Appointments

Ryan Gurney, ex-Googler, joins YL Ventures as CISO-in-Residence

Former Chief Security Officer at Looker, which was acquired by Google, brings customer-centric and early adopter-perspective to support YL Ventures portfolio companies’ expansion

Seed-stage venture capital firm YL Ventures announced on Tuesday that Ryan Gurney will join the firm as its new full-time CISO (Chief Information Security Officer)-in-Residence.

 

Prior to joining YL Ventures, Ryan was the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) at Looker, a business intelligence software and big data analytics platform acquired by Google for $2.6 billion, now part of the Google Cloud Platform. Prior to the acquisition, Ryan served as Looker’s CSO, leading security and compliance and helping Google and Looker integrate and centralize key security processes post-acquisition. Previously, Ryan led all security functions at Zendesk in his role as VP of Information Security, where he played a key role in the company’s successful IPO. Additionally, he held security leadership roles at Engine Yard, eBay, and PwC.

 

Ryan Gurney. Photo: YL Ventures

 

"After several years of serving on YL Ventures’ Venture Advisory Board among 100 global CISOs and cybersecurity executives from Fortune 100 and high-growth companies, Ryan is now looking to take a more active role in fostering the success of early-stage startups as full-time CISO-in-Residence," read the firm's press release. "He will work directly with entrepreneurs pre- and post-investment, supporting their ideation processes, highlighting greenfield market opportunities, validating their value propositions, refining go-to-market strategies, and optimizing their early-stage success in closing paying customers."

 

“I’m eager to gain more exposure to the business side of investing, interact with sharp, motivated entrepreneurs in this space and share my successes and failures in managing a company's security posture,” said Gurney. “I am most excited to bring my insight into what buyers look for in a security product and vendor relationship, as well as help founders tackle CISO and security management pain points.”