The Cloudbric effect

Cloudbric is a high-level website protection service with a simple interface. It was established with the mission of providing accessible security to all internet users, especially those who consider traditional web security services as too difficult and too costly.

At whom is your startup aimed?

Basically, SMBs and entrepreneurs who conduct business online are our target users. Anyone who is using hosting services such as Drupal, Zoomla, and WordPress would find great use for our service, especially since Cloudbric is designed to assist IT novices.

How does your startup stand out against its competitors?

Unlike other website protection solutions, we do not charge based on protection features. We charge based on the website’s traffic. If the website is small, the user can use our protection features for free. We charge as the website grows. We offer the enterprise level security as default so that users do not need to compromise security performance over cost. There’s absolutely no company that’s providing free web application firewall against web hacking, identity theft, website defacement, DDoS attacks and SQL injections.

Where did the idea for the startup come from?

I used to be an “intrapreneur.” I have worked in the security industry for more than five years. Due to the development of IT and mobile devices, the number of internet business and websites has grown exponentially. However, while most enterprises are aware of the risks from web attacks and have protection measures to a certain degree, SMBs and non-tech savvy people are not secured. The latter knows how to do business online, operate a commerce site or a blog community, but usually hasn’t had a chance to apply protection services because existing services are too complicated and costly. I wanted to solve this problem.

Did you have any concerns when starting your business, if so what were they?

I was thinking, maybe there isn’t enough demand. According to the research, only 1% of website users were using website protection worldwide. It wasn’t the problem of need, as this is the era of hacking. It was more of a problem of supply side. Existing solutions were targeting the enterprises only. I realized that this is an untapped market, where we need to lower the barrier but we really need to put some efforts.

What is your business background, and what got you interested in startups?

My background is engineering and I’ve been working as a product manager in Penta Security Systems, one of the top 3 security company in Asia. I mostly served enterprises customers including some of Korea’s most renowned companies. Being at the forefront of technology, I knew that security technology should be available to all. If I do not take the initiative, no one will let the ordinary Internet users. I wanted to make changes, and luckily for me, I was able to get support from my boss at Penta Security as he himself well knew the market situation.

How did you initially raise funding for your company?

When I came up with this ‘accessible security to all’ idea, my boss supported me from the beginning. I pitched to the board members of Penta Security, and they agreed to license the Logic Analysis Engine technology and provide seed investment. I was thrilled to employ the technology from Penta Security, which the IT certification lab Tolly Group rated considerably higher than other companies in the world.

What has been your greatest achievement so far?

It’s been only 6 months since Cloudbric was introduced, including 3 months beta period.

For the past 6 months, Cloudbric acquired 1,227 users and 75 active users.

I would say, I feel the achievement when every single user register his website to us. One of users told our team that she appreciates us for providing her the visualized information of who’s attacking her and why. She had never thought of being attacked, because she was operating a small blog. I feel like Cloudbric is the affordable private guard in the cyber world.

How have you kept your business relevant and engaged with your audience over the last three years?

Unlike other website protection services serving the enterprises, Cloudbric’s audience is the general public. He or she may not know about the security at all. That’s Cloudbric is born to be easy and interesting. We have a contents creator who’s translating security language to people language. Cloudbric wants to be a non-intimidating service. We minimize using technical terms.

What has been your biggest challenge so far?

Exposure to the public is the major challenge for us as we have limited resources for marketing. Once users know the service, they use it. It’s proven with our conversion rate. Yet, we haven’t had a chance to be spotlighted yet. Our team has listed the activities we would like to do to promote Cloudbric, and we are seeking for partners who can achieve those step by step.

In the coming year, what would you like to achieve with your business?

Our first milestone is to attract 10,000 active users. Eventually, we’d like to secure more than 500,000 websites, regardless of the size.

What has been your most valuable lesson so far since starting your business?

Making something go public is a really challenging job, and I respect all the business entities that have accomplished. For instance, shampoo is now a necessary product but before commercializing it, people just used soap. Everyday I try to think of better, more strategic approach to make something I believe become a product generally used.

Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to someone thinking about starting a business, what would it be?

Now that many people are thinking of starting own business, I hope more and more people do something that they can think of it as a calling. Rather than looking for series of success, I’d like to encourage people pursuing a mission that’s benefiting the greater community. Also, remember that risk management is as important as promoting business.