Episode 66: From Chemical Engineering to Cybersecurity: Building Veriom and Breaking Into Silicon Valley Nuria Manuel

DESCRIPTIONJoin Den Jones as he sits down with Nuria Manuel, co-founder and CEO of Veriom. From her origins in Angola and a background in chemical engineering to building a platform that maps architectural weaknesses before they become vulnerabilities, Nuria shares her unconventional path to cybersecurity. This episode explores her bold decision to extend her stay in San Francisco after the RSA Conference, the contrasts of fundraising between the UK and US, and how stepping out of your comfort zone drives rapid business growth.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSEarly Curiosity: Growing up in London, being an Arsenal fan, and taking things apart to understand how they work.> "I was always a really curious kid... that would mean breaking a lot of stuff."Manufacturing to Software: Transitioning engineering principles from physical systems to software architecture.> "I became quite obsessed with... looking at how an entire system of interdependent processes behave."Leadership & Imposter Syndrome: Early lessons leading complex projects as a fresh graduate.> "You have all the tools here... You are never going to be fully ready."The Veriom Solution: Finding structural flaws before they turn into active security incidents.> "Every tool finds what's wrong. Veriom shows you the structural why."UK vs. US Fundraising: Navigating the risk-averse UK market compared to fast-moving US opportunities.> "The UK is naturally an extremely risk-averse nation... proof points are super, super important."The RSA Decision: How staying in San Francisco led to swift investment and customer traction.> "Sometimes that's what it takes... doing something that you would naturally be uncomfortable doing."Process engineering directly applies to modern cybersecurity architecture.Market speed varies globally; strategic positioning can turn months of effort into days.Proactively fixing structural weaknesses is the next evolution beyond standard "shift-left" security."Every tool finds what's wrong. Veriom shows you the structural why.""The traction we got here would've taken us around seven months to get the same traction in the UK."CALL TO ACTIONSubscribe to 909 Exec for leadership insights at the intersection of security and strategy. Visit 909cyber.com to learn about advisory services and securing organizational growth. Check out 909cyber's flagship product, www.909Shield.ai, to eliminate interview fraud and secure the helpdesk: trust the human.