In 2016, Russian hackers broke into John Podesta’s Gmail during the US election. That single breach exposed how vulnerable email really is – and it directly inspired a billion-dollar cybersecurity startup.
At the time, even the most powerful people in the world couldn’t fully secure their inboxes. Once hackers got access, there was nothing stopping them from reading everything: drafts, attachments and sensitive documents.
Instead of trying to prevent email hacks, three ex-Dropbox engineers — Abhishek Agrawal, Ryan Noon, and Chris Park — asked a better question: What if you assumed the breach would happen, and protected the inbox anyway?
Material Security built a powerful layer on top of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, locking down sensitive emails, verifying identity before access, and giving security teams real visibility — all without requiring a migration.
In this episode, I sit down with Abhishek Agrawal, Co-founder & CEO of Material Security. We dive into their journey from pre-idea validation to scaling to a billion dollar valuation in about 5 years, lessons in management and leadership, and most importantly understand how Material Security is redefining email security for enterprises.
If you're starting out or searching for your billion-dollar idea, this is a masterclass on going from zero to scale.
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