Niv is the co-founder and CEO of Noma Security. He raised a $100M Series B and scaled from 20 to 100 employees in a year, as a first-time founder, in cybersecurity, in the middle of a war that started the day Noma launched.
In this conversation, Niv talks about what it actually takes to win: the four-day POC sprint with no product, the candidate they signed three days after he'd already signed with a competitor, the customers he turned away because the feature didn't justify a company, and the toll it takes when you're a founder who's "never full."
We also get into the stuff founders don't say on stage — the loneliness, the lost sleep, the stress that physically catches up with you, and the slow realization that the company you're building starts to look uncomfortably like you.
▬▬▬ CHAPTERS ▬▬▬
00:00 Cold open
01:05 Intro
01:30 What "winning mentality" actually means
03:25 The 4-day POC with no product
06:30 How Noma signed a candidate who'd already signed elsewhere
08:45 How to cultivate culture at scale
14:30 How fast to let someone go when culture doesn't fit
18:30 Niv's childhood and where the competitiveness came from
22:00 "I'm never full" — the founder hunger problem
24:30 The day-to-day suffering of being a CEO
28:20 The 5% empty glass mistake every founder makes
32:30 Has anyone told you you're too transparent?
36:30 Strong opinions, loosely held — the anti-blaming culture
41:00 The hardest part of giving up control as you scale
45:30 Loneliness, sleep, and the hidden cost
46:30 What Niv got right as a first-time founder
48:30 Why he told customers to buy from Palo, not Noma
51:30 Did you have this vision on day one?
53:30 Are you the same person you were 2 years ago?
57:30 The biggest blind spot: social media and branding
1:00:00 When Niv became the bottleneck
1:03:30 The moment he realized Noma was something different
1:07:00 Does he ever take a moment to appreciate it?
1:08:30 The sticky-note values exercise that defined the company
1:10:30 Inside the $100M Series B decision
1:13:30 What success actually means to Niv
1:14:30 Is Noma your full identity?
1:16:30 Legacy
1:18:30 What people misunderstand about him
1:21:00 Closing
If you want the producer notes, the clips, or to get in touch with the show: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ephraimyarmak/