YC: Requests for Startups

The fact that YC overlooks the dire need for next-generation cybersecurity solutions is quite shocking. In the coming years, cybersecurity, trust, and safety will be essential needs of every customer and enterprise application. For example, the whole fiasco with the spread of fake Taylor Swift's nude images is just the beginning of the exploitation of internet data on an industrial scale. We can already see attempts to commercialize services similar to ransomware-as-a-service that, for a small amount of money, generate atrocious content about every possible person and spread it online automatically. We are on the edge of a new revolution that will bring malicious tools and services even closer to regular consumers and make them more affordable. I think that our cybersecurity tool chain is far from ready for what is coming.

You can't buy (or sell) cybersecurity. It's a property of things, not a thing in itself.

The same will certainly apply to the intra-head security you want against fake content and propaganda.

I apologize, but I don't understand your point. Could you please explain to me what you mean by that or how the fact that you "can't buy cybersecurity" contradicts what I wrote?

The cyber security market was valued at USD 153.65 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow from USD 172.32 billion in 2023 to USD 424.97 billion in 2030, so apparently people are buying cybersecurity solutions.

Almost the entirety of that market does not actually improve the security of anything.

The rest looks much more like services than products.

I understand and agree with your point that you can't just "buy" cybersecurity by throwing money at the problem. It's more like building a well-defended castle, where multiple elements work together to create true security. Cybersecurity is a company-wide process that needs to be powered by specialized tools.

The fact that one of the fastest-growing markets is omitted by YC is shocking to me. The opportunity to build $1B companies, which seems to be one of YC's acceptance criteria, is enormous.

I don't know how far or close you are to the security field, but I do share your sentiment that many tools and so-called security solutions are useless and don't solve the problem. So it's now even more necessary to go and build new solutions. The problem persists and grows.

I can agree with the opportunity analysis, but my argument is that it's understandable for people to feel uncomfortable to operate on that market at all. That said, I'm not sure there's any consideration for "comfort" on that list, so I may indeed be completely wrong here.

Anyway, I do agree there's plenty to work on the solutions. But those will probably come from areas like "correctness", "user empowerment", and etc. The closest I see to it is "policy enforcement".

There's actually at least a few cybersecurity related companies in the current batch. Not to mention Reality Defender (https://realitydefender.com/) from a couple years ago who have been doing well. YC is absolutely interested in the space. If anything, they may not have included cybersecurity in the RFS because they're already seeing and funding founders tackling it!