Lior Div, Cybereason CEO and co-founder, appeared on the Bloomberg Baystate Business Hour Friday to discuss why Israeli companies expanding to the U.S. are opening offices in Boston instead of New York City or San Francisco. Div comes on approximately 15 minutes into the broadcast.
After determining that Cybereason need to move from Tel Aviv to the U.S. to continue growing, "we decided that we were going to Silicon Valley, then to San Francisco, then to Silicon Valley," Div joked.
But after looking at what elements were important for Cybereason's success, Div selected Boston. Factors that worked in Boston's favor were a reasonable time difference between the city and Tel Aviv, where Cybereason's research and development team is based; a direct flight between the cities; and a large workforce with extensive experience in technology and security.
"We realized Boston was the right choice for us to grow," he said, adding that Cybereason will have 200 U.S. jobs by the end of 2016, with most of those positions based in Boston. To add some perspective to Cybereason's growth, Div mentioned that the company began in 2012 with the three co-founders working on a couch in one of their homes.
Boston's talent pool surprised Div, who said that having access to top technology and security talent helped Cybereason grow quickly.
As for what roles Cybereason is looking to full, the company is hiring for product development, sales and marketing positions. Cybereason needs people from all skills levels, including experienced workers who can lead a team to recent college graduates, Div said.
"We're looking for everything. The only thing we're not hiring here [in Boston] is research and development. That's in Tel Aviv," he said.
While Div isn't a fan of Boston's harsh winters, he doesn't think the city's cold weather will hinder the company's ability to compete in the endpoint security space.
"Cybereason is one of the fastest growing companies in the cyber-security space right now. There's a huge opportunity for somebody to lead and solve the problem [of cyber security]. We already built the technology to solve the problem. So from my point of view, [Cybereason's goal] is to become the leader when it comes to cyber security," he said.
Fred O'Connor is Cybereason's senior content writer.