21.6 Startups vs. Enterprises: Different Approaches¶

A five-person startup building their first product operates in a fundamentally different reality than a Fortune 500 enterprise with thousands of applications and decades of technical debt. Advice that makes sense for one can be counterproductive for the other. Telling a startup to implement comprehensive SBOM management with dedicated tooling and full-time staff is impractical; telling an enterprise to "just enable Dependabot" understates the complexity they face. Effective supply chain security guidance must account for organizational context.

This section provides tailored approaches for organizations at different stages, recognizing that security programs must fit their context to succeed. The goal is not to excuse smaller organizations from security—supply chain attacks do not discriminate by company size—but to ensure recommendations are achievable and appropriately prioritized.

Startup Constraints: Speed, Resources, Expertise¶

Startups face constraints that shape every decision, including security investments.

Resource constraints: - Limited or no dedicated security headcount - Tight budgets that prioritize product development - No security tools beyond what comes free with platforms - Engineers who must wear multiple hats

Speed imperatives: - Pressure to ship features and find product-market fit - Perception that security slows development - Frequent pivots that invalidate long-term planning - "Move fast" culture that may deprioritize careful evaluation

Expertise gaps: - No security specialists on staff - Engineers without formal security training - Limited awareness of supply chain risks - No established security processes or culture

Risk profile realities: - Smaller attack surface (fewer applications, less data) - Lower profile target (less attractive to sophisticated attackers) - But: potentially catastrophic impact if compromised (startup may not survive) - And: security debt compounds as company grows

Many startups discover the importance of security when their first enterprise customer requests compliance documentation like a SOC 2 report. At that point, years of technical decisions may need to be revisited, making early attention to foundational security practices valuable even for resource-constrained organizations.

Minimum Viable Supply Chain Security for Startups¶

Startups cannot implement comprehensive supply chain security programs, but they can establish foundational practices that provide meaningful protection without derailing product development.

Minimum viable security checklist for startups:

What startups should NOT do: - Build custom security tooling - Hire dedicated security staff (until later stage) - Implement complex governance processes - Chase compliance certifications prematurely - Delay shipping for perfect security

Startup security philosophy:

The goal is security by default through good choices, not comprehensive programs:

1. Choose secure foundations: Use platforms with built-in security (GitHub with Dependabot, cloud providers with managed services)
2. Adopt secure defaults: Enable security features that require no ongoing effort
3. Avoid accumulating debt: Make reasonably secure choices now to avoid painful remediation later
4. Scale with the business: Invest more as the business grows and risk profile changes

Founder/CTO responsibilities:

Even without security staff, someone must own security awareness: - Stay informed about major vulnerabilities affecting your stack - Ensure basic security practices are followed - Build security considerations into technical decisions - Prepare for customer security questionnaires

Enterprise Complexity: Scale, Legacy, Governance¶

Enterprises face different challenges than startups—not resource scarcity but complexity, coordination, and legacy.

Scale challenges: - Hundreds or thousands of applications - Millions of dependencies across the portfolio - Dozens of development teams with varying practices - Multiple technology stacks and package ecosystems - Global distribution with varied regulatory requirements

Legacy challenges: - Applications built before modern supply chain practices existed - Dependencies that cannot be easily updated due to compatibility - Technical debt that makes changes risky - Undocumented systems where dependency information is lost - Acquisitions that bring unknown risk profiles

Governance challenges: - Multiple stakeholders with different priorities - Change management processes that slow security improvements - Compliance requirements that add overhead - Procurement processes that complicate tool acquisition - Organizational silos that impede coordination

Coordination challenges: - Security team cannot touch every application - Policies must work across diverse contexts - Training must reach thousands of developers - Consistent enforcement across autonomous teams

At enterprise scale, even minimal per-application effort becomes substantial. With thousands of applications, spending just one hour per application on supply chain security translates to multiple full-time employees annually. This reality drives the need for automation, platform approaches, and scalable processes that don't require manual touch for every application.

Enterprise Advantages: Resources, Tooling, Expertise¶

Enterprises also have advantages that smaller organizations lack.

Resource leverage strategies:

Enterprise program components:

Platform approach:

Enterprises achieve scale through platforms that embed security: - Standardized CI/CD pipelines with security checks built in - Approved dependency lists and internal package repositories - Golden path templates that include security by default - Centralized vulnerability management integrated with development tools

When security is part of the platform rather than a separate process, it scales with development activity rather than requiring proportional security effort.

Scaling Practices as Organizations Grow¶

Organizations grow through distinct stages, each requiring evolution in supply chain security approach.

Stage transitions:

Scaling triggers and indicators:

Signs that it's time to invest more deeply in supply chain security:

1. Customer requirements: Enterprise customers asking for security attestations, SBOMs, or compliance certifications

2. Regulatory exposure: Entering regulated industries (healthcare, finance, government) or jurisdictions (EU with Cyber Resilience Act)

3. Incident occurrence: Experiencing a supply chain security incident, even minor

4. Team growth: Reaching scale where informal practices no longer work

5. Product criticality: Software becoming critical to customer operations

6. Funding stage: Raising growth rounds where due diligence includes security

7. Acquisition interest: M&A processes that examine security posture

Investment timing guidance:

Stage-Appropriate Recommendations¶

For seed-stage startups (1-10 people):

1. Enable Dependabot or equivalent on all repositories—it's free and automatic
2. Use lockfiles and commit them to source control
3. Enable MFA on all package registry and source control accounts
4. Review and merge security updates weekly
5. Choose well-maintained dependencies over obscure alternatives
6. Don't build security infrastructure; use platform defaults

For early-stage companies (10-50 people):

1. Assign security point-of-contact (not full-time, but responsible)
2. Document basic security practices for developer onboarding
3. Implement SCA scanning in CI/CD with blocking for critical vulnerabilities
4. Prepare for customer security questionnaires
5. Track known vulnerabilities and remediation status
6. Consider SOC 2 Type 1 if enterprise customers require it

For growth-stage companies (50-200 people):

1. Hire first security professional (or engage fractional CISO)
2. Formalize supply chain security policy
3. Implement SBOM generation for released products
4. Establish vulnerability SLAs and track compliance
5. Deploy enterprise-grade scanning tools
6. Build security metrics and report to leadership

For scale-stage companies (200-1000 people):

1. Establish dedicated supply chain security function
2. Implement policy-as-code with automated enforcement
3. Deploy comprehensive SBOM management
4. Integrate with enterprise risk management
5. Conduct regular third-party assessments
6. Build security into developer platform

For enterprises (1000+ people):

1. Comprehensive program as described throughout this chapter
2. Platform approach embedding security in development infrastructure
3. Federated model with central policy and distributed execution
4. Mature metrics program with executive visibility
5. Industry engagement and standards participation
6. Continuous improvement driven by metrics and incidents

Avoiding Common Stage-Mismatch Mistakes¶

Startups acting like enterprises: - Building comprehensive governance when shipping speed matters more - Buying enterprise tools that require dedicated staff to operate - Creating detailed policies that no one follows - Delaying product for security perfection

Enterprises acting like startups: - Relying on free tools that don't scale - Informal processes that work for small teams but fail at scale - No dedicated ownership for supply chain security - Ad-hoc incident response when systematic approach is needed

Growing companies stuck in startup mode: - Not investing as the business and risk profile grow - Accumulating security debt that becomes expensive to address - Losing enterprise deals due to security immaturity - Being unprepared for compliance requirements

Recommendations¶

We recommend the following stage-appropriate approaches:

1. Start with foundations regardless of size: Dependency scanning, lockfiles, and MFA require minimal effort and provide meaningful protection at any stage.

2. Scale investment with risk and resources: As your business grows, customer requirements expand, and resources increase, invest proportionally in supply chain security.

3. Recognize transition triggers: Watch for signals—customer requirements, regulatory exposure, incidents, team growth—that indicate it's time to invest more deeply.

4. Avoid premature optimization: Don't build enterprise programs in startup contexts. Focus on secure defaults and avoiding debt until scale demands more.

5. Avoid delayed investment: Don't stay in startup mode as the organization grows. Security debt compounds, and retroactive remediation is more expensive than progressive investment.

6. Leverage platforms at scale: Enterprises achieve coverage through platforms that embed security, not through security teams that touch every application.

7. Context matters more than best practices: Adapt recommendations to your specific situation. The right approach depends on your size, risk profile, customer requirements, and resources.

Supply chain security is not one-size-fits-all. The practices in this book provide a comprehensive toolkit; your job is to select and sequence the tools appropriate to your context. Start where you are, improve continuously, and scale your investment as your organization—and its risk profile—grows.