SoCal CTO
JULY 23, 2012
I seem to encounter a lot of people who want to attach a CTO label to me as I'm the only programmer on the founding team of three. While I do fill that role at the moment, I'm a little hesitant to refer to myself as a CTO as we still haven't launched a product, acquired a single user, or turned or a penny in profit. Who will do that?
Steve Blank
OCTOBER 24, 2017
— Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. In the 20th century tech companies and their investors made money through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Hire a CEO to Go Public.
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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."
Mucker Lab
APRIL 6, 2023
Obviously if you target enterprise customers, you usually have a very large ACV (Annual Contract Value) and the product usually is complex. We talk about using the product complexity, your target customer size, your contract value, and whether there's individual use case–those four things--to help you decide if PLG is a fit.
The Next Web
OCTOBER 7, 2013
They were referring to non-founder engineers, most commonly the first hire for technology businesses. Every time a startup raises capital, all common shareholders are diluted. In cases where a startup is sold within a few years time, there is often acceleration agreements for unvested shares. Is there an IPO story here?
Steve Blank
APRIL 23, 2014
In response, venture capital firms like Sequoia and Andreessen/Horowitz are hiring new partners just to work with their portfolio companies and match them to corporations. VCs like acquisitions as much as IPOs because the acquiring companies often can rationalize paying large multiples over the current valuation of the startup.
YoungUpstarts
JANUARY 21, 2016
When are we looking for funding, investors, or going IPO? Hire qualified internal resources or outsource as needed for the required IT positions. Bring on a security-conscious CTO at the beginning. Do we deal with foreign companies that create our product? Are we looking at 100% growth within the next X number of months?
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