Grit

How Malwarebytes Is Protecting Millions In The Era Of AI Scams | Marcin Kleczynski

February 23, 2026

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  • Marcin Kleczynski founded Malwarebytes at age 14 after infecting his family's computer, building the company into an 18-year-old enterprise that was profitable from the start through a unique donationware model. 
  • The difficulty in evaluating go-to-market leadership is a persistent challenge for technical founders, and candidates with the most impressive resumes often underperform compared to those with less flashy backgrounds. 
  • Malwarebytes recently underwent a significant strategic reinvention by separating its consumer and B2B operations into two distinct brands, Malwarebytes and ThreatDown, to better serve fragmented market needs. 
  • Marcin Kleczynski emphasizes a strong cultural commitment at Malwarebytes to recognize long-tenured employees through annual anniversary celebrations, viewing these non-monetary gestures as essential when financial compensation limits are reached. 
  • The CEO highlights the necessity of maintaining accessibility and gathering direct feedback from long-term, high-performing subject matter experts who often thrive outside traditional nine-to-five structures. 
  • The definition of 'fun' in a high-stakes leadership role is nuanced; while the CEO finds purpose and feels 'alive,' he acknowledges that the constant stress tax inherent in running a business prevents the experience from being purely 'fun' like leisure activities. 

Segments

AI Hype and Fundraising Environment
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Early AI deals closed due to hype, but the current environment makes it difficult for undifferentiated AI companies to raise capital.
  • Summary: Investors were initially very hyped about AI, similar to the early SPAC boom. Companies doing the same things as existing AI players may struggle to raise money now. This suggests a market correction or increased scrutiny for new AI funding rounds.
Hiring Hit Rate Philosophy
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(00:00:16)
  • Key Takeaway: Candidates with the most impressive LinkedIn backgrounds often perform the worst, while less experienced candidates can outperform expectations.
  • Summary: For a company with over 800 employees, the CEO estimates a 50-50 hiring hit rate is considered lucky. Those with seemingly weaker resumes on paper sometimes exceed expectations in performance. This suggests prioritizing intrinsic qualities over pedigree during hiring.
Introduction and Company Scale
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(00:00:49)
  • Key Takeaway: Marcin Kleczynski founded Malwarebytes as a 14-year-old, growing it to nearly 1,000 people protecting users from antivirus threats.
  • Summary: Joubin Mirzadegan introduces Marcin Kleczynski, founder and CEO of Malwarebytes. The company originated from Kleczynski fixing infected computers when he was just 14. It has since scaled to almost 1,000 employees.
Chicago Ties and Location Comparison
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(00:01:13)
  • Key Takeaway: The host and guest share a mutual appreciation for Chicago’s culture and food compared to the Bay Area suburbs like Los Altos.
  • Summary: The guest expresses missing Chicago, primarily for its food and people. The host shares a personal connection through his fiancĂ©e being from Chicago, where they plan to marry. They agree that the atmosphere of Los Altos differs significantly from Chicago.
Setting Precedent for Remote Work
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(00:02:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Once a flexible or remote work precedent is set, especially during COVID, it is nearly impossible to mandate a full return to the office.
  • Summary: The CEO notes that COVID was a moment of truth regarding remote work, and his prediction that remote work would last longer than HR expected proved correct. He regrets not moving to Chicago when many employees scattered from the Bay Area. He observes that companies starting with reduced office time find it impossible to enforce more in-office days later.
Productivity in Remote vs. Office Settings
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(00:04:21)
  • Key Takeaway: The host believes remote employees operate at 50% capacity, while the guest acknowledges that productivity varies by role and individual style post-COVID.
  • Summary: The host, running a small startup, handicaps remote workers to 50% capacity, believing in-office presence is crucial for output. The guest counters that some roles, like quiet coding, thrive remotely, while others benefit from in-office collaboration days (Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Malwarebytes). The post-COVID reality requires adapting to different productivity styles.
Malwarebytes Funding History and Valuation
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(00:06:14)
  • Key Takeaway: Malwarebytes has navigated three distinct funding chapters—VC, crossover, and private equity—with none of the capital going onto the balance sheet, being entirely secondary sales.
  • Summary: The company’s valuation is not public, having gone through three different funding journeys since 2008: a $30M Series A, a $50M Fidelity round in 2016, and a 2022 private equity raise. All funding rounds involved secondary sales to cash out early investors and founders, not primary capital infusion for operations.
Founding Story and Early Success
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(00:08:01)
  • Key Takeaway: The CEO started building an antivirus solution at age 14 after infecting his family’s computer, collaborating online with a volunteer who later became an employee.
  • Summary: The initial infection came from downloading pirated content disguised as an executable file, leading to spyware like Bonsai Buddy. A volunteer from spywareinfo.com helped fix the issue, and they collaborated remotely to build an antivirus, making $1 million before meeting in person at age 18/19. The official product launched in January 2008 as donationware, honoring lifetime licenses sold between 2008 and 2014.
Evolution of Cyber Threats
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(00:10:44)
  • Key Takeaway: Cyber threats have shifted from traditional viruses to identity theft and scams, necessitating services like personal data removal.
  • Summary: The current threat landscape involves scams and identity exposure, exemplified by the CEO’s mother receiving constant fake notifications. Malwarebytes now offers a service where users can check where their personal data is listed online and request removal from data brokers. This addresses the modern risk where personal identity information is widely available.
College, CEO Title, and Early Team
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(00:11:29)
  • Key Takeaway: The CEO graduated college with a 2.5 GPA while running the company and hired early employees directly from the online community that supported the initial product.
  • Summary: The CEO graduated with a Computer Science degree after taking an extra semester, maintaining a low GPA while optimizing his schedule. He was CEO from age 18, and the first 10 employees were hired from the community of volunteers who helped early on. The woman from Belgium who helped him in 2004 is now the Director of Threat Research, despite never having traveled to the US.
Founding Team Dynamics and Equity
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(00:15:29)
  • Key Takeaway: The initial four-person founding team divided equity informally without market data, leading to potential friction but ultimately contributing to success.
  • Summary: The CEO admits the initial equity split was done informally among the four founders, including a much older co-founder and a PhD candidate. While he never regrets the outcome, having multiple founders meant navigating opposing opinions, forcing the CEO to make unpopular decisions. He constantly considers if a better CEO could lead the company to 10x growth.
Strategic Mistake: Market Fragmentation
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(00:18:41)
  • Key Takeaway: The biggest leadership mistake was failing to recognize the market fragmentation between consumer and B2B needs, leading to a unified strategy that fell behind.
  • Summary: The company operated with one management and product structure despite serving both consumer and B2B segments, which required distinct strategies. This led to the separation into Malwarebytes (consumer) and ThreatDown (B2B), each with separate leadership teams. This structural change was catalyzed by bringing in private equity partners who specialize in large-scale restructuring.
Evaluating Go-to-Market Talent
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(00:28:19)
  • Key Takeaway: The CEO finds evaluating marketing and sales leadership difficult because he lacks expertise in that domain, often leading to inconsistent hiring in that area over 18 years.
  • Summary: The CEO, identifying as an engineering geek and product leader, finds assessing go-to-market competence challenging. He notes that marketing leadership has been ‘hit or miss’ throughout the company’s history. He seeks candidates opposite to him, specifically those strong in sales and marketing, because great products require effective distribution.
Hiring Assessment Techniques
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(00:29:11)
  • Key Takeaway: References often fail to reveal true weaknesses; asking what job needs to be hired next to support the new hire uncovers their core deficiencies.
  • Summary: The CEO finds that provided references are usually positive, offering little insight into potential issues. A more effective reference question is: ‘What job do you think I need to hire next to help that person be successful?’ This often leads the reference to describe the exact weakness of the candidate being hired.
AI Bubble Skepticism and Coding Impact
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(00:36:46)
  • Key Takeaway: The current AI investment wave risks creating a bubble by applying LLMs as a panacea to every problem, but the progress in coding models is undeniably world-changing.
  • Summary: The market is currently peanut-buttering AI across all problems, assuming LLMs are great at everything, which is unsustainable. However, the rate of change in AI models applied to coding is absurdly fast and will change the world, even if other AI applications fail. The CEO is skeptical of fringe AI cybersecurity startups raising large sums without proving scale first.
Prudence Over Hyper-Growth Funding
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(00:43:19)
  • Key Takeaway: Taking large, early valuations based on hype can force aggressive hiring and salary recalibration, leading companies to lose their edge before achieving repeatable product-market fit.
  • Summary: Accepting large funding rounds prematurely can lead to hiring ahead of actual growth plans, causing a loss of cultural edge and focus. The CEO questions the authenticity of multi-billion dollar valuations with little revenue, contrasting it with his own prudent, bootstrapped beginnings. He notes that starting fresh today in consumer cybersecurity would be difficult due to market saturation.
Work-Life Balance and Productivity
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(00:50:01)
  • Key Takeaway: The CEO stopped unproductive all-nighters, realizing that stepping back and resting often leads to solving complex problems much faster.
  • Summary: The CEO found that working until 6 AM on a coding issue only to solve it minutes after sleeping for three hours proved that more hours awake do not equal more productivity. He now maintains reasonable hours and uses structured hobbies like flying and cooking to provide calming, low-chaos environments away from work stress.
Long-Term Employee Retention Culture
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(00:54:31)
  • Key Takeaway: Malwarebytes celebrates every employee’s annual work anniversary during monthly all-hands meetings to recognize dedication beyond monetary compensation.
  • Summary: The company has 25 to 30 employees who have been there for 13 or 14 years, demonstrating strong retention. Since money cannot always be increased significantly, the company focuses on small gestures, like publicly celebrating every employee’s yearly anniversary. This reinforces the strong mission of helping people stay safe online.
Employee Longevity Recognition
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(00:54:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Malwarebytes maintains a culture of celebrating every employee’s annual anniversary, recognizing loyalty beyond standard compensation.
  • Summary: Twenty-five to thirty employees have been with the business for 13 or 14 years. The company celebrates every employee’s anniversary monthly by displaying their picture during all-hands meetings. This practice is cultural, intended to recognize employees who work exceptionally hard when financial rewards cannot always be maximized.
Managing Expert Talent
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(00:55:37)
  • Key Takeaway: Effective management requires CEOs to remain reachable and solicit feedback from long-tenured staff who possess the deepest operational knowledge.
  • Summary: The CEO makes a point of being reachable, especially to long-term employees, as they best understand the business realities. Many early hires were recruited from message boards and are not nine-to-five workers, requiring management tailored to their output-focused schedules. These subject matter experts in areas like threat research and engineering often work remotely on their own schedules, demanding respect for their work style.
Defining Leadership Fun
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(00:57:07)
  • Key Takeaway: For a CEO, ‘fun’ is often replaced by feeling purposeful and alive, even when facing stressful obligations like board meetings.
  • Summary: The feeling of having a purpose and feeling alive is described as immeasurably good, contrasting sharply with the fear of feeling dull. High highs, like winning or achieving a major score, can mask the stress tax that constantly weighs on a leader. The euphoria of success can temporarily mask the difficult lows, such as screaming into a pillow over a problem.
Energy and Team Selection
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(00:59:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Leaders should prioritize working with high-performers who bring positive energy and support during difficult times, effectively ‘marrying the believers.’
  • Summary: People who suck the energy out of the room make the job less fun and should be distanced from the core team. High performers with great attitudes who want to keep winning provide significant energy and support when things go sideways. These are the individuals the leader wants to bring along for future opportunities.
Life Balance and Calling
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(01:00:39)
  • Key Takeaway: Intense focus on a central business venture necessitates sacrificing secondary personal activities, yet the commitment to one’s calling overrides the desire for leisure.
  • Summary: Post-Roadrunner, life became heavily centered on the business, leaving room for only health and perhaps one relationship outside of work. The speaker noted working all weekend without missing football games, but crucially, never felt the desire to be doing that instead of working. Doing something that feels like one’s calling is inherently more fulfilling than doing something that is merely ‘fun’ but lacks purpose.
Hiring Status and Grit Definition
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(01:01:59)
  • Key Takeaway: Both Malwarebytes and Threat Down are actively hiring across all departments following the separation of the two businesses.
  • Summary: Both Malwarebytes and Threat Down are hiring across the board, including marketing, engineering, product, and finance. Grit is defined as continuing to move forward after being repeatedly ‘kicked in the teeth,’ viewing the adversity as part of the process toward a final prize. The speaker confirms he has had many opportunities to leave the business but the grit kept him going.