Nearly a decade ago, I was introduced to the cybersecurity industry while working on Blackstone’s strategic venture capital portfolio. I found myself particularly drawn to the cybersecurity founders and practitioners who taught me how the escalating threat landscape, increasing skills shortage, and demand for innovative technologies make security the disruptive and sizable market it is today. During my time at both Blackstone and ClearSky, I’ve been fortunate to work closely with many prominent security companies, including HUMAN, BigID, CloudKnox, Respond Software, Cylance, and FireEye.
My security investment experiences often overlapped with the NightDragon team. I’ve seen firsthand how Dave DeWalt, Ken Gonzalez and Morgan Kyauk leverage their decades of operating experience and strategic relationships to drive value. For example, as a board observer for HUMAN, I’ve seen NightDragon employ its unique platform through go-to-market partnerships, government services, talent network, and events. I believe HUMAN is well-positioned to protect against bot attacks and expand its reach to new customers thanks to NightDragon.
The NightDragon platform is backed by a new $750 million fund, and I wanted to be a contributing member to its story. I’m excited to join the NightDragon team as a Principal to further grow the platform across the cybersecurity, safety, security, privacy, and infrastructure markets.
NightDragon invests in companies that solve our world’s most critical digital and physical problems, and then supports them with the capital and operational expertise to grow and meet those challenges head-on. I hope to execute on its vision by leveraging my market experience and network to identify transformational companies and perform extensive due diligence on growth equity and special situations transactions. From there, I look forward to working closely with our portfolio companies on financial growth initiatives, go-to-market strategy, and product expansion.
Dave, Ken and Morgan are backed by a deep bench across business development, government services, finance, marketing, and communications, including Amy, Katherine, Hannah, Evan, Steve, Tony, Sarah and Therese. I’m excited to work with this incredible team and see the impact we can have together!
John Cordo is a private equity corporate development professional turned cybersecurity investor. He brings nearly a decade of experience executing transactions while working closely with prominent security companies. Prior to NightDragon, John worked for ClearSky, Blackstone, and JPMorgan. Most recently, John was a Vice President at ClearSky, where he executed various cybersecurity transactions across venture capital, growth equity, and special situations. He was also a Board Observer for cybersecurity companies including HUMAN, BigID, CloudKnox, Respond Software, and SKOUT Cybersecurity. John graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, and Economics from the Carroll School of Management Honors Program at Boston College.
