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From Department of Defense to Cybersecurity Startup: Justin Travis Shares his 6 Best Pieces of Advice

Justin Travis always had an entrepreneurial spirit. After studying and working in IT administration, he became interested in cybersecurity. For many years, Justin consulted for the Department of Defense and the Airforce, and it was during this time he met his future co-founder, Matt McClaskey.

The idea for Kasm (https://www.kasmweb.com) actually stemmed from a capstone project Justin completed for an IT security course back in college. Kasm is a container streaming platform for people who want a virtual desktop or higher level of security for applications used over the web. It provides a rendering of a browser, application, or desktop in a temporary container, and none of the code running in the container ever touches your personal computer.

During our Clubhouse interview with Justin, we learned more about his startup journey, biggest obstacles, and greatest lessons.

  1. “Realize how much time and effort it takes to have a startup” - Justin Travis

Kasm wasn’t the first project Justin and Matt worked on. Before Kasm, they built another startup that was ultimately designed to help Airforce bases check their managed infrastructure devices like routers, switches, and firewalls.

When it comes to building a startup, Justin warned that “there might be consequences if you don’t fully commit.” You can end up wasting your time if you’re not ready to direct all your effort towards your startup. His team underestimated the amount of time and energy required to build their first startup, and the project was ultimately unsuccessful. Major life events and other responsibilities caused the project to fizzle out before it ever really got off the ground.

  1. Build a product you’re passionate about and that you would use everyday

While Justin and Matt’s first startup solved an important problem, it had limited use cases and didn’t need to be implemented daily. In contrast, customers use Kasm everyday and in multiple different ways depending on their needs. Justin also pointed out that it's easier to stay excited about a product you actually want to use, as this helps you stay motivated.

“Try to build something that you use everyday and that you’re super passionate about….something like Kasm. It is a platform I use daily, so it’s just always at the front of my mind, it's always something I want to improve because it's something I want to use for myself.”

  1. You can’t just focus on building your product, you need to actively seek out potential customers

“Ultimately to grow your business you need to get your product or your solution in front of the right people.”

Justin explained the most challenging, but important, part of running a startup is “getting it in front of the right people.” If you don’t know who your target audience is, or how to communicate with them, you’ll waste time and resources engaging with people who have no interest in your brand. Startups need customers to generate revenue and word of mouth, two aspects that are key for a sustainable business. You also have to consider your competition. For Kasm specifically, many competitors like VMware and Citrix have huge budgets, so they can easily spend more on marketing and Google Ads. To combat this, Justin and Matt use slightly different strategies. They try not to bid on the same keywords and they focus more on engaging IT professionals, the open source community, and technology enthusiasts in Reddit, blogs and Youtube.

Justin also stressed the importance of crafting a short, focused elevator pitch that sums up the idea and value of your product. “One of the hardest questions that someone can ask me is, “Hey, what is Kasm?” I think founders should always be focused on honing that little three sentence elevator pitch: what is it that I have, what value does it provide, and why is it different from everything else out there?” Having a focused message not only makes it easier to capture someone’s attention, but it also helps your team stay on track with the main vision of the startup.

  1. Focus on your vision and stick to it initially, but once you have customers, listen to them

“Make sure you keep quality at the top of your mind and make sure your initial vision is executed as you see it. But then there’s the flip side of that coin. Once you get your product in the hands of your customers, make sure you listen to what they’re saying”

When you first begin, Justin recommends sticking with one main idea. It’s tempting to start expanding and adding features right away, but you need to build a great product and test it with the market first. At the end of the day, you need to satisfy the needs of your customers if you want to stay in business.

Once you start seeing success with your startup, it’s important to listen to your customers! They’re the ones paying for your product, and they’ll likely have some great ideas about how you can improve. Justin and Matt thought browser isolation was the main purpose of Kasm, but it’s use cases have developed and grown in ways they never thought about. Justin believes Kasm’s success has come from sticking to a core vision, but also being flexible and willing to adapt to what customers want.

  1. Optimizing your marketing and ads is an ongoing process

“It's a constant project I would say, and it requires constant care and feeding. If you just set ads and walk away, you’re probably either going to have no engagement or you’re going to spend a lot of money with no return on investment.”

One of Kasm’s main marketing channels is Google Ads. During the interview, Justin explained that Kasm is always refining and testing different ad settings to maximize return on investment. Marketers need to collect data and then use that data to make better targeting decisions. It often turns out that we don’t know as much about our target audience as we think we do. Your initial targets may not be engaging with your ads, and you don’t want to waste resources on a persona that isn’t going to convert. As your business grows and evolves, you may also find that your target audience shifts or changes, and your digital ad settings need to reflect these updates.

  1. Your team can make or break your startup

Justin’s advice is simple: “Get the right people on the bus.” The first few hires are really important decisions, but they’re difficult to get right, especially if you're not super knowledgeable about the function or job requirements. Justin recommended learning about the position you’re hiring for and verifying candidates through research and recommendations. He also stressed the importance of implementing good processes and documentation so new employee onboarding is as quick and seamless as possible.

Want to hear more awesome startup stories? Growth Channel (https://growthchannel.io/) is teaming up with Sloop.ai (https://www.sloop.ai/) to interview a new founder on Clubhouse every second Friday of the month with the club Go, Go, Startups! (https://www.clubhouse.com/club/go-go-startups). Attend the next session and participate in a live Q&A!

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