Featured Panelist: Mike Brown on Building Security Companies That Define New Markets

What happens when a data technology executive who's analyzed trillions of rows of information decides to tackle state-sponsored intellectual property theft? Meet Mike Brown, Chief Data Officer and Co-Founder of Strider Technologies, whose two-decade journey from building massive data infrastructure to protecting America's innovation represents crucial expertise for the DMV's defense and technology sectors.

Brown joins DMV Rising 2025's "Category Creators: Finding Product Market Fit" panel, bringing perspective from co-founding a company that created an entirely new security category—strategic intelligence to combat economic espionage.

Three reasons Brown is uniquely qualified to speak on building category-defining cybersecurity companies:

He's proven he can handle data at unprecedented scale. As CTO of ComScore, Brown was responsible for measuring and analyzing over two trillion rows of new data per month while deploying products across 45 countries. This experience managing global data operations provided the foundation for Strider's AI-powered approach to transforming open-source data into strategic intelligence.

He brings deep technical expertise with real-world application. With 28 patents to his name and a career spanning IBM to ID.me, Brown combines an M.S. from Hood College and B.S. from University of Maryland with hands-on experience as a software engineer, team leader, and CTO. He's a frequent speaker on big data and its business applications, both critical skills for explaining complex threats to executive audiences.

He identified and filled a massive security gap. In 2019, Brown and co-founders Greg and Eric Levesque recognized that no one was leveraging big data to address state-sponsored intellectual property theft. Today, Strider operates in 15 countries with over 250 team members, protecting Fortune 500 companies, government entities, and research institutions from threats traditional security tools don't address.

Why This Matters for the DMV

Brown's work at Strider holds special significance for the DMV region, home to defense contractors, biotech companies, and technology firms that are prime targets for economic espionage. Strider's mission—using AI and proprietary methodologies to identify threats related to state-sponsored IP theft and targeted talent acquisition—directly addresses sophisticated campaigns targeting our regional innovation economy.

The "Category Creators" panel will explore how founders identify unrecognized market gaps, educate customers about novel security approaches, and scale businesses in rapidly evolving markets. Brown will share insights alongside Will Ackerly (Founder & CTO, Virtru) and Dave Merkel (Founder & CEO, Expel), moderated by Mishi Choudhary (General Counsel, Virtru).

Don't miss your opportunity to hear from a leader who transformed big data expertise into a company protecting critical innovation.