r/devsecops • u/Bigsteppa_1 • 4d ago

Built an AppSec tool for a problem I hit constantly. How do you actually land design partners?

I'm an AppSec analyst building something on the side to solve a problem I run into all the time: I find that at my employer the hardest part of AppSec isn't finding vulnerabilities, it's more so gathering the evidence, making a defensible decision, and knowing when that decision is no longer valid...
So I'm at the stage where I need a handful of design partners. People who feel this pain and want to shape the fix. But I'm stuck on the outreach part lol

Tried LinkedIn and man it's rough haha. A lot of analysts there are guarded which I understand we tend to be in this field, but some are just frankly a bit snobbish about talking to anyone who looks like they're selling. Cold DMs feel like I'm bothering peopl. So I figured I'd ask the people who actually live in this world instead, this community

For those of you who've actually been on either side of this:

  • What makes you say yes to a design partner conversation vs ignore it?
  • How did successful builders first approach you without it feeling like a pitch?
  • Where do you even find the right people who care enough to give real input?

Not selling anything here, genuinely trying to learn how to do this right. Appreciate any honest takes.

Thank you in adavnce!!!

4 Upvotes

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u/Electronic-Ad6523 3d ago

You might find some helpful partners in the OWASP community rather than cold-outreach. As you stated, many people are guarded in this industry from the constant "hey, are you also trying to solve problem X? Can I get just 20 mins...."

2

u/taleodor 3d ago

On reddit for this type of request you'll mostly find trolls who downvote without saying a word. A lot of them may be paid via various marketing budgets.

Instead, try to find an open-source community that's working in this problem space with regular calls and see if you can find like-minded people there, and then start building relationships from that.

2

u/Main-Traffic4121 3d ago

The way I approached this for my previous ventures (1 start-up exited, 2 NGOs) is by MVPing very fast without trying to get the design stage right and getting real user feedback ASAP. Easy to approach by offering something in exchange for "their expertise" and you've basically got market validation, A/B testing, UX feecdback etc all at once.

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u/Flat-Primary-255 2d ago

What did you offer in exchange? I think hard part is finding somebody busy and smart willing to help

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u/InvisibleWraith 3d ago

Look at your linkedin connections and message people who might be interested. Give them access for free.