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.

CTO Hire 241

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Develop 241

SoCal CTO

MAY 10, 2011

A long-time friend and colleague, Steve Wexler, who is great at visualization took my Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data and produced a really need interactive visualization via Tableau. Of course, as you would suspect, equity percentages dilute based on years in business. The larger the circle, the larger the number of responses.

Equity 198

Equity Startup Examples Course 198

SoCal CTO

MAY 10, 2011

A long-time friend and colleague, Steve Wexler, who is great at visualization took my Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data and produced a really need interactive visualization via Tableau. Of course, as you would suspect, equity percentages dilute based on years in business. The larger the circle, the larger the number of responses.

Equity 175

Equity Startup Examples Course 175

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

I received an inquiry from a reader of my blog and thought I would provide some thoughts, but would definitely welcome input: I am an unpaid CTO of a small startup. Please let this be a lesson to everyone – founders and CTOs. Of course, that doesn’t help here. Don’t put yourself in this situation. What type of shares?

CTO 167

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 167

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Are you a non-technical startup founder who’s about to go have a conversation with a Chief Technical Officer (CTO) or Technical advisory type person? Maybe you are trying to determine what technologies might apply that you should be evaluating. Of course, when you go to have this conversation be prepared.

CTO Coach 211

CTO Coach Startup Web Guide 211

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? If you think that's person you need, the question becomes "what else do you expect a CTO to contribute?" " Of course, that’s a rare combination. I love blog conversations.

CTO Hire 150

CTO Hire Startup Guide Examples 150

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

I received an inquiry from a reader of my blog and thought I would provide some thoughts, but would definitely welcome input: I am an unpaid CTO of a small startup. Please let this be a lesson to everyone – founders and CTOs. Of course, that doesn’t help here. Don’t put yourself in this situation. What type of shares?

CTO 150

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 150

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.

CTO Hire 150

CTO Hire CTO Coach Los Angeles Angel 150

SoCal CTO

JUNE 13, 2011

We had an interesting presentation at the LA CTO Forum by the CTO of a startup who chose Groovy / Grails as the framework for their startup. t prompted a good discussion around how CTOs go about choosing the programming language and framework for their startup. Of course, I'm not sure that anyone chooses Java alone.

Framework 330

Framework Startup Java PHP 330

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Then my CTO quit. And the CTO was a super close friend (and former roommate). I had never talked to my CTO about making sure he had no single-points-of-failure on his team – including himself. And as a board it is of course our responsibility to ask the tough questions, too. From then on in we all talked about it.

Startup 372

Startup Organization Course Design 372

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

Of course, to be able to use this kind of formula, you will need to be able to determine how much impact the person will have and figure out a valuation. Of course, all of that assumes that the early employee does make an impact. Suppose further that he's going to cost $60k a year in salary and overhead, x 1.5 = $90k total.

Equity 391

Equity CTO Hire Startup Examples 391

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

When I talk with early-stage companies, often the discussion starts with them asking me about Hiring a CTO for Your Startup , or Finding a Technical Cofounder for Your Startup or How to Find Programmers for Your Startup. In many cases, during my Free Startup CTO Consulting Session with them, we discuss where they are in in the process.

CTO Hire 205

CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach Develop 205

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've talked about that in lots of other posts, so you can visit some of these to help determine what you specifically need: Startup CTO or Developer Startup Software Development – Do Your Homework Before You Develop Anything Key ingredients in the equation are: How complex is the system? The good news is that likely is not what they want.

CTO Hire 211

CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2013

These are often the same things that cause a founder to reach out to me about helping their CTO, VP Engineering, tech team, off-shore development, etc. CTO Knowledge and Skill I personally believe that the best CTOs will have a technical/developer background. Some of the top symptoms are: Frequently missed deadlines.

CTO Coach 219

CTO Coach Develop Development Startup 219

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

they need a developer more than they need a CTO. What happens when you have a really good developer is that a gap exists where you may not ask the right questions to specify the right system, consider appropriate 3rd party technologies, etc. Of course, you probably are going to provide more of a feature list.

Develop 280

Develop Development CTO Coach CTO Hire 280

SoCal CTO

MAY 13, 2014

You can’t afford and don’t want to hire a full-time CTO or architect. For me, if I can help you within a couple hours Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions , I’m happy to do that and I don’t expect compensation or equity for that. Here’s the other aspect that both Tony and I preach: get help.

CTO Coach 241

CTO Coach Startup CTO Hire Template 241

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2009

Quality of Events Of course, the bigger issue with events is finding the ones where you will have a really good opportunity to network with interesting people. He talks about a bunch of the different networking events that occur in Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California.

Southern California 243

Southern California Los Angeles Technology Council Stirrers and Shakers 243

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2013

Correct your course quickly. Don't be fooled by a Common Misunderstanding in Agile Software Development. While You Are Building Your MVP Look for the following Symptoms of a Weak Development Team. And when you have Poor Software Developers - Pull the Plug Early. Learn how to test and possibly use testing and load tools.

CTO Coach 219

CTO Coach Metrics Framework Software Development 219

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Of course the naysayers are out again. Of course backbencher has also become a slang term for “someone who exaggerates their actual power, influence, or importance, usually for nefarious purposes.” I, of course, am betting on the former and am not 1% swayed by the doubters. Of course not. We will do that.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ). and Microsoft had become.

CTO Hire 309

CTO Hire Organization Google Course 309

socalTECH

AUGUST 4, 2010

Calabasas-based BlackLine Systems , the developer of financial close software headed by Therese Tucker, is trumpeting its certification course this week, saying that it recently certified 22 consultants from KPMG as part of its professional services courses. Tucker is the former CTO of SunGard Treasure Systems. READ MORE>>.

Training 133

Training Calabasas Course Software 133

socalTECH

JANUARY 16, 2013

Lynda.com offers up online education courses on things like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Microsoft Excel, AutoCAD, and much more. According to Eric Robison, the firm's CEO, the funding round will go towards increasing the firm's global reach and expanding content. Meritech Capital also participated in the funding.

Funding 178

Funding Santa Barbara ReachLocal Southern California 178

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

In the early days the CEO is the jack-of-all-trades, doer-of-all, famously the “chief janitor” or coffee maker. Eventually you need a VP of Product to handle your product roadmap, a CTO for engineering leadership and VPs of sales, marketing & biz dev. You course correct. You set direction. You hire great people.

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Innovation and Geography I ran across a post in Read/Write Web - Does Location Matter in Web Innovation? eHarmongy) as an acting CTO. Of course, thats probably even more true in Silicon Valley. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Social Media 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Good entrepreneurs can admit when their course of action was wrong and learn from it. 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. They move the ball forward every day. They are quick to spot their mistakes and correct.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Of course triangulation is a mathematics term that is used in sailing and other activities to help you better navigate when you don’t have your bearings. On teams I have a framework for tech teams “ CTO vs. VP Eng ” or on sales I have “ Journeymen, Mavericks & Superstars ” 5. Triangulate.

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Of course, it's way more complex than just these questions. I tend to ask a lot of questions, challenge aspects, make suggestions. But I've often been very surprised by one aspect of these conversations.

Develop 396

Develop Development Startup SEO 396

SoCal CTO

MARCH 9, 2010

In my post, Technology Roles in Startups , I described some of the different ways I engage with startup companies such as CTO Founder , CTO , Part-Time CTO , Acting CTO , Consultant, Advisor and Advisory Board Member. And don’t confuse having a CTO with getting an Technology Advisor.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Technical Review Technology CTO Hire 150

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Of course, it's way more complex than just these questions. I tend to ask a lot of questions, challenge aspects, make suggestions. But I've often been very surprised by one aspect of these conversations.

Develop 384

Develop Development Startup SEO 384

SoCal CTO

APRIL 25, 2017

We have been reading about the LA CTO Forum and we thought it would be a great place to find him/her. I've written before about having an Initial Conversation with a Potential CTO. Of course, this needs to be "elevator size" - 3 to 4 sentences. Please let me know if you can share this information with your members.

Email 150

Email Startup Develop Development 150

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. Of course, what's really at issue here is: How much time/effort should be spent defining things that are farther away in terms of development? They couldn't plan their business.

Outsource Development 254

Outsource Development Software Development Develop Development 254

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

Michael Wong: I was previously CTO of an agency called Breakthrough Ads. My cofounder, Steven Elliott, was CTO of a company doing artificial intelligence and automated chat technology. We had worked together for six years before starting MergeLocal, which came about on the golf course.

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 28, 2010

The LA CTO Forum , which I help organize, has more than 100 Software/Web CTOs from all sorts of companies. Of course, this is a bit more complicated given the issues raised in Startup CTO or Developer , but maybe leave that aside for now. It’s a pretty active, but very private network.

Web Development 167

Web Development Los Angeles Web Develop 167

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2010

This aligns with understanding the the core business model: Get Users (= Acquisition, Referral) Drive Usage (= Activation, Retention) Make Money (= Monetize) (and Lifetime Value is a good one) Of course, that’s a big part of what the investor wants as well. And you definitely should have ideas around important proof points for the business.

Metrics 159

Metrics Search Engine Optimization Startup Ideas 159

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 26, 2022

The company built its own point-of-sale system and commerce APIs in-house, allowing them to deliver a “seamless” customer experience, former Glossier CTO Bryan Mahoney said in 2018. Founded in 2014, Glossier is widely touted as one of the earliest breakout successes of the DTC model, and raised its Series E last July at a $1.8

CTO Hire 197

CTO Hire Layoffs Commerce Email 197

SoCal CTO

MAY 19, 2010

On Friday, at the LA CTO Forum , I heard from a couple of CTOs having trouble finding good developers. Of course, a lot of people say the same thing. I’m seeing and hearing that it’s becoming tough finding good developers again, at least here in Los Angeles. Depends on complexity. Sorry, I wish I could be more help.

Develop 175

Develop Development TechEmpower Southern California 175

SoCal CTO

JUNE 15, 2011

Of course, there's a lot more on any kind of application like this to really get things setup, but Branchout has done a good job making that happen incrementally. And, of course, that person gets notified and you can tweet or post your endorsement as well. They've also done a nice job of importing LinkedIn background information.

Examples 331

Examples Startup Course Networking 331