Norwest Venture Partners

It is cheaper and easier than ever to create deepfakes.   They’re also more sophisticated than ever — and organizations must have their guard up to combat attacks.   Norwest GP Dave Zilberman runs down the key drivers of the deepfake security market in this #NorwestNowcast. For more on deepfakes, read Dave and Bayan Alizadeh's blog: https://nvp.co/deepfake

When most people think of deepfake attacks, they think of politicians – especially in an election year. But with the rise of AI, deepfake attacks are increasingly targeting enterprises. General Partner Dave Zilberman spoke with Sam Sabin at Axios about the rise of deepfakes in the enterprise and why they’re creating an appetite for security solutions. Key takeaways: ➡️ Deepfake security tools will become a regular part of the enterprise tech stack as attacks get more sophisticated. ➡️ The market for deepfake security tools spans six categories: deepfake image/video detection, deepfake audio detection, content watermarking, identity verification, brand protection and content licensing, and narrative attack protection. ➡️ Convincing deepfake attacks on enterprises aren’t a future threat – they’re already here. Earlier this year, a finance worker was duped into sending $25 million to attackers who used a deepfake “video conference”? Read on to learn more: https://lnkd.in/g3xVGdpn

For the fourth year in a row, we’re proud to be recognized as a founder-friendly investor by Inc. Magazine! We believe in honoring the legacy of what has worked for our founders while offering insights, resources, and a broad network of trusted experts to assist in a handful of strategic areas to support meaningful growth. Or as we call it: the Invited Guest Approach. Here’s to the entrepreneurs across our portfolio who’ve partnered with us on their journeys. 🥂 https://lnkd.in/e5SNdkd9

What do board members actually ask security leaders in board meetings? And what’s the best way to present cybersecurity incidents? Our esteemed panel will cover these questions and more on November 12 at 9am PT / 12pm ET. Register now: https://lnkd.in/gdcNiWyR Hosted by Norwest Venture Partners and Korn Ferry, we’ll be joined by current and former CISOS from Google Cloud, United Airlines, Comcast, and SentinelOne. These battled-tested leaders will discuss becoming “board-ready” and share their guidance for those seeking the same path.

When it comes to doing more with less, performance marketers know how to dial it in. The experts in our portfolio shared how they’ve generated pipeline to land big wins: ◻️ Before large-scale channels are established, low-cost / high ROI traction tactics can be useful. Sedai CMO John Jamie shared about a “Zero Demo” tradeshow they did that focused on incentives for post-event demos instead. ◻️ Narrow in on your audience and get specific about how you serve them. Qualified CMO Maura Rivera put it this way: “You can’t be everything to everybody.” ◻️ Build pipeline and growth by upleveling your ABM strategy. Simpplr CMO Gary Sevounts has implemented an approach he calls Treasure Ops (TOPS), which takes top account ownership to another level!

If you’re looking to drive impact in 2025, our portfolio marketing leaders have the insights to make it happen: 💯 Find your “onlyness.” Workato’s Chief Go-to-Market Officer Chandar Pattabhiram urged our leaders to lean into the differentiator that matters most to their audience. That’s where you’ll find your positioning superpower. 📊 Right Side Up CEO and Founder, Tyler Elliston, and Norwest VP and Operating Exec Lisa (Ramirez) Ames kicked off our B2C track with a discussion on CAC and navigating the nuances of B2C marketing spend. Their guidance: to grow faster and keep CAC constant or reduce it, you must shift the curve through better marketing and a more favored product. 🔑 Vuori's VP of E-commerce Jamie Fontana shared the secrets to her data-driven success. One of her many insights was the 3 fundamental uses for data: validating a hypothesis, telling a story, and measuring key KPIs. 💡 Norwest VP and Operating Exec Renee Cohen and Senior Advisor Ranjeet Vidwans gave us a sneak peek into the results of our 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmarks. In-person events are a focus as well as hiring for  Product marketing. 👥 Speaking of hiring, talent is everything in 2025. Scott Kabat and Simon Fleming-Wood closed the day with a conversation around building a marketing dream team. When it comes to evaluating talent, remember SOIL: Strategic, Ownership, Initiative, Leadership. You want fountains, not drains.

When agentic AI systems generate incorrect tasks, they spawn a chain reaction of errors. How can we build safeguards against this? Norwest Partner Scott Beechuk and Investor Bayan Alizadeh have posed this very question to companies offering AI agent solutions. They shared a number of different approaches and playbooks they use to ensure that hallucinations, errors, and sub-optimal choices don’t compromise production environments. These include: ◼️ Deterministic automation, a.k.a. “Human in the loop” ◼️ Deterministic security  ◼️ Agent logging and observability ◼️ Prompt optimization Read more from Scott and Bayan in their blog: https://nvp.co/ai-agents

On and off the court, our team is always ready to discuss trends across the capital markets. It's even better when we get to sit down with leaders in our portfolio, like Graeme Waitzkin, COO at ICON. Thanks to Wells Fargo for inviting us and Mary Miller to moderate the panel.

Scaling a beauty brand means finding, attracting, and acting on the right opportunities.  Norwest General Partner Sonya Brown will take the stage on Oct. 29 to discuss what the roadmap looks like, alongside fellow ‘brand whisperers’: Cristina Nuñez, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of True Beauty Ventures; Scott Potter, Managing Partner at San Francisco Equity Partners; Jessica Hanson, Senior Vice President and General Manager - Americas at Huda Beauty, and Keenan Beasley, Founder & CEO at Supply Factory Holdings. Heading to Beauty Connect LA? Be sure to catch this panel! https://lnkd.in/egXX6MGE

CISO and Security Leaders: What does it mean to be “board ready”? On Nov. 12, join Norwest’s Dave Zilberman and Korn Ferry’s Karena Man for a discussion with security leaders about effectively presenting to a board, and how to grow into becoming a board member. We’re looking forward to welcoming Phil Venables, Deneen DeFiore, Myrna Soto, and Alex Stamos. Our panelists will cover: ◻️ What matters most to a board ◻️ What boards actually ask of security leaders during a meeting ◻️ What is the best way to present security incidents ◻️ How to position yourself to become a board member ◻️ Advice for those seeking the same board director path Register here: https://lnkd.in/gdcNiWyR