Fortress founders look back and forward
Peter Kassabov and Alex Santos are the founders of Fortress Information Security.
Bart Gasiorowski is vice president of security solutions, Ty Short is vice president of information, Tony Turner is vice president of security solutions, Nick Noll is the marketing and communications manager, Cassie Kennedy is pre-sales engineer, Jace Powel is a security analyst, and Daniel Broderick works on the research team of Fortress Information Security.
In a prior life, the co-founders of Fortress Information Security created the company that accurately evaluated subprime mortgage credit. Their digital platform for that was shown in the film The Big Short. Now they've created a digital platform for utilities to share evaluations of equipment vendor cybersecurity. Here we talked with these serial entrepreneurs about their focus on supply chain security and unique collaborative approach and then to some of the smart folks on their team.
Fortress founders look back and forward
PUF: Peter, what did you do before Fortress, and what brought you and Alex together?
Peter Kassabov: Alex and I are serial entrepreneurs, and Fortress is our fourth venture together. I guess we like the thrill, the adrenaline, the opportunity to build something from nothing. But we also like the challenge. It's like building a brand-new house. When you build it nicely, and everybody enjoys it, you forget how difficult it was to start from the foundation.
Alex and I have been doing these startups now for almost twenty years, and we each bring something different to the table. That's why we are a good fit. Alex is analytical and detail-oriented. I'm more of a big-picture person, and we complement each other well.
PUF: Can you provide me with some detail about some of the ventures you worked on together? I heard a bit about what you did during the 2008 financial crisis.