Steve Blank

JUNE 20, 2022

How does a newly hired Chief Technology Officer (CTO) find and grow the islands of innovation inside a large company? I just had coffee with Anthony, a friend who was just hired as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of a large company (30,000+ people.) Anthony concluded that the incubator in his new company was no exception.

CTO 368

CTO Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Incubator 368

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 21, 2025

Additionally, constructive and future-oriented feedback motivates employees to synchronize their objectives with the organization’s vision, helping to create a workforce that is not only satisfied but also highly productive and aligned with company objectives.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Employee Agile 114

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2020

Even big companies I know find it hard to keep their in-house programmers up to speed on the latest technologies, including mobile devices, the latest Web technologies, and multi-tenant applications in the Cloud. Thus you don’t need to invent an innovative product or technology to be a real entrepreneur.

Startup 410

Startup Angel Investor Social Media LLC 410

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 5, 2025

Your goals might include increasing market share or maybe launching a new product. Investing in employee development is not only going to boost their morale but also enhance their skills and productivity at the same time. Use this information to tailor your products, interactions and your services as well.

Software Review 147

Software Review Technical Review Retention Campaign 147

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2022

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. Product development chasm. Marketing costs can be a deep hole.

Technical Review 375

Technical Review Startup Dilution Early Stage 375

Steve Blank

APRIL 4, 2023

Artificial Intelligence has been the technology right around the corner for at least 50 years. On the business side that turns the product from an incredibly powerful application into an even more incredibly powerful platform that other software developers can plug into and build upon. This year we’ve invented one more. Coli bacteria.

ChatGPT 424

ChatGPT Artificial Inteligence Intellectual Property API 424

TechEmpower

MARCH 4, 2024

Focusing on generative AI applications in a select few corporate functions can contribute to a significant portion of the technology's overall impact. It plays a crucial role in product development too, where generative AI speeds up design processes, streamlines testing, and tailors user experiences effectively.

Generative AI 297

Generative AI CTO Hire Fractional CTO Software Review 297

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

In reality, too many choices actually dilutes customer interest in your existing market, and makes your job of production, marketing, and support much more complex. New entrepreneurs, especially technical ones, are excited by early adopters, and tend to focus on their feedback, which will always suggest more product features and options.

Technical Review 400

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Advisory Board Cofounder 400

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

According to an old Harvard Business Review article, many people in history, famous for their inventions, like Thomas Edison, were entrepreneurs who only later were remembered as inventors of the products they commercialized. Of course it helps to have innovative technologies before you start building a business. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 391

Technical Review Intellectual Property Early Stage Global 391

TechEmpower

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Are specific technologies or platforms involved in your project? Ensure that you investigate the designers' past work, samples of their work product, and their process. Do they have experience with the technologies involved in your project? Quality of Work: The end product should not only look good but function as expected.

Software Developers 297

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Software 297

TechEmpower

AUGUST 7, 2023

Exploring new technologies? Here’s a graphic from Socal CTO that illustrates the roles as they change over time: In its earliest days, a startup’s top need is often to produce a product. It’s understandable - a hands-on developer can produce a product. cto , infotech , innovation , product , project , saas It might be.

CTO Hire 260

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Fractional VPE Developer 260

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

Aside from the socioeconomic benefits AI is set to deliver, the transformative tech revolution is also going to have a massive impact on the productivity of key industries. While one part of the team may be able to work efficiently, modern software products need to interact within an active digital environment.

Artificial Inteligence 97

Artificial Inteligence Engineer Software Software Engineering 97

TechEmpower

AUGUST 21, 2023

It provides findings and recommendations intended to foster a mutual understanding between business and software leaders, shedding light on the current state of your technology and your team. Our goal is to build a decent understanding of your business, your product, and your technology.

Technical Review 260

Technical Review Development Team Review Software Review Architecture 260

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

Juggling multiple responsibilities and ensuring productivity can be challenging without effective time management strategies. Avoid Multitasking Multitasking may appear beneficial but often leads to decreased productivity and increased mistakes.

Management 158

Management Entrepreneur Technical Review Dilution 158

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2022

Market your solution and user benefits, not the mysterious technology behind it. There seems to be an insatiable demand from consumers for a better shopping experience, meaning they will pay a premium to a company that can present them a better match in products to their interests, without jeopardizing their good name.

Technical Review 342

Technical Review Customer Social Network Software Review 342

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2020

For example, if your idea is so new and different that it implies real social or technological change is necessary before widespread acceptance, investors will define your market as nascent or unproven, and be very reluctant to fund you, no matter how convincing your projections may be. Typical valuations range from 3x-5x revenues.

Artificial Inteligence 436

Artificial Inteligence Marketing Valuation Startup 436

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2021

Every entrepreneur with a new technology tells me that his innovation will be industry-disrupting, meaning that it will render the existing technology obsolete, and create a new market. Pick a technology that somehow seems inferior to the major incumbents. So why would any investor ever believe any of these claims?

Non-Compete 394

Non-Compete Technical Review Forecast Social Media 394

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2021

As a logical and data-driven business advisor, I have long focused on facts, technology, and quantifiable pain in guiding entrepreneurs. I now offer the following additional guidelines for how to attract customers and position your product: Find the latest social trend, or even create it.

Customer 432

Customer Social Media Dividend Technical Review 432

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Neither breakthrough technology nor maximum features will assure that “if we build it, they will come.” Nail the solution.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2020

All of us are struggling to keep up in this age of technological acceleration, where we learn every day that we can’t trust links in our email, marketing guarantees, or phone requests from people we don’t know. I’m sure that all of you recognize that the technology available for marketing has changed.

Customer 433

Customer B2C Technical Review Social Media 433

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. Value factors include your related product breadth and depth, relationships with thought leaders, key vendors, and large potential customers. Building the product may be the easy part of your startup challenge.

Cofounder 435

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Equity Intellectual Property 435

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Sure, we built SaaS products before the term even existed but at 31 it was hard to delineate reality from what all of the monied people around us were telling us what we were worth. In those years I learned to properly build product, price products, sell products and serve customers. Until we weren’t.

Valuation 466

Valuation San Francisco Ratchet Liquidation Preference 466

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Intellectual Property 341

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 341

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Marketing is everything these days.

Marketing 353

Marketing Technical Review Social Media Technology 353

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

Research has confirmed that culture is a primary driver for financial performance, customer experience, and team productivity. They look for the use of talent analytics, such as productivity per employee, as well as the practices and attitude toward employee satisfaction. Performance accountability processes.

Technical Review 323

Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation Leadership 323

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2023

In other parts of the world, innovators often need to develop both the ultimate product or service, as well as the enabling infrastructure that underpins it. Even here, Elon Musk faced this issue with Tesla, needing a support ecosystem as well as new technology. Build for sustainability and resilience, as well as growth.

Global 345

Global Silicon Valley Marketing Indonesia 345

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 22, 2024

The good news is that technology, specifically ERP solutions , offers tools to eliminate unnecessary delays and keep your customers happy. Unsplash – CC0 License Using Technology to Bridge the Gap Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are transformative tools that centralize and streamline a startups business processes.

Artificial Inteligence 144

Artificial Inteligence Customer Technical Review Operations 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2021

Many product innovations come from quality improvement focuses, like the Japanese Kaizen initiative. These days, with markets and technology changing so rapidly, it’s impossible to verify an innovation before taking it to market. Innovation must be driven top down by visionary leaders.

Technical Review 431

Technical Review Leadership Operations Networking 431

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Even big companies I know find it hard to keep their in-house programmers up to speed on the latest technologies, including mobile devices, the latest Web technologies, and multi-tenant applications in the Cloud. Thus you don’t need to invent an innovative product or technology to be a real entrepreneur.

Angel Investor 267

Angel Investor Social Media LLC Viral 267

TechEmpower

AUGUST 14, 2023

The Strategic Technical Advisor looks at the business and determines what makes sense from a technology perspective in the short-term and longer-terms. This happens when a founder raises money in an initial round, spends most of it on in-house or outsourced development, and ends up with a product that is 90% done.

Technical Review 260

Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO Software Review 260

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 13, 2024

Key Takeaways Efficient workflows can significantly boost productivity and reduce stress. Adopting innovative tools and technologies is crucial for modern businesses. Businesses must keep pace with the ever-changing technological landscape, ensuring their processes remain relevant and competitive.

Technical Review 167

Technical Review Software Review Agile Operations 167

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

Here investors are looking for feature problems or quality issues on the current product. A hard look will be taken at the technology maturity, the current development progress, and customer satisfaction with early product shipments. Status of the solution. In addition, manufacturing and inventory levels will be reviewed.

Technical Review 379

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Bankruptcy 379

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2022

Startup investors tell me they invest in a new venture with a higher caliber of people, rather than the product or service, and I agree. In my role as a business advisor, I see successful businesses most often emerging from great teams rather than great products.

Hiring 337

Hiring Technical Cofounder Cofounder Retention 337

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2021

Technology environment savvy. In some ways, these aren't that different from the old Amazon.com "recommendation engine," which suggests new products based on your surfing and buying habits, but they go much further. Siri is a step in this direction, but still has very limited learning and context sensing abilities.

Web 380

Web Search Semantic Software Review 380

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

Words alone, like “improved efficiency”, “paradigm shift,” and “breakthrough technology” won’t convince people to follow you. For example, early adopters may be easily sold, but new technology product success really hinges on adoption by certain demographics, perhaps more influenced by celebrities or mommy bloggers.

Metrics 387

Metrics Technical Review Leadership Framework 387

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2023

For example, the development of reusable rocket technology by SpaceX and Amazon, who could not match NASA supplier budgets, has opened huge new opportunities in space travel and exploration. In fact, that feeling of autonomy makes everyone more productive, more loyal, and feel valued. Position challenges as future growth opportunities.

Technical Review 277

Technical Review Partner Matching Channel 277

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. If the company has been around for more than a couple of years, and still has no product or revenue flow, there better be a good explanation.

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436