How to sell to CTOs at Cybersecurity companies
CTOs in cybersecurity are primarily measured on reducing vulnerabilities and ensuring compliance with industry standards like SOC 2. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a deep understanding of their specific security challenges, such as operational risks and compliance pressures, especially when tied to recent data breaches or regulatory changes.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 569 cybersecurity company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- increasing attack surface
- staffing for compliance audits
- managing third-party risks
- balancing security and innovation
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent security incidents
Search for news articles or reports on cybersecurity breaches within your target companies. Use Google News or cybersecurity forums to find specific incidents that may have impacted their operations. Tailor your outreach to address how your solution could have mitigated the risks they faced.
- 02
Pinpoint compliance deadlines
Research upcoming compliance deadlines relevant to your target’s industry, such as SOC 2 audits. Use resources like compliance calendars or industry newsletters to find specific dates. Mention these deadlines in your outreach to create urgency and relevance.
- 03
Connect with their engineering challenges
Look for job postings that indicate they are hiring for security-related roles or projects. Platforms like LinkedIn or Glassdoor can provide insights into their current priorities. Reference these roles in your outreach to show that you understand their immediate technical needs.
- 04
Address budget constraints
Identify any recent funding rounds or budget announcements that could impact their spending on cybersecurity solutions. Use financial news websites or press releases to gather this information. Acknowledge their budget limitations in your communication to build rapport.
- 05
Leverage industry partnerships
Investigate any partnerships or collaborations your target companies have with other cybersecurity firms. Use LinkedIn or industry reports to find this information. Mention these partnerships in your outreach to show you are informed about their ecosystem and how you can fit into it.
Can cybersecurity companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 569 cybersecurity companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 30.3% of 1–10-person companies against 91.3% of the largest — 61 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Addressing your recent breach
- Upcoming SOC 2 compliance deadline
- Enhancing your security posture
Questions
- Why do CTOs in cybersecurity ignore outreach about new tools?
- CTOs often receive numerous pitches but may ignore them if they don’t address specific pain points or recent incidents. They prioritize solutions that directly relate to their current challenges, such as compliance pressures or recent security breaches, over generic pitches.
- What factors influence a CTO's decision on cybersecurity investments?
- CTOs consider several factors, including the potential return on investment, integration with existing systems, and the ability to meet regulatory compliance requirements. They also weigh the credibility of the vendor and their understanding of the cybersecurity landscape.
- How can outreach resonate with a cybersecurity CTO?
- Effective outreach should demonstrate a clear understanding of the CTO's specific security challenges and compliance requirements. Highlighting relevant case studies or industry insights can help establish credibility and show that you are familiar with their environment.
- What common objections do CTOs have to new cybersecurity solutions?
- CTOs often express concerns about budget constraints, integration challenges with existing systems, and the effectiveness of new solutions. They may also be wary of changing vendors if they are satisfied with their current providers, making it crucial to address these objections in outreach.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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