CrowdStrike: On a Mission to Protect
George Kurtz founded CrowdStrike in 2011 to bring next-generation cybersecurity products to the marketplace. CrowdStrike used artificial intelligence to train its detection agent on evolving threats. This approach was revolutionary in an industry that had previously been fighting against previously detected and catalogued threats.
CrowdStrike grew quickly, with impressive financial metrics. The company went public in 2019, and continued to evolve its suite of product offerings. CrowdStrike also found itself in the middle of a few high-profile breaches, first at the Democratic National Committee, and in the Solar Winds hack. The severity of those attacks underscored CrowdStrike’s thesis: cybersecurity would impact every person at every company in every industry.
To be able to reach its aspirations, CrowdStrike needed to build a company that could service customers and make it turnkey to use its services. Kurtz saw the opportunity in the industry, and he was eager to continue to capture his share of it.
Learning Objective
- The learning objectives of this case are:
- Understand the cybersecurity landscape and the challenges posed by cybersecurity actors.
- Understand the levers that business leaders have to mitigate cybersecurity threats.
- Analyze a technology company’s growth strategy in a market with a large addressable market.
- Define the role of private companies and the United States government in responding to cybersecurity threats.