Insights from Eden Data’s survey of high-growth organizations. 

At AssuranceLab, we work closely with expert consultancies like Eden Data, who help startups in implementing security and compliance frameworks from the ground up. As an audit firm, our role is to verify compliance, and together, we see a common challenge among startups: many don’t prioritize security compliance until it becomes an urgent issue. This often leads to missed opportunities, increased pressure, and complications during audits when enterprises are waiting for a compliance report that was needed yesterday.

"What we see on our end is very consistent with Eden Data’s survey results. Many of our clients face immense pressure by starting too late, causing a lot of stress for everyone involved. Businesses that take a proactive approach, knowing compliance is key to their growth, experience smoother audits and better outcomes when they need them." - Paul Wenham, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at AssuranceLab. 

For startups, compliance is less about risk mitigation and more about establishing credibility for enterprise sales. The challenge is that achieving compliance gets exponentially more difficult as your organization grows, so waiting until a prospective enterprise buyer asks about compliance is not always a smart strategy. Startups that aspire to do business with F500 buyers should seriously consider getting compliant early and proactively, when it’s far simpler and easier.

At Eden Data, we recently surveyed high-growth organizations that are prioritizing compliance with SOC 2 and GDPR frameworks for security and privacy, respectively. 

Hindsight is 20/20
We asked all respondents what advice they’d give to themselves if they could start their journeys over again. Many expressed regret about delaying the compliance process: 

"Start the process of becoming SOC 2 compliant as early as possible. Doing this before the company grows larger in terms of size and number of employees will save a lot of time and resources later on."  - Middle Management (Company size of 10-49; Finance Industry)

"Build security at the very beginning and it will cost 2,000% less in the future."   - Senior Management (Company size of 250-1000; Tech Industry)

“Keep compliance top of mind when starting the organization.” - Executive (Company size of 50-249; Tech Industry)

For Series A and B startups, compliance can take 3-18 months, depending on a variety of factors. Waiting until prospective buyers share security questionnaires as part of infosec review puts important deals at risk. 

At Eden Data, we’re beginning to see the emergence of pre-launch startups that are building their companies with an emphasis on cybersecurity and compliance. Getting SOC 2 compliant before writing any code ensures that environments are configured in a compliant way before adopting processes and trying to retrofit them later. “Compliance-native startups,” as we call them, are able to work with F500 buyers much earlier in their journeys than the typical startup. 

Getting compliant faster
Many companies mistakenly believe that simply purchasing a Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) tool is sufficient to achieve compliance. However, as Dominique Singer, Eden Data’s VP of Advanced Services, explains in their guide to SOC 2 Misconceptions: 

“While the GRC tools offer useful insights and guidance along the way, organizations still must customize policies and put practices in place that align their operating context with compliance mandates. Building a security and compliance program is about much more than just deploying a GRC toolset.”

Many of our clients previously got “stuck” when independently navigating their compliance journeys. By partnering with Eden Data, an AssuranceLab, preferred partner, they got access to our hands-on team of ex-Big 4 cybersecurity professionals. More than 85% reported faster compliance journeys and also the ability to offload the challenge while returning focus to other growth initiatives.

Whether you work with Eden Data or another cybersecurity firm, it’s clear that starting early and getting expert help is a worthwhile investment.

Want to Learn More?
We surveyed high-growth organizations to assess the business impact of investing in SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, and other compliance frameworks. Check out all the insights by downloading Eden Data’s report on ROI of Compliance.