In this candid conversation, founders Lonye Ford, CEO @ Arlo Solutions, and Arlene Wube, President & COO @ Arlo Solutions, will share their unique story with moderator Ana Chaud, Co-Founder @ FiftyPages, from the early days of Arlo’s inception to building a company that has become a trusted name in cybersecurity. They'll open up about the challenges, setbacks, and breakthroughs that shaped their path, offering a rare glimpse into the entrepreneurial spirit that drives Arlo’s innovation.
Below are highlights of the talk. Watch the video below for the full conversation, and make sure to bookmark Tech in Motion's Event Page to stay up to date on our upcoming webinar, hybrid, and in-person events:
Ana Chaud: Welcome, everyone, to our fireside chat. I'm here with two incredible founders, Lonye and Arlene, for an open and honest conversation about the wild but rewarding journey of entrepreneurship. Our goal is to share insights that resonate, especially with early-stage entrepreneurs and founders. We’ll talk about building with intention, scaling strategically, and navigating challenges in today’s competitive market.
Let me introduce our guests. First, meet Lonye Ford, CEO and Co-founder of Arlo Solutions. She brings over 15 years of experience in cybersecurity, system monitoring, and vulnerability analysis. She’s a trusted advisor to executive leadership, a motivational speaker, mentor, and proud Air Force veteran. Her accolades include being a 2019 InterCon Top 50 Tech Visionary and the 2018 DC Women's Business Center Veteran Woman-Owned Business of the Year.
Next is Arlene Wube, Co-founder, President, and COO of Arlo. A Howard University graduate, she brings over a decade of leadership in small businesses and tech, with strong roots in marketing, finance, and information systems. She's active in nonprofit boards and is a strong advocate for women in business.
Welcome to the stage, Lonye and Arlene!
Ana Chaud:
Let’s start with how the two of you met and came together to found Arlo.
Lonye Ford:
We actually met over a lemon drop martini—true story! Arlene and I are business partners turned best friends. I like to say she’s my business soulmate. We met through her husband, Taz, while I was still in the Air Force doing party promotions in DC. Taz was incredibly organized, always bringing spreadsheets and data, which was rare in that scene. Eventually, he kept saying, "You’ve got to meet my wife!" And when I finally did, I realized I’d basically been working with her all along.
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Ana Chaud:
What gap did you see in the market that led to Arlo’s inception?
Arlene Wube:
We both had a passion for supporting the government. Lonye worked with the Air Force, and I supported the government through Northrop Grumman IT. We realized we could bring commercial innovation into the public sector.
When Lonye mentioned cybersecurity, I said, “That’s the hottest market. Let’s do this.”
Lonye Ford:
We both wanted to be entrepreneurs and knew the type of government support we wanted to offer. We built Arlo around that vision.
Ana Chaud:
How did you establish credibility in such a competitive market?
Arlene Wube:
We leaned on our personal past performance. Every role we held, every impact we made—it all built our credibility. We also tapped into our networks and focused on delivery and trust.
Lonye Ford:
You have to perform at your best—always. Our reputations preceded us. Even without past performance as a company, people knew how we worked individually.
We also realized we needed to research our clients. What are their pain points? We built solutions around that and earned credibility by showing we understood their needs.
Ana Chaud:
You’ve talked before about intentionally building the right team. How did you do that?
Arlene Wube:
We reinvested in the company. Initially, we hired 1099 contractors. As we grew, we brought in full-time talent, many of whom started as vendors.
Ana Chaud:
How did you fund the startup?
Lonye Ford:
We bootstrapped with sweat equity. For the first two years, we focused on building, learning, and using free resources from the SBA and APEX. We didn’t have capital, but we had drive.
Arlene Wube:
We couldn’t get loans at first. Banks wanted two years of tax returns, which we didn’t have. We had to figure things out creatively.
Lonye Ford:
We found an accountant who believed in us. She helped us cover payroll after we won our first contract, even though she’d only known us for a month.
Arlene Wube:
She’s now our CFO. That early partnership was crucial.
Ana Chaud:
That’s amazing. So many founders think they need outside investors to get started. You’re proving otherwise. Did you ever raise outside funding?
Lonye Ford:
No, we didn’t. It was a slow start. We didn’t pay ourselves for five years. We took every dollar and hired the right people.
Arlene Wube:
We treated Arlo as our passion project. Our day jobs paid the bills. Arlo was the late-night hustle, and we loved it.
Ana Chaud:
How did you know who to hire first for your leadership team?
Lonye Ford:
We trusted our intuition. We did every job ourselves at first. When we reached capacity, we hired. We started with an accountant because managing money is critical. Just because you’re an expert in your field doesn’t mean you’re an entrepreneur.
Ana Chaud:
Let’s talk about strategic partnerships. How did you identify and build them?
Lonye Ford:
We’re naturally partnership friendly. We believe in collaboration and shared wins. We went to events, avoided the complainers, and asked, “What’s the solution?”. We partnered with large firms early on to get past performance.
Arlene Wube:
Partnership is part of our DNA. We now prime contracts and partner with our own subs. Many of our client relationships have lasted eight years or more.
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Ana Chaud:
How can small businesses differentiate themselves in such a crowded market?
Lanye Ford:
Knowledge, skills, and ability. Be prepared, overprepared. Clients want to trust you. You only get one shot.
Arlene Wube:
Also, use technology. Leverage AI and tools to scale. Build your team. Don’t show up doing everything yourself.
Lonye Ford:
We always said, "Let’s prepare to show up like the big players." That meant investing in benefits, compensation, and presentation.
Ana Chaud:
Any critical early decisions that were risky but worth it?
Lonye Ford:
We rejected early contracts that didn’t align with our goals. People offered us administrative work, but we stayed focused on cybersecurity—even if it meant turning down money.
Arlene Wube:
We spent a full year on our business plan. Our initial timeline was two years to profit—it ended up taking five. But having a roadmap kept us going.
Ana Chaud:
As women—especially women of color—how did you navigate entrepreneurship in a male-dominated space?
Lonye Ford:
We didn’t lean into it too much—we worked around it. When men wouldn’t talk to us, we brought in Arlene’s husband. We didn’t take it personally; we did what we had to do.
Arlene Wube:
Anticipate obstacles. Don’t complain—solve. We all fail. What matters is how you respond.
Lonye Ford:
You’re successful because of you. If we weren’t successful, it would’ve been on us. Women bring incredible skills—we run households, make decisions, and multitask constantly. That experience translates directly into leadership.
Ana Chaud:
I’m truly inspired. Thank you both. You’ve shared so much insight today.