BONUS EPISODE: Super Cyber Friday Express - Hacking Vendor Selection
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What is the main focus of the “Hacking Vendor Selection” episode?
You are about to listen to a bonus episode of our brand new podcast, Super Cyber Friday Express. It is a 20-minute highlight version of our live one-hour show we do every available Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern. Now, the episode you're about to listen to was recorded a week ago. The topic was hacking vendor selection. It's a great show, trust me. Go ahead and subscribe to the show to get the best version of our live Friday show, or join us live for the full show where you get a lot more, like engaging with our community, participating in the discussions, playing our games, and winning a prize. Why not join us this Friday, September 25th, 2026 for hacking micro segmentation for machine workloads? Go ahead, subscribe.
Subscribe to the live show, the highlight show, that's Super Cyber Friday Express, or any of our shows on Seaso Series by going to Seasoseries.com slash subscribe. Again, that's Seasoseries.com slash subscribe. Remember it to subscribe to any show on the SeasO series. Now, enjoy this episode of Super Cyber Friday Express. All right, Carl. Let's hear it. Your pet peeve with vendor selection. What annoys you? It always annoys me when a vendor says that they have no competitors. Ooh. Oh. I I that might be tough. Top that one. That's a really good one to be annoyed with. Howard, what's worse than that?
So I'm gonna go with one that's more personal. Uh you change companies, your company's headquartered in a different area. You want to work with the person you've built trust with. So you go, hey, I'll bring you into the account, but this is the account rep I want. And they go, No. And that's and I've had that happen and I've gone, okay, cool.
Why do vendors claiming they have no competitors annoy CISO‑type listeners?
You were kicked out of the account like three years ago, you're still out. Get ready. It's
super
cyberfriday.
Welcome everybody to Hacking Vendor Selection, an hour of critical thinking about how your existing environment influences what you buy. Our two guests today, two of our absolute favorites, Carl Mattson, founder and managing director for Squared Circle Ventures, and Howard Holton, founder and principal analyst for the brand new Fronia Council. Good job for both of you. Thank you for being here. All right, let's talk, Howard and Carl. Let's let's just start with what are three variables? Let's both of you. Three variables that are like at the top of your list when evaluating vendor. And by the way, I should mention that um Carl has been on both sides of the aisle. And Howard, I don't think you've worked for a vendor, but you've worked for an analyst and or you have worked for a vendor.
Yeah, I was uh field CTO and then the CTO for Hitachi Mentara.
Oh, okay. So they have both worked on both sides of the the equation here. All right. Top three variables when selecting a vendor. And we'll start from there and then we're gonna go into the mismatches. But I'll start with you, Carl. Just give me like top three variables you think about.
Architectural consistency, um you usability. My team is able to use and implement the technology and pricing. And pricing.
All right. Three three good variables right there. Howard, what would be top three for you? And we can get into deeper stuff, but I'm I'm interested in the top three right now.
Yeah. So um Mm, I'd say kind of industry reputation. Um quality of service, both local to me for my account, and then what does their like follow the clock service look like? And do they have a reputation of actually supporting? And then Um, how likely is it that my team is gonna be able to actually use whatever they're selling?
Mm-hmm. Okay. And similar to what what Carl just said right there. Um all right. And by the way, everyone i if I didn't mention it earlier, please get your questions in, get your questions in. We definitely want to hear your questions, of which I'm sure you have plenty of on this very topic. All right. So where do you think The mismatches because I I'll just say from my side, when when vendors come to me and trust in sponsorship with the CISO series, I get a lot of the most classic things which are totally reasonable, which are we're brand new, nobody knows we exist, we just want to be visible, we want to be considered when you're looking for an EDR.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main focus of the “Hacking Vendor Selection” episode?
0:00–1:54
2
Why do vendors claiming they have no competitors annoy CISO‑type listeners?
1:54–4:51
3
What are the three top variables Carl and Howard use when evaluating a vendor?
4:51–7:44
4
Where do mismatches between buyer expectations and vendor promises usually appear?
7:44–11:26
5
How can pricing models reveal red‑flags during vendor negotiations?
11:26–14:36
6
What procurement‑level hiccups cause CISOs to walk away from a deal?
14:36–17:09
7
How should a CISO balance product evaluation versus sales‑rep influence?
17:09–19:04
8
What final advice do Carl and Howard give for smarter vendor selection?
19:04–21:07