SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2012

So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Most notably, he was the original CTO for eHarmony for its first four years making him partly responsible for more than 4% of the marriages every year. Tony has a Ph.D.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 2, 2015

As the organizer of the LA CTO Forum , I get lots of inquiries by job seekers and people looking for CTO / VP Engineering talent. I’ve written quite a bit about aspects of this topic, especially from the perspective of startup founders looking for talent – you can find these in: Startup CTO.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've recently received several emails from people looking for a technical cofounder for their startup. Here's an example of that kind of email. Hire a Product Design Lead First Nailing that elusive technical co-founder I promised I would write this post with some thoughts and ideas on the topic.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, September 30, 2008 What does a startup CTO actually do? Often times, it seems like people are thinking its synonymous with "that guy who gets paid to sit in the corner and think technical deep thoughts" or "that guy who gets to swoop in a rearrange my project at the last minute on a whim."

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In his spare time he raised nearly $30 million. Email updates frequently. Trust me – that kind of encounter can mean the difference between securing a contract, protecting yourself from getting turfed or getting acquired one day. Key point – if your emails are as long as my blog posts you’re forked.

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SoCal CTO

MAY 4, 2010

Some great posts from April 2010 that talk to me in terms of being a CTO at a Startup. Redeye VC , April 13, 2010 Startup Development - SoCal CTO , April 23, 2010 Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering?

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TechEmpower

JULY 24, 2023

Still, if you’re a business leader and your developers haven’t asked you these questions, look for a Fractional CTO to help navigate the critical early stage of development. Will you validate new members’ email addresses and/or phone numbers? Do they generate emails or push notifications?

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mashable.com

MAY 9, 2011

Hiring the wrong person for key company positions can cost a business thousands — or tens of thousands — of dollars and man hours. This is especially true when it comes to tech companies hiring the wrong chief technology officer. Leadership Abilities Are A Must It’s natural to want a tech savvy and competent CTO.

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YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

The right advisor can have a greater impact on the success of your small business than any other hire you ever make. Have a CTO Advisor Provide Their Guidance & Due Diligence Suggestions on a Large Upcoming Technology Expenditure. It’s time small businesses started hiring more advisors.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2014

I spent an hour on the phone working with Sam Rosen, the CEO of MakeSpace on a senior exec he is considering hiring. I reviewed an email from Kara Nortman, the CEO of Moonfrye who is working on putting together venture debt. I then traded emails with two former senior tech professionals in LA. Get Permission.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

Because I am true to the hiring practices I preach, I wanted a strong exec who would “ punch above their weightclass ” by taking a job they hadn’t yet done but would hugely aspire to and thus work harder to out perform. And we wanted a head of global marketing. It’s more convenient for both sides.

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

One of the first potential advisors I reached out to was someone who 10 years earlier tried to hire me as the VP of Marketing of his new division at Sun Microsystems. For lots of reasons that never worked out, but I liked him so much that the following year I tried to hire him as the VP of Engineering of Ardent. (He But I was crushed.

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 Where LinkedIn Works for Me Ive been a long time user of LinkedIn , but only recently have started getting the benefits I always expected. Sometimes, Ill use LinkedIn to contact my network, but mostly I still just go to their profile and email them.

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Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 18, 2017

As a CTO, I can definitely say without a doubt that few people understand what a CTO does. When I tell someone I’m a CTO, I’m often met with a blank stare. Even when someone is aware of what a CTO does, they often have limited context due to the wide variety of CTO roles.

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Fractional CTO CTO Hire CTO Technical Review 54

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

I usually judge people’s reactions not by the comments section of my post (where people are a little bit more polite so you get selective bias) but by the private emails I get. One great solution I see is to hire an outstanding CFO who runs both. Naturally some didn’t. “I need somebody to run operations.&#

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SoCal CTO

MAY 19, 2010

On Friday, at the LA CTO Forum , I heard from a couple of CTOs having trouble finding good developers. In between, I got an email from CJ Cenizal asking about this exact issue: I'm growing a social gaming startup, Elevated Games ( elevatedgames.com ) as Founder and CEO. I don’t have specific suggestions for people you can hire.

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SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

Startups that come to me and ask me to sign an NDA in order to get Free Startup CTO Consulting really are missing it. Entrepreneur: Following is an email describing my idea. The Top Five Reasons Entrepreneurs Should Learn About IP Law What Can a Well Drafted Contract Do For Your Company?

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NDA Stealth Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. thought it would be helpful to put some of my thoughts into a blog post and hopefully spur some conversation in the comments and over email.

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View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Projecting from the seed stage, there are two types of team-building topics you want to address – key senior hires and org-level team building. As the company progresses through product market fit (PMF), you will want to highlight other key senior hires required to scale and round out the functional expertise of the exec team.

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SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

Startups that come to me and ask me to sign an NDA in order to get Free Startup CTO Consulting really are missing it. Entrepreneur: Following is an email describing my idea. The Top Five Reasons Entrepreneurs Should Learn About IP Law What Can a Well Drafted Contract Do For Your Company?

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NDA Stealth Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement 198

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Your highest priority right now is hiring the 1 or 2 people that are going to join your company and make a difference. There’s you and your killer CTO co-founder. Imagine if the ambassadors from Seattle organized a dinner with 8 entrepreneurs, the CTO of Amazon, the head of Xbox and the head of marketing for Starbucks.

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SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. We had several emails back and forth where he provided basic details on the concept. Call it facts for hire. Hiring The Right Candidate.

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blog.alinelerner.com

JUNE 21, 2013

Lessons from a year’s worth of hiring data. Because I used to be an engineer, one part of my job was conducting first-round technical interviews, and between January 2012 and January 2013, I interviewed roughly 300 people for our back-end/full-stack engineer position. Aline Lerner's Blog. Jun 21, 2013.

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SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Great content again in September that meets at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. 8220; His three things (worth reading his whole post anyway) are set vision/strategy and communicate broadly, recruit/hire/retain top talent, and make sure there’s enough cash in the bank. It’s great advice.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

In this model, you take some fraction of the lifetime value of each customer and plow that back into paid acquisition through SEM, banner ads, PR, affiliates, etc. Beware the new hire who has "extensive experience" in startups or big companies - using a different growth driver. Want to learn more about me? Try About the author.

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Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 19, 2024

Kenneth Wenger – Unveiling the Future of AI Kenneth Wenger is an author, a research scholar at Toronto Metropolitan University, and CTO of Squint AI Inc. He’s the Founder of theCLIKK, an email newsletter about digital marketing. Click here to listen to the episode. His newest book, I s the Algorithm Plotting Against Us?

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ConversionXL

JUNE 16, 2022

For example, if your goal is to generate leads , assets might be webinars, landing pages , and emails. For example, email subject lines, type of social proof , image placement, and call to actions. Standard email reply and social media message templates that can be used for out-of-hours customer service and engagement.

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firstround.com

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

How to Go From Google Engineer to First-Time CTO. How to Go From Google Engineer to First-Time CTO. Today, he’s the co-founder and CTO of Artillery , bringing console-quality gaming to the web browser. Subscribe by Email. Also relevant: the problem with email. Product and Engineering.

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rapidrollout.wordpress.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Web Startup Lessons Advice from a CTO and Entrepreneur Home About Startup Advice: When to Use a Consulting CTO There are not many to be found. He or she might call himself a “consulting CTO,&# “freelance CTO,&# “on-demand CTO,&# “CTO on call,&# “CTO for hire,&# or just a “technology strategy advisor.&#

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View from Seed

MARCH 29, 2016

Founders furiously work their networks, post open positions on every reasonable-looking job board, and hope to quickly start hiring. While an entrepreneur’s enthusiasm is certainly necessary for effective recruiting, inefficient hiring processes put a strain on a startup’s already limited human capital resources.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

If, on the other hand, you did the first meeting on your own you could ping that VC and tell them, “my CTO is going to be around next week and I’d love to get the chance for her to meet you because we’ve just launched this one big new innovation that I think is well worth your seeing — whether you end up investing in us our not.”

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Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2017

LESSON #3: Avoid these three hiring mistakes. When it comes time to grow your team, Jeff Jordan and Eric pointed out three hiring mistakes to avoid. First, do not hire someone just because they have the domain expertise. Jeff elaborated, “You want to tee [your hires] to the state of the company.”

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 4, 2008

Maybe youd like to start with The lean startup , How to listen to customers , or What does a startup CTO actually do? ) Eric, I landed upon your blog when I was searching for the path to CTO a couple of months back and I have been a frequent to the site since then. Please email me if you are interested. You are a great blogger.

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San Francisco Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 155

crowdSPRING Blog

JUNE 4, 2013

Dharmesh Shah , Founder and CTO at HubSpot and Blogger at OnStartups.com wrote in a recent post on this topic: Never automatically discount a message simply because you discount the messenger. How Your Small Business Or Startup Can Hire A Good Lawyer Without Losing Your Shirt. Why is the person offering you advice?

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Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 7, 2008

And we cant hire new engineers any faster, because you cant be interviewing and debugging and fixing all at the same time! Even with the highest standards imaginable, theres no way to hire just genius hackers. Hire a CTO or VP Engineering. Worst of all, your teammates are constantly wanting to have meetings.

Software Review 94

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YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 23, 2016

Along with Ben Rogmans – Saleduck’s CTO and co-founder, the two have spearheaded the movement towards expanding Saleduck in five countries within Southeast Asia and are now looking towards furthering the platform’s presence in more countries within the region. For example, it’s very common in Europe to get everything done via email.

Asia 100

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The Next Web

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Hire everyone you need as an employee. A couple years in, I got married and left on my honeymoon for two weeks to Kenya – where I had no email or phone connectivity much of the time. After launching our Windows online backup service five years ago, our CTO pitched that we should focus on launching our Mac version next.

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