For 10 years RSA Conference has highlighted companies with innovative information security products as part of its Innovation Sandbox Contest. Who will we see competing this year?

Ten companies go head-to-head on the Innovation Sandbox stage at RSA Conference to nab the "Most Innovative Company at RSA Conference" title. Teams from each company present and demonstrate their product in front of a panel of judges, Shark Tank-style. Check out the Gallery of Victors to see the list of past winners.

To mark the contest's ten-year anniversary, we reached out to past winners to talk about their experiences. You can see what Sourcefire, Invincea, Appthority, and Remotium had to say.

This Q&A is with Brian White, the COO of RedOwl Analytics. RedOwl won the "Most Innovative Company" designation last year, as part of the 2014 conference. 

RSA Conference: What was the biggest benefit of winning Innovation Sandbox? 

White: The biggest benefit of winning was the credibility, notoriety—the introduction—it gave us. Winning an award at RSA Conference, the biggest cybersecurity event, is a big deal. And it is a validation, a powerful one, and helped with investor perspective, one, our go-to-market strategy, two, and validated our team, three.

RSA Conference: What would you tell someone who was thinking about entering the contest?

White: Yes, do it. There is no downside; it's all upside. Our team didnt expect to win, and was ecstatic when they did. Entering stuff like this is well worth it. It gives us practice in pulling the application together and improves presentation skills. The more of these [contests] you enter, you get better.

RSA Conference: It’s been a few months since your win. How has the experience in the contest, or winning the contest, influenced the company?

White: Yes, to a degree. It was critical in giving the team more momentum in what they were doing. The win didn't necessarily get us more customers, but it was still beneficial for us.