From Influence to Income: How Creators Can Turn Their Platform Into a Business

Matt Johansen is a cybersecurity leader, educator, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience helping hundreds of organizations level up their security programs. He previously led software security at Reddit, where he helped secure the infrastructure behind one of the world’s most visited websites. Today, he runs Vulnerable U, a fast-growing cybersecurity media brand known for its popular newsletter and daily expert content across social media. He also leads a content agency that helps security vendors tell better stories without the marketing cringe. Outside of content and consulting, he advises and invests in early-stage tech companies and supports nonprofits with security strategy they otherwise couldn't afford.

Ron Eddings is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer ofHacker Valley Media. Ron’s mission is to help unleash the potential ofcybersecurity professionals and companies through creative content.

Before setting his focus on creative content, Ron spent 12years as a security architect and supported government intelligence agenciesand Fortune 50 companies to become more resilient against cyber attacks.

Ron'scommitment to learning and storytelling make him a pivotal figure in shapinghow cybersecurity narratives are crafted and received. Ron has spoken atconferences worldwide and, as the host of the Hacker Valley Studio podcast, hasan audience that spans more than 150 countries

Gerald Auger, PhD is the founderof Simply Cyber, a cybersecurity education and media company built on oneunglamorous habit: showing up. Since December 2021 he has hosted the DailyCyber Threat Brief live every weekday morning, 1,237 consecutive mornings, andwon the SANS Difference Makers Award for Podcast of the Year in 2024 doing it.

What began as a livestream becamea community: more than 275,000 subscribers on YouTube, 75,000 followers onLinkedIn, and 17,000 members in a Discord server where practitioners trade jobleads and hard-won advice every day.

He holds a PhD in cyber operations from Dakota StateUniversity, has spent more than twenty years in governance, risk, andcompliance, teaches as an adjunct professor at The Citadel, and has taught GRCto more than 11,000 students through Simply Cyber Academy. He is at his bestexplaining why a risk matters to someone who did not ask for a lecture.

‍

Jasmine Wong is a cybersecurity creator and practitioner behind CyberJasBytes on Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. She explains the security risks people should understand when using AI, as well as the questions teams face when adopting AI.

Drawing on experience across software engineering, identity and access management, and application security, Jasmine brings a practitioner’s perspective to conversations with builders, founders, and security professionals about secure AI adoption and implementation. She also founded Bytes Over Tea, an in-person community where people learn practical security skills and discuss AI security.

‍