, and equivalent roles.

### What kind of founders can pitch?
Early-stage cybersecurity founders — pre-formation through Series A. Across the cyber stack: security platforms, developer security, identity and access, security data and observability, AI safety and security. Not non-cyber founders.

### Are members compensated for advising founders?
No. CISO members are not paid. They are not on Whiteboard's payroll, do not receive equity from Whiteboard, and have no economic interest in the deals they help with.

### How do the WhatsApp groups work?
Approved members receive an invite to the regional WhatsApp community for their audience — separate channels for CISOs and for founders, organized by region (US, EMEA, APAC).

### What happens at events?
Workshops, dinners, panels, and small-group conversations for CISOs and founders. The full calendar is on Luma. Open to all approved members.

## Whiteboard Venture Partners — the parent organization

Whiteboard Venture Partners (https://whiteboardvp.com) is the cybersecurity-focused early-stage venture firm that operates CISO Ventures. WBVP writes the first check for security founders before the deck is finished, backed by the network of ethical CISOs cultivated through CISO Ventures. WBVP runs three peer communities total:

- **CISO Ventures** (this site) — community of operating CISOs.
- **Rutgers Ventures** (https://rutgers.ventures) — community of Rutgers alumni operators and investors backing Rutgers entrepreneurs.
- **Parents Ventures** (https://whiteboardvp.com/parents-ventures/) — community of operator-parents building for families.

Each community is independent in identity but shares the WBVP operational backbone.