Danny Jenkins

Danny Jenkins is the founder of ThreatLocker and the central guest in How Danny Jenkins Bootstrapped ThreatLocker From $150K Debt to $200M. He describes building the company after earlier work in IT, email security, ethical hacking, and ransomware recovery convinced him that many organizations needed practical Zero Trust Security and Default Deny Security rather than mainly detection-based security.

Key Points

• Jenkins left school at 15, entered IT through hands-on computer and network work, and moved into security as viruses became an enterprise problem.
• He spent ThreatLocker’s early period under severe financial pressure, including remortgaging, credit-card debt, and 18 months without paying customers.
• He treats early startup progress as a combination of real product value and market awareness: buyers must have a product that solves a real problem, and they must know it exists.
• His go-to-market lessons emphasize cold calling, direct demos, customer education, small webinars, trade shows, and MSP Channel Distribution rather than relying on brand or market research alone.

Connections

• ThreatLocker - company Jenkins founded.
• The SaaS Podcast - show where this interview appeared.
• Zero Trust Security, Default Deny Security, and Category Creation - major product and market-positioning themes from the episode.
• Fast Product Validation, Customer Pull, and Product Led Willingness To Pay - startup lessons reinforced by the first sale and later demand.