How a company from a country of 3 million built a brand everybody knows, and paid Mr Beast seven figures to do it.
Regimantas Urbanas is one of the first employees and now CMO of Surfshark, the Lithuanian cybersecurity company that launched into a saturated VPN market in 2018 and turned into part of a $3 billion group. He joined three months after the product went live, gave the brand its meaning, and helped scale it from the first 10,000 users to millions through Google Ads, affiliates, creator marketing, and full on guerrilla campaigns.
In this conversation with Ivan Patriki, recorded inside the Surfshark office, Regimantas breaks down how you actually grow a global brand out of a tiny domestic market, why creator marketing beat traditional advertising, and how AI is quietly making everyday people the new scam targets.
We cover:
Why everybody and their grandma knows a company from a country of 3 million people
“Why do you need curtains if you’re not doing anything shady?” (the case for a VPN)
How Surfshark made cybersecurity human when every competitor looked corporate and techy
Why they deliberately kept “VPN” out of the brand name from day one
The seven figure Mr Beast deal, basketballs included, and how they justified it
Why that Mr Beast video is still converting three years later
Working WITH data brokers? What Incogni actually does (and why it’s US focused)
Free VPNs and the “if you don’t pay, you’re the product” trap
From demand capture to growing the pie: the full playbook for 10K to 1M+ users
Who Surfshark is NOT for, and why enterprise goes to Nord
The Surfshark and Nord merger, and Lithuania’s quiet takeover of the VPN market
Why AI powered scams are now catching younger people, not just grandmas
No logs, external audits, and why they’re legally a Dutch company
Why the CMO still works customer support shifts
RESOURCES & LINKS:
Surfshark: https://surfshark.com
MORE OF REGIMANTAS URBANAS:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/regimantasurbanas/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/regimantasu/
MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:
Website: https://www.themargin.tv
Spotify:
Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.com
MORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO:
Twitter: https://x.com/sobradob
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradob
Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado
MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt
Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt
Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended
Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki
Timestamps:
00:00 - A brand everybody knows from a country of 3 million.
00:24 - Joining an early stage startup after Google.
02:20 - Entering a saturated VPN market in 2018.
03:41 - Making cybersecurity human and accessible.
05:17 - Why you need a VPN even with nothing to hide.
07:20 - Why your favorite YouTuber suddenly mentions Surfshark.
11:30 - Who Surfshark is not for, and where a VPN stops protecting you.
13:14 - Working with data brokers and what Incogni does.
15:44 - Free VPNs and the “you are the product” trap.
16:44 - The growth playbook: from 10K to a million users.
19:20 - The seven figure Mr Beast deal (with basketballs).
25:00 - How a bootstrapped company afforded huge creators.
28:30 - What comes after dominating every marketing channel.
30:04 - How AI scams now catch young people too.
32:36 - The $3 billion group and the Surfshark and Nord merger.
36:40 - No logs, audits, and why they are legally a Dutch company.
38:41 - The five year vision and staying close to your users.
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