Pain Qualified Prospect Feed — Validated with live LinkedIn job change data
A Data-Driven Outbound Workflow for Critical Start
Tracking new CISO appointments at mid-market regulated companies the moment they land,
and surfacing them inside the 90-day vendor evaluation window before they settle on a direction.
30–50
New ICP-matched CISO hires per month
90
Days in the evaluation window
Validated Workflow
The “CISO Inheritance Window”
Every new CISO inherits a security program they didn’t build. In the first 90 days, they evaluate everything:
vendors, tools, MDR coverage, response SLAs. LinkedIn job change data fires the moment they update their profile,
making this the most precise buying signal in cybersecurity sales.
How It Works
1
Monitor Apollo and LinkedIn job change data for CISO, VP of Information Security, and VP of Cybersecurity title changes at companies with 500–5,000 employees in healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and energy sectors.
2
Filter by start date within the last 60 days to catch candidates inside the active evaluation window, before they have finalized vendor decisions.
3
Cross-reference company tech stack via BuiltWith to confirm Microsoft 365 or Azure presence, validating fit for Critical Start’s Microsoft Verified MXDR capabilities.
4
Apply negative filter via HG Insights to exclude companies already using a known MDR vendor (CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Arctic Wolf), ensuring outreach goes to open evaluation windows only.
5
Enrich each CISO with direct LinkedIn URL, email via Proxycurl or Apollo, and company regulatory context (HIPAA, SOX, CMMC, GLBA) to arm the outreach with a relevant compliance angle.
6
Deliver weekly batch of verified lead cards: CISO name, company, start date, regulatory environment, Microsoft stack confirmation, and outreach angle tailored to the inherited program situation.
Validation Score: 23 / 25
Verified Opportunities
Sample Lead Cards
Real CISO appointments verified against LinkedIn announcements and press releases.
Each card represents a security leader inside their 90-day evaluation window at a regulated company.
Most Recent Hire
Role
Chief Information Security Officer
Start Date
February 2026 — active day 1–30 window NOW
Prior Role
CISO at Ally Financial (2021–2026); 30 years cybersecurity experience
Regulatory Context
OCC, Federal Reserve oversight; SOX reporting; high-value target environment
Signal
New CISO at a major bank’s Americas operations. Inherited program from previous leadership. Board-level security mandate from day one. Vendor evaluation open immediately.
Role
Chief Information & Security Officer
Start Date
January 2026 — active day 20–50 window
Prior Role
VP and Global CIO at Jack Henry, led 500-person IT team for 7+ years
Company Context
Credit union core banking software serving ~300 credit unions, 1.5M members. PE-backed (Evergreen Services Group).
Signal
Stepped down from a large enterprise (Jack Henry) to run security at a PE-backed fintech. Board security scrutiny is immediate. NCUA regulatory environment requires robust MDR posture.
Role
CIO & CISO (dual role)
Start Date
October 1, 2025 — formally elevated to CISO role
Company Context
Precision components manufacturer. Publicly traded (NASDAQ). Global operations across North America, Europe, South America, Asia.
Regulatory Context
SEC cybersecurity disclosure rules (Item 1.05); OT/IT convergence risk from global manufacturing footprint
Signal
Dual CIO/CISO = bandwidth-constrained from day one. Public company SEC disclosure obligations require documented incident response. Global manufacturing attack surface demands MDR.
Role
SVP & Chief Information Security Officer
Start Date
January 21, 2026 — active day 20–30 window
Company Context
Enterprise data analytics and AI platform. NYSE-listed, $450M+ revenue. ~10,000 employees globally.
Regulatory Context
SEC cybersecurity disclosure rules; processes sensitive enterprise data for Fortune 500 clients; contractual security obligations to customers
Signal
New CISO at a public technology company with SEC disclosure obligations and a customer-data trust model. First 30 days = threat landscape assessment and vendor review. January 21 start date is exact.
Additional Opportunities
Backup Workflows
These workflows passed theoretical evaluation and represent additional high-conviction prospecting angles
using publicly accessible data sources.
Backup Workflows (Passed Theoretical Evaluation)
Breach-Exposed Public Company
Monitors SEC EDGAR for 8-K filings disclosing a material cybersecurity incident under Item 1.05. Post-breach = board mandate, unlocked budget, and a compliance clock on documented remediation. Companies filing within the past 90 days are in active vendor evaluation. Every filing is a public company with confirmed urgency.
SOC-Struggling Hirer
Identifies companies with security analyst job postings open 30+ days on LinkedIn and Indeed. Multiple stale postings at the same company signal a structural coverage gap rather than a temporary hire. When companies can’t staff a SOC internally, the conversation shifts to managed detection and response.
Post-Funding Growth Company
Tracks Series B+ rounds and PE majority investments in regulated industries via Crunchbase. New PE boards arrive with security questionnaires within 60 days of closing. Funded companies in healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing face immediate pressure to document their security posture before the first board meeting.
Microsoft-Heavy MXDR Candidate
Uses tech stack data to identify companies running Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft Sentinel, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint without a third-party MDR layer. Critical Start is a Microsoft Verified MXDR partner — companies operating the Microsoft stack without managed detection are the most direct product-market fit in the dataset.
Compliance Deadline Approacher
Identifies Defense Industrial Base contractors from SAM.gov who have not achieved CMMC Level 2 certification, cross-referenced with LinkedIn compliance hiring signals to confirm active urgency. CMMC requirements are non-negotiable for DoD contract renewals, making this a hard deadline rather than a discretionary spend.
What You’re Looking At
The lead cards in this report aren’t a one-time research project. They’re a sample of what
a Pain-Qualified Prospect Feed looks like — monitoring
LinkedIn and Apollo job change data continuously and surfacing new CISOs at regulated companies
the moment the evaluation window opens.
What the Feed Looks Like
Every Week
8–12 new CISO appointments in your ICP, each with start date, company regulatory context,
Microsoft stack confirmation, and verified LinkedIn contact.
Week 1 Onboarding
ICP & Pain Signal Map for your vertical, outreach templates for the inherited program angle,
and a competitive landscape snapshot — all ready before the first feed ships.
Monthly Refinement
You tell us which prospects turned into meetings. We adjust signal weighting so
the feed gets sharper every month.
The Guarantee
30 pain-qualified CISO appointments with verified contact info every month —
or you don’t pay for that month.
Built for B2B sales teams who’d rather have reasons to call than names to guess from.
Want to see the full CISO Inheritance Window list?
We’ll pull 30+ new CISO appointments matching your ICP from the past 60 days,
walk you through the data live, and show you exactly what lands in your inbox each week.
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