How Two Teen Hackers Built a Multi-Million Hacking Company | Michiel Prins (HackerOne) #006
Source: YouTube · Cybernews · published Nov 14, 2025 · 49:03
HackerOne co-founder Mikuel Prince shares the journey of creating a bug bounty platform that started as a solution to help security researchers safely report vulnerabilities to companies 0:03. The company began with a focus on vulnerability disclosure before evolving into bug bounty programs 15:12. Early customers included tech startups like Twitter, Airbnb, and Spotify who were receptive to security feedback 4:54.
Key Takeaways:
• HackerOne started when pentesters struggled to report third-party vulnerabilities to companies who could fix them 2:16
• Their first sales pitch was "you're already under attack, would you like to know about it?" 6:33
• Early adopters were "born on the web" companies - tech-forward startups connected to the internet from day one 5:31
• The founders got their start with a 15-minute vulnerability challenge - find a flaw or they'd provide cake 11:02
• Live hacking events evolved from informal gatherings to professional competitions with life-changing payouts 27:01
The future of security lies in "bionic hacking" - the collaboration between human hackers and AI capabilities 37:56.
Sources:
Generate CPE Credits
Generate a professional CPE document from this video's transcript.
Estimated credit: 1 CPE hours
Estimate uses the video runtime (1 hour ≈ 1 CPE, rounded to the nearest 0.5, minimum 0.5, maximum 2.0). The final amount can be lower after review, never higher.
Topic: Cybersecurity. Commonly maps to: Security and Risk Management, Security Operations. Exact CISSP domains are assigned during generation.
Free account. One generation at a time, with a daily limit.
CPEBuddy is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by ISC2, ISACA, or any certification body. Exports are formatted for common CPE submissions; acceptance is at your certification body's discretion.
Transcript Preview
First 800 characters of the transcript
During those early days, what was your sales pitch? >> And if we couldn't find a vulnerability within 15 minutes, we would treat their entire company to cake. >> And you won every single time, you never had to buy cake. >> Every single time. >> Who was the first customer? And what was the breakthrough to where you started [music] to get broader adoption? >> We called them born on the web companies. >> The unicorns of the unicorns. [music] An AI hackbot was on the hacker one leaderboard. The future of hacking is bionic hacking. [music] Every hacker is expected to use AI. If you aren't yet, you're missing out. Mquille, thanks so much for doing this. Will you mind starting out by introducing yourself and what you do? >> Yeah, my name is Mikuel Prince, uh, one of the co-founders and a head of …