SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. Of course, I provide part-time CTO services.

Fractional CTO 259

Fractional CTO CTO Hire NDA Technical Review 259

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ? He needed some kind of CTO and as well Developers.

Technical Cofounder 241

Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Equity Sweat Equity 241

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

If you do not break it down into small pieces, its hard to make progress with part-time resources, freelancers, etc. Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers Technology Roles in Startups Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? Review the code being built.

Technical Cofounder 338

Technical Cofounder Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 338

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. Accounting?

CTO Hire 231

CTO Hire Technical Review Developer Software Review 231

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. Meredith came to see me along with the CTO Marc Berte.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review Due Diligence CTO Hire 418

TechEmpower

DECEMBER 11, 2023

million software developers worldwide. While the appearance matters, remember you are hiring the development firm primarily for its development skills, not its graphic design skills. What are the review periods and your responsibility in the process? tew_cta text="Do you have an idea for a software project?

Software Developers 297

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Software 297

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2014

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Complementary skills. Marty Zwilling.

Partner 269

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 269

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Complementary skills. Marty Zwilling.

Partner 258

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Equity 258

Steve Blank

MAY 27, 2010

After being in business for all of seven months, one of our first deals at Epiphany was with a software company called Visio , (now owned by Microsoft.) 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.

Fractional CTO 303

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Software Review Startup 303

TechEmpower

MARCH 4, 2024

At TechEmpower , we’ve used LLMs as part of marketing strategies where you can find and classify companies, personalize outreach campaigns and have personalized drip campaigns. Overall, generative AI is a transformative asset in the software engineering lifecycle, from conception to deployment.

Generative AI 297

Generative AI CTO Hire Fractional CTO Software Review 297

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

He spent a few months building out the software because just taking stuff from people isn’t that difficult. After 9 months it was time to raise seed capital and go test drive our new software and processes. I wrote about that experience here without giving away the details of the business. Full on burger flipping mode.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review Cofounder CTO Hire 380

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2011

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Complementary skills. Marty Zwilling.

Partner 240

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 240

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2010

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Complementary skills. Marty Zwilling.

Partner 230

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 230

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2019

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. A good overall example is the synergy between Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as well as long-time Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. Brings complementary skills and experience.

Cofounder 221

Cofounder Software Review CTO Hire Founder 221

Gust

APRIL 13, 2014

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Complementary skills.

Partner 179

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 179

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

I told her that I believed America’s best asset – driven initially from software innovation mindset in the San Francisco Bay Area and media innovation driven from Los Angeles – was our willingness to accept failure. We hired outside experts. We checked charge times. Time will tell. Time will tell.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review South Korea San Francisco Software Review 417

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. You’re sales person is getting blocked by the CTO who says she shouldn’t go above him but the CTO isn’t approving the deal. So we discussed his ideas several times. He looked stunned.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Fractional CTO Technical Review CTO Hire 414

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Brings complementary skills and experience.

Partner 140

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 140

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2022

As you find your footing and begin to scale, you might feel ready to hire a formal executive team. What’s right for one company may not make sense for another, but the goal is always the same — to hire talent that will ultimately help the business thrive. When is the right time to hire an executive team?

CTO Hire 163

CTO Hire Fractional CTO CTO Hiring 163

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.

CTO Hire 73

CTO Hire Fractional CTO CTO Technical Review 73

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. Accounting Beyond reviewing transactions, what accounting support do you need? The innovator/developer relationship needs to be a conversation.

Developer 520

Developer Technical Review Fractional CTO CTO Hire 520

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 14, 2012

To learn more about how your startup can find, hire and keep the top talent and quality workers it needs to succeed, download this free ReadWriteWeb Report: The Talent Wars: Today’s Toughest Startup Challenge. And you need to do it sooner rather than later. So what does it actually take to build a kickass startup team?

Technical Review 159

Technical Review CTO Hire Software Review Startup 159

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

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

A version of this article is in the Harvard Business Review. Hire a CEO to Go Public. The VCs would hire a CEO with a track record who looked and acted like the type of CEO Wall Street bankers expected to see in large companies. If the founder was lucky, he got to stay as chairman or CTO.

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

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. The United States is now a debtor nation to China and that the bill is about to come due. How to Take Down Facebook -- Hint: It Ain't Twitter.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 8, 2019

When International Technological University’s CTO Kranthi Lammatha was a boy in the Indian farming village of Kasipuram, he would walk nine miles to get to school every day and another nine miles to get back home in the evening. The software generates instant dynamic reports, such as financial revenue, gender ratio, and more.

Technical Review 137

Technical Review CTO Hire Silicon Valley Software Engineering 137

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.

CTO Hire 98

CTO Hire Hiring Software Review Technical Review 98

Hunter Walker

JUNE 7, 2014

Hiring Has Changed: Before the press was a way of generating interest for hiring. While I’m sure TechCrunch and other publications are at or near record traffic levels, the influence is more diffuse these days due to wide number of tech blogs and reach of personal/social media. What’s changed?

Technical Review 127

Technical Review CTO Hire Finance Stealth 127

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 5, 2015

by Marcus Turner, President and CTO of Enola Labs. We were not any different, we had corporate bylaws, which my partner and I both reviewed and signed. Our company was essentially going to be 50/50, but since my partner at the time was Indian, we decided that we would apply for HUB status as a business.

Fractional CTO 100

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Advisory Board Software Review 100

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. Consider just how much exposure the Austin community gets every year due to SXSW. It’s great to see an initiative like Seattle 2.0 It’s awesome.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

BeyondVC

NOVEMBER 26, 2004

While many are not concerned and call this a publicity stunt by SCO, the discussion of open source software licenses does remind me of a panel that I recently saw at the Goldman Sachs Software Retreat 2 weeks ago. The interesting point was served up by Michael Dubno, CTO of Goldman Sachs.

Open Source 60

Open Source Software Review Software Fractional CTO 60

BeyondVC

NOVEMBER 26, 2004

While many are not concerned and call this a publicity stunt by SCO, the discussion of open source software licenses does remind me of a panel that I recently saw at the Goldman Sachs Software Retreat 2 weeks ago. The interesting point was served up by Michael Dubno, CTO of Goldman Sachs.

Open Source 60

Open Source Software Review Software Fractional CTO 60

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 27, 2010

I mean, you don’t have to build an actual business—you can just mimic the movements and demonstrate something that looks like a startup on paper, without any of the necessary risk taking, lessons learned or even a fraction of the effort—all the stuff that investors like to see. What ever happened to “build it”?

New York 132

New York CTO Hire Technical Review New York City 132

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.&#

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE 40

SoCal CTO

APRIL 9, 2013

I just got an email asking about exactly this: I''m with a new company that needs some software built, but doesn''t need (or have the resources for) a large staff of software developers. Do not fall into the trap of Startups and a Common Misunderstanding in Agile Software Development. What are the review periods?

Web Development 204

Web Development Web Developer Los Angeles 204

firstround.com

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

The Review. The Review. How to Go From Google Engineer to First-Time CTO. How to Go From Google Engineer to First-Time CTO. Ian Langworth started his career as an O’Reilly author and software engineer at Google. Your primary responsibility is shipping high-quality code. Plusstartup.

CTO Hire 52

CTO Hire Engineer Software Review Part-Time VPE 52

ConversionXL

JUNE 16, 2022

Here’s an example of how Nightwatch uses Asana to organize distribution: The color-coded initials in the right-hand column correspond to different members of the marketing team, so everyone knows their role. Marketing software. Think about your playbook from the perspective of a new hire. Usage policies. Automated replies.

Campaign 149

Campaign CTO Marketing Social Media 149