Kevin von Keyserling built a consulting company called Certified Security Solutions and transformed it into Keyfactor, a multi-billion dollar cybersecurity unicorn. Then he walked away from his operating role, got recruited by a local VC firm, and decided to do it all over again with a healthcare supply chain startup called ReadySet Surgical. But this time, things did not go as planned. In this conversation with Christine Watts and Kris Snyder, Kevin shares the moment he sat in a quarterly review and said what no one else on his leadership team would say out loud: "It's an F." Every metric missed. Every objective failed. Some things were outside their control, but most of it was not. What followed was a comprehensive reset. Three direct reports left. A board member walked. But 18 months later, the company is growing over 50% year over year with a sustainable go-to-market and the right people in the right seats.

Key topics:

• Transforming two different companies from consulting to SaaS, and the culture shift each time
• The first F quarter: owning collective failure instead of blaming sales
• Moving from tribal knowledge to systemic knowledge using EOS and Ninety throughout the entire company
• Skipping validation and burning cash on a go-to-market that was not ready
• Balancing empathy and results: lessons from the Elon Musk biography

About Kevin von Keyserling:
Kevin is the CEO of ReadySet Surgical, a supply chain management software company connecting hospitals with medical equipment manufacturers. Previously, he built Keyfactor into a multi-billion dollar cybersecurity company.
Connect with Kevin: kevin@readysetsurgical.com

Mentioned in this episode:

• Keyfactor (formerly Certified Security Solutions)
• ReadySet Surgical
• Elon Musk biography by Walter Isaacson
• North Coast Ventures

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