Last week, Logikcull announced the addition of William “Bill” Welch to its board of directors, as an independent member. Welch brings with him 25 years of experience leading large and fast-growing technology companies. He led Duo Security as COO where, just weeks after he joined, the company was acquired by Cisco for $2.35 billion, and earlier he served as COO of Zscaler, the cloud security company, which became one of the year’s top IPOs. All that in just 2018 alone. Previously, he held sales leadership roles at HP, Oracle, and Symantec.
We recently sat down with Welch to discuss his career, how he came to join Logikcull’s board, and where he sees the legal market moving.
Logikcull: You’re joining Logikcull’s board as growth continues to accelerate in terms of customer and revenue acquisition. How did that connection come about and why is now the right time to come on board?
Welch: I was introduced to Andy [Wilson, Logikcull co-founder and CEO] by Robert Scholssman, Chief Legal Officer, at Zscaler. Letting people know I was looking for board opportunities, through my network, I was introduced to Andy. After spending time with Andy, his leadership team, and leaders of Logikcull's board, it was obvious to me they had something special that the market needed. Logikcull had the right culture fit for me personally and a relevant market fit; it was the right time for me to onboard now that I have had the chance to get good experience, and a good time for the company to bring people on for the next part of their journey.
Logikcull is very deliberate in building a solution that their customers have requested; they have listened to the signal in the market and deliver a solution that is easy to use and scalable and has a very quick return on value.
Logikcull: You’ve had decades of experience selling security software to large corporations. How has the corporate approach to data security changed over that time?
Welch: I think that the entire market has changed. The way that technology is purchased—from onsite to in the cloud, to self service. to technology that is purpose-built for business outcomes that companies need. On data security, before companies would have all of their data sitting in their data centers and there really was no collaboration or sharing. Now there are so many other entities that are either sharing or have access to your data—partners, customers, outside vendors—data is now the trading mechanism for companies to deliver on their promises to their customer base.
Now there are so many other entities that are either sharing or have access to your data—partners, customers, outside vendors—data is now the trading mechanism for companies to deliver on their promises to their customer base.
Data now has more protection posture, such as laws around privacy and GDPR to help companies protect your personal and private information.
Logikcull: How have corporate perspectives on and relationships to third-party service providers like law firms and vendors changed in recent years?
Welch: I do not think it has changed as aggressively as it should be. The reality is that we have spoken to a few in-house leaders, GCs, CLOs, and the like, about security concerns. An interesting pattern is that all of their companies vet vendors for cybersecurity and data security. None of them, none, vet their law firms. People who have the most information are not doing anything.
Think of the information you’re giving your lawyers—intellectual property, guides to settlements, material insider information about mergers, acquisitions, business performance. It’s a bit cliche to say that law firms are a treasure trove of sensitive information, but they really are.
We should be giving our legal processes more attention because these businesses are now the ones that are holding the intellectual property—law firms, trading platforms, healthcare, all hold the data. Data from both companies, customers, partners, and outside vendors.
Logikcull: It can be challenging to resonate with corporate buyers. What sets companies that are able to succeed in the large enterprise market apart from those that fail?
Welch: Companies who succeed do two things really well:
- Inspire and encourage their own employees to a mission that is focused
- Build products that are needed and wanted in the market
Ones that fail are ones that are building experiments with technologies without customer or partner input on what their problems are and how they can solve them on a very quick time to value.
If it is not simple or easy to use, people have choices, they will move on to another solution.
If it is not simple or easy to use, people have choices, they will move on to another solution. If there is no quick return or value people will move on.
Logikcull: Tell us about your leadership style.
Welch: I believe that the corporate organizational chart, that pyramid, should be inverted. We as leaders are not here to be served, we are here to serve others. And those ‘others’ include our team, employees, customers, and business partners. That means adopting a posture of being selfless versus selfish.
I believe that the corporate organizational chart, that pyramid, should be inverted. We as leaders are not here to be served, we are here to serve others.
A servant leader enters into agreements with the team about business activities. Agreements require a two-way conversation versus a one-way directive. The servant leadership posture offers a safety net. Yes, we have goals to achieve together, but if employees fail, I will catch them and take the blame. When good things happen, they enjoy the limelight, to encourage and inspire them. Servant leaders also make sure their team members benefit from coaching and mentors. People have to know how much you care about them before you can have an impact on their lives.
The reason all of this is so important to me is that servant leadership develops highly engaged employees. And when people are engaged, encouraged, and inspired, their interactions with customers and partners will be that much better. From a business perspective, it is black and white.
Logikcull: Finally, a year from now, where do you expect Logikcull to be?
Welch: I expect Logikcull to continue to move into being a market maker, continuing to be an industry thought leader. I expect the company will grow corporately, financially, and that they will continue to be a very relevant player in this space. I expect there to be opportunities to reinvent the space based on Logickull's innovation and posture.
