Starting a company in 2024 has felt like navigating a stormy sea. The winds of economic uncertainty, the waves of geopolitical tension, and the shifting tides of investor sentiment have created a challenging environment for entrepreneurs. Gone are the days of easy fundraising and a blind pursuit of growth at all costs.
Having seen the impacts of the ‘growth at all costs’ mentality in past roles, my co-founder, David Pollak, and I spoke early on about building a sustainable and profitable business. We speak continuously together about making “conscious” and “intentional” decisions- from choosing our initial funding partners (shout-out to OakSeed and BasisTech!) to the way we’ve chosen to build our early team.
We believe that focusing on unit economics, customer lifetime value, and efficient growth on the 0-1 journey is not just a necessity in this market- but a strategic advantage.
Our vision remains bold: to revolutionize the way we analyse deployed artifacts – by being to deploys what Github is to source code: a hyperscale system of record. It’s a bold ambition given the industry’s entrenched embrace of legacy systems and tired security paradigms, but it’s one built on the CISA-backed Artifact Dependency Graph technology that addresses the complexity of truly knowing what’s been deployed – at present and at any time in the past. So while one could argue we’re currently “pushing not pulling,” we know it’s only a matter of time until we have a solution that could fundamentally change the way organizations operate, security companies themselves build products, and the world’s code becomes more knowable and manageable. But, we don’t believe executing towards a bold vision needs to come at the expense of our core growth principles.
The path ahead remains challenging, but we’ve learned valuable lessons from not only our own journey, but researching the growth stories of different companies and speaking to founders across multiple verticals- from fried chicken shops like Raising Cane’s, process orchestration centaurs like Camunda, scaling fintechs like Built, late-stage raisers like Databricks, ready-to-IPO players like Wiz and Chime, all the way to public companies like CrowdStrike and ServiceNow. There are lessons to be learned absolutely everywhere.
So where does this leave Spice Labs’ focus in 2025?
Prioritizing Profitability: Our focus is not simply acquiring users, but building a sustainable business model with strong unit economics.
Building a High-Performing Team: We’ve assembled a talented and dedicated team, prioritizing remote work to access a global talent pool while fostering a strong company culture through clear communication and regular team-uniting events.
Security: a non-negotiable for how we build. Dmitri Alperovitch, McAfee Vice President of Threat Research, said that the only companies not at risk are those who have nothing worth taking, and that of the world’s biggest firms, there are just two kinds: those that know they’ve been compromised, and those that still haven’t realized they’ve been compromised. We’re building something that people will want, and have built from day 1 with respect for the tools and techniques adversaries employ.
Adapting to the Market: We’re continuously iterating our go-to-market strategy to address the evolving needs of our prospects and customers and changing market dynamics. Gone are the days of ‘homogenous’ security tech stacks and hiring sales teams who can cold call their way to a sale. Building a sustainable company relies on scale – by delighting users, empowering customers, partnering for mutual benefit, and delivering meaningful security visibility.
AI: Rather than leaning into buzzwords and marketing material, we’re focusing on being an enabler vs. direct provider of AI in our initial launch. As customers experiment with AI solutions, they can do so with the comfort of knowing Spice Labs, as their hyperscale system of record, is providing deep visibility into each new library. As more artifacts enter the ecosystem and vulnerabilities are identified, Security Teams will remain confident that they have the necessary insight to continue to securely deliver the outcomes from AI that the business is seeking.
We understand that building a successful and enduring company requires more than just a great product. It requires a strong foundation of financial discipline, a customer-centric approach, and a team that is passionate about achieving long-term success. At Spice Labs, we are holding these principles as pinnacles of our culture as we navigate the seas of 2025 and all that they hold.