Meet Otterize, Startups of the Year Winner in Israel!

This interview series celebrates all the phenomenal Startups of the Year Winners. Congratulations! Well-Deserved, Champion. The HackerNoon community is excited to learn more about you!

What does it mean for you to win this title?

It's a great opportunity for more platform engineers to discover and use our platform, which we've specifically designed to meet their needs! Otterize is all about simplifying access control for cloud-native environments. With our declarative and zero-trust approach, we help organizations streamline workload IAM and boost security.

What sets you apart from the competition?

What sets us apart from the competition is that we're laser-focused on engineers. If you're looking to explore intent-based access control (IBAC) without spending a dime, our community version is the way to go! With our free and open-source Kubernetes operator for IBAC, you can dive into zero-trust security without worrying about costs. It's all about open access and empowering you with the tools you need. Map your clusters, and auto-generate client intents, all with our open-source goodness—no wallet needed!

What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to solve this problem?

Each member is super talented and has faced the same problems we're solving now. They've been through it all in their past projects and jobs. Who better to tackle these problems than those who've already dealt with them firsthand? That's why we're the perfect team for this task.

If you weren’t building your startup, what would you be doing?

If we weren't building Otterize, we'd probably be traveling around the world, soaking in new experiences. At the same time, we'd be thinking about solutions to the problems we face as platform engineers.

At the moment, how do you measure success? What are your core metrics?

Right now, we measure success mainly by adoption and lovability. We aim to create a product that exactly matches what our users need, solving their specific problems quickly. Once they start using it and set up network policies, AWS IAM, and permissions, they realize how much easier their work becomes. We want them to feel like they can't imagine working any other way once they've experienced Otterize.

Tell us how your startup is changing the world.

We're focused on making organizations more secure by helping engineers reach their goals easily. With Otterize, going secure becomes the simpler choice, and that's changing how things work for the better.

How do you or your company intend to embrace the responsibility of this title in 2024?

We've already got the support of communities like Kubernetes, Kafka, and AWS, and now we're focused on bringing Azure and GCP communities on board too. We're working hard to make Otterize even better and more accessible to everyone who needs it.

What goals are you looking forward to accomplishing in 2024?

Our main goal is to help more Platform Engineering teams understand that Otterize's Community plan is completely free forever. We want them to see the value our platform can bring to their work without worrying about costs. Helping teams succeed is what drives us forward!

Which trend(s) are you most excited about in 2024? Share your reasons.

We're excited about GenAI in security. It's helping with ongoing security tasks, making things smoother. Also, there's the Shift Left trend. It's giving developers more power and responsibility for security right from the start. That's key to keeping everything safe and sound.

2023 had been another crazy year, especially in tech, with layoffs and the Generative AI takeover! Which trend are you most concerned about? Be as brief or as detailed as you like.

While we’re optimistic about the advancements in GenAI, we also have concerns. While it has the potential to secure infrastructure, the lack of necessary expertise could result in companies being breached or exposed. It's essential to balance innovation with proper understanding and safeguards to ensure security.

Share your biggest success so far and/or your biggest failure so far.

Our biggest success has been building a product that people can deploy and use right away. It's all about realizing value immediately. We do a little happy dance at our desks when we see users benefiting from Otterize right from the start!

We would love your feedback on HackerNoon as a tech publication! How has your experience been with us?

Our experience with HackerNoon has been awesome! Being nominated and winning felt great. We appreciated the clear communication and updates throughout the process. HackerNoon does a fantastic job of spotlighting up-and-coming startups like us and getting them in front of an audience that can benefit the most.

Any words of wisdom you’d like to share with us?

Always talk to your users. They shape your product and the company's future. Also, remember, security isn't just about building walls; it's about building trust. That's why Otterize is open source, promoting transparency. Trust is key!