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Entrepreneurial Mindset
Embedding founder-grade clarity, risk appetite and commercial discipline into leadership teams that need to think, and act, like the people who built the business.
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Award-WinningFounder of Several Award-Winning Companies
Founder. Board Member. Technologist.
For more than 25 years Andrew Mason has founded, scaled and sold cybersecurity businesses. Today he sits on boards, backs founders and stays hands-on with the technology: network security, penetration testing, data protection and practical AI.
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Businesses founded
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Successful exits closed
£1M+£1M+
Venture funding raised
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Years in cybersecurity and risk
Andrew Mason
Founder · Board Member · Technologist
Angel Investor
Backing Early-Stage Founders
BoardNon-Executive Director
Exits Closed
30123456789
Penetration TestingData ProtectionNetwork SecurityPractical AIMBA, Leeds University Business SchoolPublished AuthorAngel InvestorNon-Executive DirectorFounder of Several Award-Winning CompaniesPenetration TestingData ProtectionNetwork SecurityPractical AIMBA, Leeds University Business SchoolPublished AuthorAngel InvestorNon-Executive DirectorFounder of Several Award-Winning Companies
Data ProtectionNetwork SecurityPractical AIMBA, Leeds University Business SchoolPublished AuthorAngel InvestorNon-Executive DirectorFounder of Several Award-Winning CompaniesPenetration TestingData ProtectionNetwork SecurityPractical AIMBA, Leeds University Business SchoolPublished AuthorAngel InvestorNon-Executive DirectorFounder of Several Award-Winning Companies
About AndrewAn Operator, Not a Slide Deck.
Built, Scaled and Exited. Now Helping You Do the Same.
Andrew Mason
Founder · Board Member · Technologist
Each company operates at the forefront of cybersecurity, risk management and digital resilience.
Andrew is an entrepreneur and technology leader with a strong track record of building, scaling, and exiting high-growth technology businesses. He is the founder of several award-winning companies including RandomStorm, Data Protection People, RapidSpike, Pentest People, and DarkInvader. Each operates at the forefront of cybersecurity, risk management, and digital resilience.
Specialising in organic growth, Andrew has led multiple organisations from early-stage development through sustained scale, building high-performing teams and robust operating models that support long-term value creation. His experience spans both bootstrapped growth and venture-backed expansion, having raised over £1 million in venture capital for a SaaS-based startup. He has also completed the sale of three businesses, giving him first-hand experience of exit planning, due diligence and post-acquisition integration.
Andrew is technical by trade and began his career in hands-on security and infrastructure roles, which continues to inform his strategic decision-making at board and executive level. He holds a wide range of professional qualifications across information security, risk management and technology leadership, and is a published author of IT security books with numerous whitepapers and industry articles to his name.
Alongside his commercial achievements, Andrew is an active angel investor, backing early-stage technology founders with capital and hands-on operating experience. He holds an MBA from Leeds University Business School, completed in 2014. This combination of academic grounding, technical expertise and real-world entrepreneurial experience underpins his reputation as a trusted advisor, founder and leader within the technology sector.
- MBA
- Leeds University Business School, 2014
- Discipline
- Cybersecurity, risk and digital resilience
- Authored
- Multiple IT security books and industry papers
- Track Record
- Bootstrapped and VC-backed growth
- Investor
- Angel, backing early-stage tech founders
BuiltScaledSoldBuiltScaledSoldBuiltScaledSoldBuiltScaledSold
ScaledSoldBuiltScaledSoldBuiltScaledSoldBuiltScaledSoldFounderBoard MemberTechnologistFounderBoard MemberTechnologistFounderBoard MemberTechnologistFounderBoard MemberTechnologist
Board MemberTechnologistFounderBoard MemberTechnologistFounderBoard MemberTechnologistFounderBoard MemberTechnologist
ServicesFour Ways I Help Technology Businesses Grow.
Each engagement is shaped around the company in front of me, but they tend to start in one of these places. Most evolve into a blend.
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Adoption of AI
Practical frameworks for integrating AI into existing operating models, from workflow automation through to product roadmap, without the hype and without breaking what already works.
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03 / 04
Non-Executive Director
Board-level guidance for founder-led and PE-backed technology businesses. Strategic counsel, governance rigour and an operator’s instinct for what really moves the numbers.
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Business Sales Process
End-to-end exit preparation drawn from completing the sale of three businesses: positioning, financial readiness, due diligence support and post-acquisition integration.
Discuss This Engagement →Founded, Scaled and Sold
BoxingOrange
BoxingOrange
The Journey · FounderBuilt, Scaled and Sold: A Career That Compounds
Seven businesses since 1998, from the UK’s first 24×7 SOC to attack surface management and AI search, with Mason Technologies running alongside them all. Each one built on what the last one taught.
1998 to Now
Seven Businesses · Three Exits-
1998
Mason Technologies
Consultancy, Advisory and NED · 1998 to PresentGrowth, board and exit advisory from an operator who has built it himself: non-executive director roles, consultancy and angel investment.
Active Send a Brief → -
BoxingOrange2001Exit
BoxingOrange
Cisco MSSP · 2001 to 2007A Cisco managed security service provider that ran the UK’s first 24×7 security operations centre, watching customer networks round the clock.
Acquired -
2007Exit
RandomStorm
Penetration Testing · 2007 to 2015Testing networks and applications for weaknesses before attackers find them. Acquired by Accumuli plc in 2014.
Acquired -
2014 RandomStorm Sold to Accumuli plc and an MBA completed at Leeds University Business School.
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2015
Data Protection People
GDPR and Privacy · 2015 to PresentHelping organisations handle personal data lawfully and meet their GDPR and privacy obligations.
Active dataprotectionpeople.com ↗ -
2017Exit
Pentest People
Penetration Testing and PTaaS · 2017 to 2026Penetration testing delivered as a service, so findings live on a platform clients can use rather than in a one-off report.
Acquired -
Along the Way £1M+ Venture Funding Raised for a SaaS-based start-up, alongside years of bootstrapped growth.
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2022
DarkInvader
External Attack Surface Management · 2022 to PresentFinding and monitoring everything an organisation exposes to the internet, seen the way an attacker would see it.
Active darkinvader.io ↗ -
2024
Awareness Marketing
Content Marketing Platform · 2024 to PresentOne place to run content marketing: research, writing, publishing and measurement in a single connected workflow, so founders and small teams can publish regularly without juggling tools.
Active awarenessmarketing.co.uk ↗ -
Now Three Exits, Four Active Companies and a seat at the board table.
The Scoreboard So Far
Funding and ExitsFounded
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Businesses founded since 1998
Exits
30123456789
Successful exits closed
Funding
£1M+£1M+
Venture funding raised for a SaaS start-up
Growth
Bootstrapped and VC-Backed Growth
Non-Executive DirectorA Board Member Who Has Built It Himself
Strategic counsel, governance rigour and plain-English cyber risk for founder-led and PE-backed technology businesses.
Discuss a Board Role25+01234567890123456789+yrs
In network security and risk
Founder-Led and PE-Backed
Technology businesses he advises
TechnologistStill Hands-On After 25+ Years
Boards get an operator who still understands the detail: the attack paths, the data flows and what the latest tools can really do.
- Penetration Testing
- Data Protection
- Network Security
- Practical AI
- MBA, Leeds University Business School
- Published Author
andrew@masontech: ~
$ education
MBA · Leeds University Business School · 2014
$ stack
Security · Infrastructure · Practical AI
$ authored
IT security books, whitepapers and industry articles
Cybersecurity
Penetration testing, network security and data protection, learnt on the tools before running the businesses that sold them.
Penetration TestingNetworksData Protection
Practical AI
Shipping AI-assisted products first-hand, and helping boards adopt AI where it pays, without the hype.
AdoptionGovernanceDelivery
Hands-On Building
Security tooling, AI experiments and working prototypes, still built by hand, so his advice comes from current practice.
ToolingPrototypesAutomation
Side ProjectsApps I Make Around My Own Hobbies
Small, private apps for iPhone and Apple Watch, built for the things I do away from the boardroom. All four are free.
Twenty KnotsFree · Live on the App Store
Say It Twenty Times, the Way Coué Taught
Émile Coué asked people to say one line twenty times, morning and night, counting on a knotted string. Twenty Knots brings that method to your iPhone, your wrist and your car, so the count is the same wherever you pick it up.
On iPhone
- Record your own affirmations, in your own voice
- Coué’s formula and nine more, in British, American and Australian voices
- A short daily reading from Coué’s own writing, sixty-four in all
- A quiet calendar, with no streaks and no scolding
On Apple Watch
- Playlists stored on the Watch, so your iPhone can stay at home
- Listen through AirPods, or follow in silence with a tap for every knot
In CarPlay
- Your playlists on the car’s display, ready for the commute
- Start, pause and skip from the screen, the wheel or Siri
In CarPlay
Tidal BreathFree · Live on the App Store
Breathe With the Tide
Resonance breathing paced by a tide that rises and falls on screen, with gentle haptics on your wrist. Close your eyes and follow it, wherever you are: nothing needs a signal.
On iPhone
- Techniques explained in plain English, with sources you can open
- A short guided trial to find the pace that feels easiest for you
- Build your own rhythm
- Your session on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island
On Apple Watch
- The tide on your wrist, with haptics to breathe by
- Start from a watch face, Siri or the Action button on Apple Watch Ultra
- Or start a Watch session from your iPhone
Tidal ContrastFree · Live on the App Store
Heat and Cold, Within Clear Limits
A sauna and cold water coach that keeps your eye on the time. It sets cautious limits while you are new, warns you as you near them, and walks you through warming back up afterwards.
On iPhone
- Guided mode, with cautious limits that build up slowly
- Sauna, steam, contrast and cold sessions
- Your time in the heat and the cold, week by week
- Spotter, so someone knows when you are in
On Apple Watch
- A ring counts down, with a warning and an alarm at your time
- Tap I’m Out when you are out
- Heart rate on your wrist, and live water temperature on a Watch with a water sensor
- Rewarm guidance once you are out of the water
Heat and cold are risky for some people. Read the safety page first.
Tidal MobilityFree · Coming Soon
Mobility Your Watch Talks You Through
Short guided routines for stiff hips, tired legs and long days at a desk. A calm voice names each move and counts you in, and your Watch taps at every change, so you never need to look at a screen.
On iPhone
- 36 routines of 5, 10 or 15 minutes, browsed by body area
- 66 moves, each with a written guide, an easier and a harder option
- Make any routine your own, or build one from scratch
- History with heart rate, and a forgiving streak
On Apple Watch
- Runs start to finish with no iPhone nearby
- A ring for every hold, with strong taps over the last five seconds
- Voice through AirPods or the Watch speaker
- Turn the Crown to set the voice volume
Tell Me What You’re Trying to Build
A board role, an exit or a technology question. I read every message personally.