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▶ 18:22 · $MALWAREBYTES · The AI Era of Cybercrime: How Malwarebytes Is Evolving Its Security Stack | Marcin Kleczynski
episode briefing
Kleiner Perkins

The AI Era of Cybercrime: How Malwarebytes Is Evolving Its Security Stack | Marcin Kleczynski

2026-02-23 · 4 company · 4 thematic
sentiment
3 bull0 bear1 neu
speakers
marcin kleczynski

Started Malwarebytes at age 14, grew it to ~800 people, 3M+ consumer subscribers, and a separate B2B brand (ThreatDown); took three rounds of all-secondary funding from VC, crossover, and private equity over 18 years.

quote
“We surpassed three plus million paying subscribers. On the B2B side, you know, the go to market needed to change dramatically. Security solded the channel. So, it was just a a different set of people needed. Um, we needed to split these bu…”
—marcin kleczynski

episode shorts · 3

The 14-Year-Old Founder Story

Where Do Teams Do Their Best Work?

Different Customers Require Different Strategies

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$MALWAREBYTESbullish· high· posmarcin kleczynski
Malwarebytes splits consumer and B2B, hits 3M subscribers and $200M ARR
Separating the consumer brand (Malwarebytes) from the new B2B brand (ThreatDown) with dedicated management unlocked growth; consumer side now has 3M+ paying subscribers, nearing $…
$VECTORbullish· mediummarcin kleczynski
Vector Capital's PE accountability helped execute complex business separation
Private equity partner Vector provided operational expertise in splitting financials, legal separation, and launching a new brand — areas where VCs typically don't help — and the…
$THREATDOWNbullish· medium· posmarcin kleczynski
ThreatDown launches as dedicated B2B brand with channel-focused GM
After splitting from Malwarebytes, ThreatDown hired a GM from B2B security channel sales who knows exactly how to execute the channel-first go-to-market motion that the combined c…
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Anthropic cited as rare AI startup with real scale and customer usage
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