SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

I've posted quite a few things on the topics associated with being a Startup CTO. Here are some resources that come from other sources: Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do? Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do?

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Equity 175

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. That’s why Roger Smith puts the focus of the CTO on programming for the earliest stage.

CTO 225

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 225

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

I've posted quite a few things on the topics associated with being a Startup CTO. Here are some resources that come from other sources: Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do? Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do?

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Equity 175

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Based on my posts Startup CTO or Developer and Acting CTO , Chris O’Meara wrote an interesting post Startup CTO: Could It Work? They tend to know where to find good help in terms of employees and consultants. Common sense says you'd do your best to hire or otherwise permanently engage that lead developer.

CTO Hire 150

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Architecture 150

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.

Fractional CTO 54

Fractional CTO CTO Hire CTO Technical Review 54

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Partner decisions are more important than team member hiring decisions. Marty Zwilling.

Partner 385

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 385

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

I did a presentation this week at Coloft that looked at how Non-Technical Founders can go about getting their MVP built. WordPress - we spent quite a bit of time talking about how you could do a lot with WordPress to provide simple forms of lots of functionality. And the back-end is something that a non-technical founder can manage.

Technical Cofounder 338

Technical Cofounder Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 338

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.

Fractional CTO 175

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Startup Social Network 175

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2010

Because more technology people probably read startup blogs I’m guessing this post will come under more scrutiny. The terms “CTO&# and “VP Engineering&# have such stigmas associated with what they are that I’m sure some people will feel uncomfortable with the definitions I’ve put forward. Experience.

Fractional CTO 400

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 400

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 10, 2012

I did a presentation recently for a graduate class from The Founder Institute around getting online/mobile products out the door. I LOVED it because, the presenting part was over quickly and we got into specific issues that the founders had in terms of getting things built. Would you create contracts without an attorney?

Technical Review 332

Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO Software Review 332

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

Using my StartupRoar as a radar, I came across a great post by Gabriel Weinberg Do you really need a full-time hire for that? Hiring seems to be the preferred use of seed funds (by investors and founders), whereas I'd prefer a focus on customer acquisition. The startup founder is definitely not ready to hire a CTO.

CTO Hire 205

CTO Hire Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO Los Angeles 205

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2019

In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Partner decisions are more important than team member hiring decisions. Marty Zwilling.

Cofounder 221

Cofounder Software Review CTO Hire Founder 221

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 19, 2024

Despite not going to university, Ash became a serial tech founder and the first marketing director of a unicorn startup – Just Eat). 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. Click here to listen to the episode.

Fractional CTO 88

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review Marketing 88

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. Nothing can be more damaging than a misleading or careless CTO.

CTO Hire 73

CTO Hire Fractional CTO CTO Technical Review 73

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. Most likely, this is a person who is a serial entrepreneur and was the chief technology officer for two or more web startups. .&#

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE 40

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, September 30, 2008 What does a startup CTO actually do? What does your Chief Technology Officer do all day? Thats an important job, for sure, and Ive been called upon to do it from time to time. So I initially gravitated to the CTO title, and not VP of Engineering.

CTO 168

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 168

Business Plan Blog

AUGUST 20, 2013

However, the biggest mistake that a non-tech entrepreneur launching a tech business is to neglect bringing on a tech savvy co-founder on the management team. In order to be a successful tech startup, the team must consist of a Chief Technical Officer (CTO) level member to help with the technology plan.

CTO Hire 55

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Architecture Cofounder 55

SoCal CTO

JUNE 26, 2012

I've done four Free CTO Consulting Sessions in the past month with startup founders who all had run into variations of the same problem. Investors and early customers were becoming worried about the ability of the founder to deliver. As one founder put it: We keep iterating over relatively the same features and functions.

Software Developers 254

Software Developers Software Development Agile Fractional CTO 254

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

I guess it should not be a surprise that Founders have lots of challenges working with developers. Challenges I started by asking the founders in the room to tell me some of the challenges they have working with developers. Developers (and Founders) are challenged to know how much is okay in terms of bugs.

Technical Cofounder 280

Technical Cofounder Developer Fractional CTO CTO Hire 280

SoCal CTO

MAY 13, 2014

Solving the Founder-Tech Gap that came out of some fun conversations that Bob and I have been having. A large part of this conversation is what kinds of advisors startups should be looking for. You can’t afford and don’t want to hire a full-time CTO or architect. Investors discount this. Connected Advisors?

Advisory Board 241

Advisory Board Fractional CTO CTO Hire Startup 241

SoCal CTO

APRIL 23, 2010

How to Work With a Contract Web Developer How To Bootstrap Your Startup

CTO Hire 219

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles Developer 219

www.bothsidesofthetable.com

MAY 13, 2012

Want to Know Difference Between a CTO and a VP of Engineering? Because more technology people probably read startup blogs I’m guessing this post will come under more scrutiny. Still, I believe I’m offering an accurate representation of the ideal configuration of the main technology leaders. Raising Venture Capital.

Fractional VPE 89

Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE Fractional CTO CTO Hire 89

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.”

Partner 269

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 269

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Partner decisions are more important than team member hiring decisions.

Partner 140

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 140

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One.” In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.”

Partner 258

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Equity 258

blog.aparttimecto.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

A Part-Time CTO Technology. Unless you’re fortunate to have one or more technical founders, you’ll quickly be faced with this simple question: Do we hack out a prototype somehow, find a developer or outsource the development? In Plain English. Archive Jun 20th Sun In-House or Outsource?

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Equity Vesting 40

blog.chrisomeara.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Chris OMeara Main | Probing Code Quality » 01/31/2010 Startup CTO: Could It Work? A CEO friend of mine recently asked my opinion about Tony Karrers Startup CTO or Developer article. I think the part time CTO could work. They tend to know where to find good help in terms of employees and consultants.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Startup Cofounder 40

Steve Blank

MAY 27, 2010

But founders need to know how to ask for their advice and when to ignore it. After some heroics from our CTO in extracting data from SAP, the Visio CFO loved our product, thought we could save them a ton of time and money and wanted it installed ASAP. Then Visio gave us their boilerplate contract. We called the Visio CFO.

CTO Hire 303

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Software Review Startup 303

SoCal CTO

MARCH 4, 2010

I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. And a big factor is how big is the Founder Developer Gap. However, I’m always doing this part-time.

Technical Review 170

Technical Review Fractional CTO Technology CTO Hire 170

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

The most common ones I see and salute are CEO, CFO, and CTO. A few other credible ones would include Chairman of the Board (COB), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Chief Human Resources Officer (VP Personnel). Chief Diversity Officer. Chief Legal Officer.

CTO Hire 252

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Angel Investor Public Relations 252

Duct Tape Marketing

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Outsmart Competitors With Agency-First Web Design written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing  The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast with Itai Sadan In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Itai Sadan, founder of Duda , a website builder designed for marketing agencies and small businesses.

Web 55

Web Design Fractional CTO CTO Hire 55

Austin Startup

AUGUST 19, 2018

Lightspeed Prototyping: A Collaborative Workflow Cultivating Conditions for Inclusion Many organizations view diversity challenges as a numbers game… just a matter of hiring and retaining enough talent to balance the equation. Cultivating Conditions For Inclusion What is a Fractional Executive (CTO, CMO, CFO)?

CTO Hire 48

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Fractional VPE Austin 48

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 24, 2014

by Adam Root, founder and CTO of Hiplogiq. Most of us would want to hire the most experienced, cutthroat lawyer specializing in multimillion-dollar mergers. He’s the founder and CTO of Hiplogiq , makers of marketing technologies SocialCompass and SocialCentiv. A DUI lawyer? Didn’t think so.

Fractional CTO 228

Fractional CTO Product CTO Hire Merger 228

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

You open Photoshop before you consult your to-do list because there’s something you just need to tweak. As much as you’re a minor deity when it comes to TextMate or Balsamiq, so are almost all the technical founders of all high-tech startups. You love developing an entire app in the browser against a scalable back-end.

Fractional CTO 310

Fractional CTO Coder CTO Hire Design 310

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 1, 2014

For example: Mitch Kapor was a founder of Lotus. As the emeritus Chief Technology Officer of the United States, he still connects government and Silicon Valley. He’s a founder of Andreessen Horowitz, which has backed Facebook, Skype, Jawbone, and dozens of other companies whose products you use.

Lean 165

Lean Fractional CTO Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE 165

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2011

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ Ten Steps in Choosing the Right Startup Partner ”. In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.”

Partner 240

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 240

Gust

APRIL 13, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” Partner decisions are more important than hiring decisions. No historical baggage.

Partner 179

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 179