Security Essentials for Startup Founders
Build trust with customers and investors from day one
Security, compliance, and risk—plain language
StartupVision surfaces risks in your validation reports and offers optional security packages so you can satisfy customers, investors, and regulators without hiring an expensive consulting team.
A structured review of threats, likelihood, and impact across product, infrastructure, vendors, and people. Includes threat modeling and prioritized mitigations.
Often far more affordable than traditional consultants; designed for teams that need a defensible plan quickly.
A documented, repeatable security program with policies, controls, roles, and continuous improvement practices—aligned to common frameworks like ISO 27001 style approaches.
Gives you the structure auditors expect (policies, BCP/DR, asset and access management), without claiming formal certification.
Policy set, procedures, risk register, and checklist templates covering data protection, vendor management, incident response, and secure development.
Use them as AI-assisted drafts; review with counsel or auditors before relying on them.
These materials are informational and do not constitute legal, tax, accounting, or compliance advice. Consult qualified professionals for your specific obligations.
Day One Security Checklist
Essential security measures every startup should implement immediately
Access Control & Authentication
"First line of defense"
- Enforce MFA on all accounts (authenticator apps preferred)
- Implement least-privilege access principle
- Use password manager for team (1Password, Bitwarden)
- Conduct quarterly access reviews
Security Policies
"Document and enforce"
- Create acceptable use policy for employees
- Document incident response procedures
- Establish data classification guidelines
- Review and update policies quarterly
Infrastructure Security
"Secure your foundation"
- HTTPS everywhere (TLS 1.3 minimum)
- Encrypt data at rest (AES-256)
- Enable automatic security updates
- Implement network segmentation
Monitoring & Response
"Detect and respond fast"
- Enable AWS CloudTrail / GCP Audit Logs
- Set up real-time alerts for anomalies
- Define remediation playbooks
- Conduct regular backup testing
Compliance Roadmap
Navigate regulatory requirements based on your market and customers
GDPR
"EU Data Protection"
- Required if you have EU customers
- Explicit consent for data collection
- 72-hour breach notification
- Penalties up to 4% of annual revenue or 20M EUR
CCPA
"California Privacy Rights"
- Required for California residents' data
- Right to know, delete, and opt-out
- "Do Not Sell My Info" link required
- Penalties of $2,500 - $7,500 per violation
SOC 2
"Trust Service Criteria"
- Pursue when selling to enterprises
- Type I (point-in-time) vs Type II (ongoing)
- Accelerates enterprise sales cycles
- Major competitive advantage for B2B SaaS
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