The founder’s guide to accelerating growth with compliance

For founders of early-stage startups, growth is the North Star. You’re focused on building a great product, winning customers, and scaling fast. Security compliance? It’s probably not on your radar—but it should be. 

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The reality is, compliance isn’t just a nice to have or a box to check when a customer asks to see a SOC 2 report. It’s a revenue accelerator. Starting a compliance program and getting your first certifications can unlock bigger deals and build trust with potential customers—before they even ask for it. 

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If you’re not sure where to get started with compliance, this guide is for you. We’ll walk you through different frameworks to help you determine what to start with and share a real success story from a real startup. 

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Which framework is right for your startup

Even if you haven’t yet been asked by a potential customer or investor about it, you’ve likely heard of SOC 2, ISO 27001, or even other specialized compliance frameworks. While these frameworks are commonly adopted by technology companies to demonstrate their security and build trust with customers, they aren’t interchangeable. 

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For startups that are primarily doing business with customers in North America, here are three frameworks to consider starting with. Keep in mind that your buyers are your best source of information to help you decide which standard to pursue. 

SOC 2

SOC 2, or System and Organization Controls 2, is a standard created by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). It provides a framework for ensuring your company securely manages customer data based on five Trust Services Criteria: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. 

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A SOC 2 report gives your startup a recognized way to assure customers, prospects, and business partners that your services are reliable and trustworthy, and it’s considered the go-to security framework for fast-growing companies. 

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SOC 2 is right for your startup if:

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• You’re a B2B company: Many companies, especially those that are mid-market or enterprise, require SOC 2 before they’ll sign a contract—it helps you move through security reviews faster and unlock deals.
• You handle sensitive customer data: Whether it’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII), financial information, or business-critical data, SOC 2 demonstrates that you’ve put the right safeguards in place to protect it, according to the five Trust Services criteria.
• You want to signal trust and operational maturity: Having SOC 2 in place shows prospects, investors, and partners that you take security seriously and have undergone an independent third-party review of your controls—giving you a competitive edge and reducing friction as you scale.
  
  

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USDP

‍US Data Privacy (USDP) is an exclusive consumer data privacy framework available only from Vanta. USDP provides a one-stop solution for complying with data privacy laws throughout the US, including:

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• California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA)
• California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)
• Colorado Privacy Act (CPA)
• Connecticut Data Protection Act (CTDPA
• Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA)
• Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA). 

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UDSP is right for your startup if:

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• You handle the personal data of US residents: Privacy laws that protect the data of citizens of various US states apply if you collect, store, or process this data—and non-compliance can lead to steep fines.
• You want to future-proof your privacy program: With new state privacy laws popping up and evolving constantly, and the inevitability of a Federal privacy law at some point, USDP helps you stay ahead of changes—so you’re compliant now and set up for whatever comes next.
• You want a simple, streamlined way to manage compliance: Instead of stitching together multiple privacy frameworks or tools, USDP gives you a single framework that covers all major US privacy laws—saving you time, money, and headaches.

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ISO 42001

Established by the International Organization of Standardization, ISO 42001 defines the requirements of an Artificial Intelligence Management System (AIMS) that helps organizations responsibly develop and use AI — emphasizing ethical considerations, transparency, and the necessity of continuous learning.

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ISO 42001 is designed for organizations that utilize AI technologies in their workflows or as part of their service delivery, and assists these organizations by outlining the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and improving an AIMS.

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ISO 42001 is right for your startup if:

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• You’re developing AI technologies: ISO 42001 helps you build responsible, transparent processes into your AI development lifecycle—from model training to deployment—so you can proactively manage risks like bias, explainability, and misuse.
• You’re using AI subprocessors of data: If you’re deploying AI subprocessors like OpenAI or Anthropic to generate content, analyze data, or power features, ISO 42001 helps you create a structured process to evaluate the risks, set guidelines for responsible use, and document how you select, monitor, and govern those providers.
• You want a third-party audit of your AI systems: ISO 42001 is third-party certifiable and demonstrates to customers, partners, and regulators that your AI systems meet ISO’s recognized standards for responsible development and governance.

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How Factory builds trust in AI through SOC 2, ISO 42001, and USDP

Factory is on a mission to bring autonomy to software engineering, offering AI-powered systems called Droids that help organizations automate labor-intensive software development tasks. Founded in 2023 and rapidly growing, Factory’s customer base largely consists of organizations with 200-1000 engineers. These enterprise organizations require that any vendor they work with, especially AI vendors, are taking the necessary precautions to secure their data. 

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Eno Reyes, CTO and Co-Founder of Factory knew early on that in order to hit Factory’s revenue goals, winning trust in their AI practices would be essential. Compliance with key frameworks emerged as the leading strategy for Factory to demonstrate their security posture to customers in a tangible way. 

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Soon after signing with Vanta, Factory became SOC 2 compliant due to the need from their early customer base in the U.S. who were looking for proof that Factory was handling customer data safely. Eventually, customers also started to express interest in Factory’s policies around personally identifiable information, which led them to adopt data privacy frameworks such as USDP and GDPR.

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After Vanta announced support for the ISO 42001 framework, the Factory team quickly realized its importance and how it was aligned with Factory’s long-term security vision. They decided to implement it knowing that it would help them demonstrate trust in their AI-based products. They found that Vanta’s cross-mapping of controls enabled them to re-use existing controls from the other frameworks they’ve already implemented—significantly shortening the timeline to become audit-ready.

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Since using Vanta, the Factory team has seen a meaningful reduction in the length of their sales cycles and the volume of security conversations. Using Vanta to prove compliance with SOC 2 and ISO 42001 has not only helped Factory close deals but also saved them hundreds of hours of work required to implement technical controls. 

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“Vanta is the type of product that is necessary in the modern security market,” says Eno. “It’s been tremendously helpful in helping us close deals as well as giving us peace of mind that we’re thinking about all aspects of security.”

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Open new doors to growth with Vanta

Ready to build trust, close bigger deals, and scale faster? Find out why 1,000+ YC-backed founders choose Vanta to automate compliance. 

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