EUROPE BUILDS🎙️Ep13: How Hack The Box grew from a passion project to a global leader, with Haris Pylarinos
Notes, insights and key points from the thirteenth episode.
How do you turn a passion project into a platform trusted by organizations worldwide such as Deloitte, Toyota, and the University of South Florida?
This week, we sit down with Haris Pylarinos, Founder and CEO of Hack The Box, the Cyber Performance Center with the mission to provide a human-first platform to create and maintain high-performing cybersecurity individuals and organizations. What started as a community-driven side project has evolved into a platform trusted by organizations worldwide for driving their teams to peak performance.
Haris shares his lessons on bootstrapping, scaling, and building a platform that sells itself—plus his take on Europe’s place in the cybersecurity race.
Key Takeaways & Insights
🔹 From a Seasoned Cybersecurity Professional to Founder
Haris started Hack The Box out of frustration with conventional cybersecurity training methods. His goal? To offer real-world and gamified simulated environments where professionals could put their skills to the test. What started as a community project soon turned into a thriving business.
🔹 Building a Business Without Funding
Hack The Box initially relied on organic growth. Haris launched a paid VIP tier simply to cover server costs. It sold out in hours. Then came enterprise clients, willing to pay for private servers—paving the way for a scalable B2B solution.
🔹 Scaling From Community to Global Clients
The first enterprise deal? A customer asked to buy an entire server instead of sharing. That request led to Hack The Box’s Enterprise Platform. The demand grew, and soon, more clients from enterprises, government, and academia followed.
🔹 The Power of Gamification
Cybersecurity isn’t something you can learn from a textbook. Hack The Box turned learning into a game—adding competition, rewards, and real-world problem-solving. Even enterprises, government, and academia embraced the approach, proving that education should be engaging, not dull.
🔹 Lessons in Leadership & Scaling
Moving from a technical founder to CEO wasn’t easy. Haris talks about the importance of delegation, avoiding feature bloat, and focusing on the right opportunities. His advice to startups? Take it slow—don’t rush hiring, don’t overbuild, and don’t burn cash chasing unproven ideas.
🔹 Europe’s Place in Cybersecurity
Can Europe retain its top startups, or will they inevitably scale in the US? Haris shares his thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the European tech scene, how large acquirers shape startup trajectories, and why Greece is still home to Hack The Box’s R&D powerhouse.
Why listen?
This is a masterclass in scaling a startup from zero to a global leader. Haris breaks down how he built a thriving community-driven business, transitioned from B2C to enterprise, and secured contracts with enterprises, government, and academia—all while bootstrapping. If you're into cybersecurity, scaling strategies, or how to turn a side project into a powerhouse brand, this episode is for you.
🎙️Listen to Ep. #12 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or BORRN's YouTube channel.
Get a glimpse:
If you’re not intrigued yet, then catch a glimpse of the episode with Haris sharing the story behind their first B2B customer:
Readings:
🔨 Learn about EUROPE BUILDS: Does Europe Build Real Innovation?
👀 Read a blog post that analyzes the mission and gamification approach of Hack The Box: An introduction to Cyber Performance Center
🖲️Watch a video interview of Haris discussing how he turned his passion into Hack The Box:
About EUROPE BUILDS
Europe’s startup ecosystem is no longer just an underdog story. Europe builds and it builds well. This is a podcast dedicated to diving deep into the real stories behind its startups. Each episode tackles, among others, topics like scaling challenges, funding disparities, diverse entrepreneurial culture, and the art of storytelling—through candid conversations with those who live these realities every day. Visionary founders across the continent.
| Co-hosts: Mathilda Nathan & Niko Efstathiou
🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Youtube