Mandos Brief
Oct 5, 20266 min read
Mandos Brief #4: Offense is the AI security bet startups can own
Armadin raised $255.5M seven months out of stealth, more than double what six agent-security startups raised between them this week.
Nika (Nikoloz) Kokhreidze
Independent cybersecurity market analyst. 14 years of enterprise security leadership. Founder of Mandos Cyber and CybersecTools.
72 insights
Mandos Brief
Sep 28, 20266 min read
Mandos Brief #3: $800M says agent security belongs to the platforms
$800M of the week's $820M went to Island and Cyera, two platforms that were not agent-security companies a year ago; the startups that were got bought.
Analysis
Sep 25, 202610 min read
Cybersecurity Startup GTM: The Strategy That Fits How Security Buyers Actually Buy
Most cybersecurity startup GTM plans are horizontal SaaS plans with the word security pasted over them. Security buyers are not trying to win, they are trying not to lose, and that single inversion breaks most of the playbook.
Mandos Brief
Sep 21, 20266 min read
Mandos Brief #2: The week's biggest checks skipped the CISO
Exein's $270M is 55% of the week's $491M, and its buyer is a device maker, not a security team.
Mandos Brief
Sep 14, 20266 min read
Mandos Brief #1: Agent security is a feature, not a category
$245M went to a platform with no product yet, while three agent-security startups got bought by companies that do not sell agent security.
Analysis
Aug 28, 20268 min read
Cybersecurity Company Valuations in 2026 and Why AI Is Repricing the Whole Market at Once
The incumbent selloff and the AI-native funding surge look like opposite trades. They are the same misread of what actually creates durable value in security.
Analysis
Aug 10, 20267 min read
How CISOs Actually Budget: Why Your Deal Timing Matters More Than Your Demo
Security budgets are set months before most vendors pitch, and they follow problems, not products. Here is how CISOs actually budget, and how to land on the line item before the cycle closes.
Analysis
Aug 6, 202610 min read
Cybersecurity M&A: Who Is Buying Whom, and Why the Consolidation Is Accelerating
Cybersecurity M&A is on a record pace in 2026, but the mega-deals hide the real story: platforms are buying up identity and AI capabilities while the crowded middle gets starved. Here is who is buying whom, and why.
Analysis
Jul 27, 20268 min read
Cybersecurity Website Copy: What CISOs Read, What They Skip, What Closes Deals
CISOs scan your site in seconds against a hundred lookalikes. Here is what they read, what they skip, and what actually gets a vendor shortlisted.
What moved in cybersecurity this week, and why it matters.
The Mandos Brief. Independent market intelligence, every Monday.