At the world’s largest cybersecurity conference, the real story isn’t just the tech — it’s the people. In this episode, Humanizing Cyber takes you on a guided tour from the casino floor to the Business Hall at Black Hat USA, where more than 21,700 attendees and 400 vendors converge. We begin in Startup City, where founders in 8×10 booths pitch big ideas and share origin stories that read like rebellions: ex‑IBMers solving vendor‑risk woes, ex‑FireEye engineers building a SOC platform from scratch, and developers who want to make low‑code and no‑code apps safe.

We then visit the sprawling, over‑the‑top booths where the marketing stakes are as high as the technical ones. A device‑identity platform co‑developed uses a chic space to launch a new standard; a “body shop for your digital journey” turns a garage‑theme into a story about stopping bots; and a company with a timeline‑museum booth celebrates the creativity behind API security. Along the way, we overhear barkers raffling drones and giving away rubber ducks, and we discover why creativity is more than a gimmick in cybersecurity.

Things get even more personal in a swanky bar, where we’re invited to judge a 90‑second pitch competition called Busk Your Business. Founders step into the spotlight, a panel of judges (including our host) holds up scores, and we hear what works and what doesn’t when you only have a minute to make an impression. Finally, the day ends at the “Lock It Down” party, where CISOs, newcomers, and veterans celebrate, collect raffle stamps, and trade stories over frozen cocktails. Through these four chapters, the episode shows how rebels, storytellers, and rubber‑duck‑rafflers are reshaping cyber culture — one conversation at a time.

Special thanks to everyone who helped bring this episode to life — and to all the founders, CEOs, engineers and marketers who welcomed us into their booths and shared their stories. That includes the teams at VioletX, Vorlan, Strike Ready, Symbiotic Security, JIT, Nokod Security, RAD Security, Right‑Hand Cybersecurity, SixMap, Smallstep, Human, Beyond Trust and Wallarm. Big thank you to Pinkesh Shah, Founder of DelightLoop, for his insights and perspective. We’re grateful to Netstar for their perspective on how the show has grown, to Fulcrum Technology Solutions and Booli for braving Edward Preston's (EP) “Busk Your Business” stage. Thank you to EP for inviting us to judge the competition. And to CxO InSyte for inviting us to the “Lock It Down” party. And KessCom PR for the perspective. Everyone's generosity and insights humanized the world of cyber and made this episode possible.