Ankita Dhakar, managing director of Security Lit and founder of the Capture the Bug platform, shares how curiosity about confidential information led her from a business background into cybersecurity entrepreneurship in New Zealand. Her experience challenges the assumption that founders begin with a complete plan: she started with a question, learned in public, and built a team culture around trust and honest communication.
Ankita moved to New Zealand in 2015 to study, completing business qualifications rather than computer science or cybersecurity training. She later worked for a company that destroyed confidential material for customers including government organizations. Handling records such as passports and health information prompted a question: what would happen if this data reached the wrong people?
That question introduced her to cybersecurity in 2019. She moved from Auckland to Hamilton and started Security Lit in 2020, developing a consultancy focused on web application and network penetration testing. At the time of the interview, she was also preparing Capture the Bug as New Zealand’s first bug bounty platform and meeting investors while demonstrating the new product.
Ankita did not begin with a predetermined startup concept or a technical pedigree. She followed a security question that emerged from her existing work. Starting felt less final because she knew employment would remain an option if the business failed. That willingness to begin without certainty allowed the journey to continue long enough for a clearer direction to form.
Formal business education offered concepts, but operating a company proved substantially different from reading about one. Her first year brought a steep practical education in speaking with people, supporting employees, and turning a workplace into an environment where team members felt welcome and invested.
Plans frequently change. Ankita may begin with a diary organized around product demonstrations, investor meetings, fundraising, and consulting responsibilities, then discover that Monday no longer resembles what she expected the previous day. She tries to keep structure without treating the schedule as fixed.
The same flexibility extends to the team. If a promised feature date becomes unrealistic, people are expected to say so early. Honest communication makes replanning possible and prevents false certainty from turning into a larger delivery failure.
Ankita is uncomfortable with the idea that leadership consists of assigning tasks and monitoring compliance. Her small, distributed team operates with a flat structure and a clear view of the company’s direction. Individuals are hired for expertise, given responsibility, and encouraged to challenge her proposals when they believe a different approach will work better.
Allowing someone to test their approach creates ownership and learning, even when the result is imperfect. This is especially important when working with millennial and Gen Z professionals who want to see the effect of their work rather than simply execute instructions.
For aspiring founders, Ankita distinguishes durable motivation from excitement about fundraising or status. If the founder does not care about the work itself, the instability of entrepreneurship will quickly become difficult to justify. Research is equally important: understanding the market and one’s own skill gaps shows where a co-founder, employee, or specialist is needed.
She also recommends a multi-year horizon. A business that receives only a short trial may not have time to become viable. Entrepreneurship introduces real personal risk and offers little stability, so the decision should reflect circumstances, responsibilities, and willingness to keep investing time.
