In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Simon Hartley, co‑founder of RunSafe Security. Simon shares a personal story about aspiring to be like Bruce Lee and how disciplined coaching built his willpower and grit, illustrating the broader lesson that structured mentorship outperforms raw talent. He emphasizes a core cybersecurity principle: "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of detection," arguing that traditional detection tools lag behind modern attacks and that RunSafe focuses on hardening systems to prevent breaches entirely. Simon offers timeless business advice to listen to customers and stay attuned to market shifts, and tells his younger self to seek the best coaches and follow their guidance. He defines happiness as serving others, even if it’s just one person, and cites the 1940s book Autobiography of a Yogi as influential, highlighting the quote "you are the architect of your own destiny" to reflect his belief in meritocracy and self‑improvement. The episode concludes with Simon directing listeners to his company RunSafe Security and his LinkedIn profile for further contact.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Simon Hartley with us. He is the co-founder of RunSafe Security. So welcome to the show, Simon.
Thanks, Tyler.
Of course, thanks for joining us. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Simon, is what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Spanish. Well, as a young man, I wanted to be like Bruce Lee, but I fell a bit short of the mark. So listening to coaches and following their training routines, it did help me to improve dramatically over time. I never reached the skill level of Bruce Lee, but those routines helped me improve a whole lot more than students who either relied on just a natural ability or just chase endless training fans. I think we've all seen them on late night TV. What I really found was that my coaches helped me develop willpower and grit. I later found out that kung fu actually meant discipline or skill achieved through hard work and practice in any area. It actually didn't have anything to do with the martial arts.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Well, I know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of detection. After 40 years of progress in cybersecurity, traditional network and endpoint detection tools, they still struggle to detect the latest kinds of cyberattacks. Every time you turn on the news or you look at the internet, you're just looking at another attack. So my main focus in the industry is Prevention. How do you cyberharden systems so that the traditional attacks and the latest kinds of new attacks, they just can't get a foothold and they certainly can't scale to thousands of devices?
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? You're not necessarily industry-specific.
Uh, it's kind of an oldie but a goodie. I'd say listen to your customers and pay attention to the evolving markets. I know everyone says that they do these things, but, you know, the landscape's littered with companies that, you know, used to be hot stuff.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Well, you can probably guess this one. Find the best coaches and do what they tell you.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I would say that's Seeing your life as a service to others. You know, if you can't feed 100 people, then feed just one person.
And what is the best book that you've read and what's the number one thing you learned from that?
I've read an awful lot of books, but the one that kind of really sticks in my mind is an older book from the '40s. It's called Autobiography of a Yogi. And there's a great quote in there, and I think it gives a great perspective.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
I'll try and say this one a little slowly: you are the architect of your own destiny. I believe that to be true. Um, I think America is still a country that has a lot of room for self-improvement and meritocracy. I'd like to think that everything here isn't just about being bought born into the— imagine the air quotes here— the right family.
Yes. Thank you so much for coming on, man. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
A couple of places, either at my company, which is RunSafe Security, or like where everyone finds everyone, LinkedIn.
Perfect. Thanks again, man. We really enjoyed it.
Thanks a lot, Tyler.
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