Episode Summary:

Most cybersecurity vendors lead with fear, gate their best features, and hide behind complexity. Bitwarden did the opposite and still won.

In this episode, Gianna and Maria sit down with Gary Orenstein, the Chief Customer Officer at Bitwarden, to break down how an open-source password manager with a “free forever” product became a trusted global brand across consumers and enterprises. No gimmicks. No fear-mongering. Just a strategy built on transparency, trust, and a product that actually works.

You’ll hear:

Why giving your product away can actually drive enterprise growth

How open source builds instant credibility and shortens sales cycles

The surprising emotional side of password security

What marketers should stop doing and what to try instead

How Bitwarden quietly created one of the most effective PLG motions in the industry

If you’re tired of the usual cybersecurity playbook, this episode is a refreshing—and useful—detour.

And yes, Gary’s dream job involves tiny foxes and national parks. Stick around for that.

Bitwarden

Channel Islands National Park

Central Park’s surprisingly excellent Instagram

Gary Orenstein is the Chief Customer Officer at Bitwarden, leading go-to-market across customer success, marketing, and sales. He’s been deep in the infrastructure and data space for years, with leadership roles at companies like Yellowbrick Data, SingleStore, and Fusion-io (which went public during his time there). Earlier, he ran marketing at Compellent, which IPO’d and was later acquired by Dell.

Translation: Gary knows what it takes to build and scale trust, from scrappy startups to big exits.

He’s also got the academic chops to match: a bachelor’s from Dartmouth and an MBA from Wharton.

Follow Gary on LinkedIn

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Gianna Whitver on LinkedIn

Maria on LinkedIn

Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Breaking Through in Cybersecurity Marketing. You can join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, main LinkedIn page, Instagram page, or podcast LinkedIn page. 

See you in the next episode!