Two years after a $70 million raise gave it unicorn status, fast-growing cybersecurity firm JupiterOne has a new CEO.
Erkang Zheng, the founder who got JupiterOne from zero to a $1 billion valuation, is stepping aside, ceding the CEO role to JupiterOne’s COO, Paul Forte.
Zheng will stay on as chairman.
Zheng, who has worn “this owner and operator hat” for some time, said the timing is right for Forte to step in.
“For the past six months, I had Paul step into the COO role to help me with internal operations, which allowed me to focus on customers and product innovations, and I think this is just the right time to have somebody like Paul get us to the next level," Zheng said.
Forte, who joined JupiterOne initially as chief revenue officer last year before moving into the COO role in August, has had top sales roles and multiple big name tech companies, such as SingleStore and ChannelAdvisor.
Forte's leadership could usher in a new phase of growth for the 6-year-old company, Zheng said.
“We have grown significantly,” he said. “We want to continue that growth.”
Forte said JupiterOne continues to defy the odds, as just 13 percent of Software-as-a-Service companies get to $10 million in revenue — "So we’re beyond that.” And the average time to get there is five and a half years, he said.
“Erkang gets it in two and a half, three years,” Forte said. Add in the fact that JupiterOne is among the “0.00006 percent of those companies that reach unicorn status,” and the foundation has been laid, he said.
Forte said his sweet spot is helping companies in the next leg, the $10 million to $100 million journey.
“We’re going to be able to take JupiterOne to a level where we can do something really special in the market,” Forte said.
But what that something “special” is is not yet defined, he said.
“The good news is, the characteristics of companies that go public, the characteristics of the companies that blow up to $100 million … or become acquisition targets to large enterprises, it’s all the same,” Forte said.
He sees the commonality as high growth and great product innovation. And he sees JupiterOne getting there, customer by customer.
JupiterOne has been on a tear, moving its headquarters to RTP’s Boxcar complex last year. And Erkang estimates it has “at least” two to three years of cash runway, depending on how it decides to accelerate its innovation into the market.
In the meantime, Forte plans to ensure JupiterOne is moving in the right direction. Forte, who describes his leadership style as “trust-based and inclusive,” moved from college to the military and found his passion in management.
“My real true passion was is leading people, and I just happen to do it in the software industry,” he said.
Erkang describes Forte’s leadership style as “joyful accountability.” Forte is one of those people who can energize a team and bring people together, he said.
Erkang said he isn't considering another startup at the moment. “Not right now,” he said. “This is still my baby.”
Forte lives in Cleveland, but plans to be in town two to three times a month.
One of Forte’s first projects is a strategic partnership JupiterOne formed with external attack surface management platform watchTower. The collaboration will help customers prioritize emerging threats.
