Maria Cirino joined Bit9’s board of directors first as a security industry expert in 2004 (prior to her founding .406 Ventures in 2006). Maria had founded and run a very successful early stage security company that had been successfully acquired, and one of our investors introduced her to Carbon Black and we thought she’d be a helpful addition to the board. A couple of years later when Maria co-founded .406 Ventures, she and her firm led an investment round in the company and her role shifted from independent board member to investment board member.
Working with Maria is phenomenal because she understands how to build and run a successful technology company. She also knows the security industry better than most having operated and invested in it for over 15 years. Her contact, connections, advice and, yes, even sometimes her empathy, have been incredibly helpful over the years. She’s a straight shooter who is supportive and is always there to help. Over the years Maria has introduced all-star employees, board members, co-investors, executives, prospective customers and strategic partners to the company. She’s a tireless supporter who’s also not afraid to ask the important questions and keep it real in the boardroom. With Maria, it’s never about ego or power, it’s about doing what’s best for the company, always.
- Patrick Morley, CEO
Funny Memory of .406 Ventures
Maria has this way of introducing big, audacious ideas in a way that makes them all seem doable! We call her 'the closer' because when it comes to closing a senior executive or a strategic partner, we know that after a meeting with Maria the beachhead has been softened and, in most cases, we’re able to achieve our objective. She’s undeterred by details when she thinks something should happen for the company. There was one occasion when we were interviewing an important senior executive in the middle of the summer. Maria was on vacation with her family several hours away from Boston but really wanted to help close the candidate at a dinner that was arranged for a couple of our investors to meet with the executive. Maria convinced her co-investor, who was a private pilot, to fly the guy to the most remote town on Cape Cod so the three of them could have dinner! When he showed up for the meeting, the candidate couldn’t believe he was being flown in a 4 person plane to the outer Cape for dinner and would be back in Boston by 10pm…and of course it worked!
- Patrick Morley, CEO