How They Raised $6.3 Million: The Story of a Cybersecurity Startup's Journey

Welcome to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, Ben Murray sits down with Mahdi Abdulzarak and Kim Van Lavieren, the co-founders of Dawnguard—an innovative SaaS platform aiming to transform how large enterprises design, secure, and manage their cloud infrastructure.   Mahdi Abdulzarak, CEO, brings decades of cybersecurity leadership, while CTO Kim Van Lavieren draws on deep technical expertise from organizations like Amazon and the military. Together, they share the Dawnguard founding story, insights on fundraising as experienced founders, building with design partners, and how AI-driven solutions are changing the game in cloud security.   From go-to-market strategies to engineering harnesses and pricing AI-powered products, this conversation delivers a behind-the-scenes look at launching and scaling a SaaS startup in a rapidly evolving industry.  Show Notes:  00:00 Improving IT system design process  05:26 Starting a company from a deck  08:46 Advice for working with VCs  09:56 Finding the right co-founder  16:17 Determining sustainable pricing strategy  17:08 Shifting AI pricing models  22:05 Using AI tools effectively  23:43 CEO and CTO priorities 2026  Links:  SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/dawnguard-raises-3-4m-pre-seed/  Mahdi Abdulzarak's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahdiabdulrazak/  Kim van Lavieren's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-v-0645931b4/?locale=en  Dawnguard's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dawnguard/  Dawnguard's Website: https://dawnguard.ai/  To learn more about Ben check out the links below:  Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page  SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/  Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout  Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray