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Been There, Done That: A fireside chat with Manx-born Liam Downward
Born on the island. Built a US cyber security company. Raised $7M. Liam Downward on what he'd tell founders starting out here on the island.
About This Event
Liam Downward was born on the Isle of Man. He built a career in cyber security in the US, and in 2001 Hawaii's Lieutenant Governor named him one of the state's top 100 high-tech leaders.
In 2018 he co-founded CYRISMA in Rochester, New York. It helps the IT firms that look after small businesses find and fix their security risks. In 2024 it raised $7 million in growth equity.
He's been there and done that. On 14 October he's back to tell us how.
Three hosts, one founder, no slides:
Carol Glover, leadership coach and founder of Human Frontier Thinking Shelley Langan-Newton, CEO and a Startup Builder Chamara Peiris, Launchpad What we'll get into:
Leaving the island, and building a career from scratch abroad Turning years of security work into a product people pay for How a $7M growth round comes together, and what the investor checks Stepping back from the CEO job, and why a founder might choose to What he'd do differently if he were starting on the island today Who it's for:
Founders, would-be founders, and anyone in tech or cyber on the island. CyberIsle is the next day. Consider this your warm-up.
Free to attend.
This session is filmed for Launchpad's YouTube channel.
Where: Launchpad Event Space, Hillary House, Prospect Hill, Douglas, IM1 1EQ
When: Wednesday 14 October 2026, 17:30
Hosted by Launchpad, the Isle of Man's Builder's Playground.