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What does it mean to be a CTO for a startup? Should a startup CTO spend their time programming? Exploring new technologies? The role of a CTO varies as the company matures. But be careful, and mind the gap – the Founder-Developer Gap, that is! It’s understandable - a hands-on developer can produce a product.
Several people have recently come to me to help them source and/or hire full-timeCTOs for their startup having found me through my post that looks at: Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data. I'd suggest: Startup CTO or Developer , Startup Founder Developer Gap , Part-TimeCTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO.
A FractionalCTO bridges the gap between founders and developers to help keep your tech strategy aligned with your business goals. This helps your startup stay agile and competitive in a fast-paced marketplace.
I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (ChiefTechnologyOfficer) 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.
Several people have recently come to me to help them source and/or hire full-timeCTOs for their startup having found me through my post that looks at: Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data. I'd suggest: Startup CTO or Developer , Startup Founder Developer Gap , Part-TimeCTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO.
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.
Todd Gitlin of Safire Partners - a go to resource here in LA for recruiting C-level positions at startups - was nice enough to compile some data again this year (see last year's Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data ). Or they are looking at Hiring a CTO and want to see what salary and equity ranges look like.
I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? Did they have a Weak Development Team ? Did they have a Weak Development Team ? Was it a case of needing Homework?
I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Generally I can provide quite a bit of help in that brief time. Of course, I provide part-timeCTO services. So, I wanted to use this post to make it official - we are offering free startup CTO consulting sessions.
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?
I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Generally I can provide quite a bit of help in that brief time. Of course, I provide part-timeCTO services. So, I wanted to use this post to make it official - we are offering free startup CTO consulting sessions.
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 understand the product management side of the product well enough to guide the technology in a complementary way. They can likely close a lot of the Founder Developer Gap.
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?
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?
Using my StartupRoar as a radar, I came across a great post by Gabriel Weinberg Do you really need a full-timehire 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. In other words, they come in asking for help with sourcing and hiring.
I’ve come to realize that I have lots of posts around startup software development scattered around in different posts. How to Work With a Contract Web Developer How To Bootstrap Your Startup Thought it would be good to capture them in one spot and also include links to related posts from other sources.
It was like having a bunch of mini- Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions all in one room. Structure developmentcontracts appropriately or directing the in-house team appropriately. Structure developmentcontracts appropriately or directing the in-house team appropriately. Plan for past the initial MVP.
Los Angeles-based Gamzee , the HTML5 game development firm headed by Activision co-founder Howard Marks, has made a high profile hire, saying Monday night that it has hired on Michael Scholz as its CTO. Scholz had previously founded CasualCafe, and also served at WildTangent, SkillJam Technologies and THQ.
There was a lot of passion in the room last week when I presented Working with Developers at the Stubbs Precellerator. I guess it should not be a surprise that Founders have lots of challenges working with developers. But my developers want to go into way too much detail. Time Wasters - Don''t talk too much.
Redondo Beach-based iCONECT Development , a developer of litigation support software, said this morning that it has hired on former X1 Technologies Vice President Howard G. Silver as its ChiefTechnologyOfficer. iCONECT will open a Los Angeles office with Silver's hire.
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. I have been working full time with two founders for about 10 months on full time basis. Do they recognize any Startup Founder Developer Gap ?
Los Angeles-based financial software developer BlackLine Systems said today that it has hired a new, ChiefTechnologyOfficer. According to the enterprise software company, it has named Alain Avakian as its CTO.
This is not only sad but incredibly frustrating, because it is so easy to see how a great technology can be developed and commercialized if only - if only the CTO hadn't been impulsive and insecure and brought on a business partner too early in the game. … And it’s not just inexperienced CTOs. Lack of confidence?
If you are on the lower complexity end, the key is defining small chunks of work that can be done quickly by a developer. If you do not break it down into small pieces, its hard to make progress with part-time resources, freelancers, etc. Structure developmentcontracts appropriately or directing the in-house team appropriately.
So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-timeCTO 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. As a Startup, you have one shot.
Would you create contracts without an attorney? 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 is especially important with outsourced development teams. Why do this without the right technical advisor?
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. I have been working full time with two founders for about 10 months on full time basis. Do they recognize any Startup Founder Developer Gap ?
For your first key hires, three, five, maybe as much as ten, you will probably not be able to use any kind of formula. For example, suppose you're just two founders and you want to hire an additional hacker who's so good you feel he'll increase the average outcome of the whole company by 20%. n = (1.2 - 1)/1.2 =.167. and we have 11.1%
San Diego-based eSUB Construction Software --fresh off a $12M funding round --says it has hired on a new ChiefTechnologyOfficer (CTO), to help it development its platform. The company says she has over 15 years of senior leadership experience.
Some great posts from April 2010 that talk to me in terms of being a CTO at a Startup. Redeye VC , April 13, 2010 Startup Development - SoCal CTO , April 23, 2010 Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? Ben Casnocha: The Blog , April 15, 2010 Everyone I spoke with loved the idea.
million software developers worldwide. Given this diversity, it's important to be selective in the development services company with whom you choose to partner. Are specific technologies or platforms involved in your project? You'll discover firms that are prolific in design/interface and light on development, and vice versa.
I was just interviewed by Frank Peters - Tony Karrer and the Founder-Developer Gap. I received a follow-up question from an early-stage startup about the Founder Developer Gap that I’ve described before and that was part of the interview with Frank. This is somewhat the heart of what a CTO does. What Should You Do?
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. They didn't feel they had visibility into timelines and costs for development of their software. The teams involved didn't seem to be exhibiting many of the Symptoms of a Weak Development Team.
"I'm looking for a partner / cofounder who can not only head the technical aspects and build a working model of the site, but someone with the connections to put a great development team together when we need it. Make sure you go through the 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot to Ask a Startup Founder. Find out who is good.
San Diego-based Skinit , a developer of personalized "skins" for electronic items, reports today that it has hired on Stanford Au, former SVP of technology at Shutterfly, as its ChiefTechnologyOfficer. The firm said that Au has also previously served as an executive at Virage, inc., Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Los Angeles-based MySpace Music announced this morning that it has hired Dmitry Shapiro , who founded Veoh, as its new ChiefTechnologyOfficer. MySpace said that Shapiro will be responsible for "all aspects" of technical development for the MySpace Music platform. Shapiro also served as founder of Akonix Systems.
There's an old adage in software development that I refer to all the time: The first 90% of development takes 90% of the time. The remaining 10%, takes the other 90% of the time. I used a company in India to develop the site, and it's mostly done. The funds have been used up on the existing development.
The firm, which said last year that it had selected Los Angeles for an expanded recruiting effort, recently posted a position for a ChiefTechnologyOfficer, based in Los Angeles. Zynga said in the listing that the CTO will be instrumental in growing and scaling the organization. Zynga's headquarters are in San Francisco.
Even when they have talked to multiple developers or development firms, we’re often the first to ask basic questions like “Who are your customers?” ” or “Are you developing for desktop, tablet, mobile, or all three?” The innovator/developer relationship needs to be a conversation.
BlackLine said Newton will be responsible for technology direction on its software. BlackLine has been busy growing its executive ranks in recent months, having also recently hired Charles Best as its CFO earlier this year. READ MORE>>.
Cloud-based email delivery startup SendGrid , one of the companies out of the TechStars accelerator, said this week that it is accelerating hiring at the firm, including at the firm's Anaheim location. SendGrid is based in Boulder, Colorado.
Los Angeles-based advertising software developer SteelHouse is in major executive expansion mode, saying late Monday that it has named Boris Bronshteyn as its ChiefTechnologyOfficer, and David U. Simon as its Chief Marketing Officer. It also has promoted Chris Innes to Chief Operating Officer.
BlackLine Systems , the developer of financial close software headed by Therese Tucker, is planning a big hiring boost this, expecting to hire more than 50 more employees this year on top of an existing 75 people working at the company. Therese Tucker is the former CTO of SunGard Treasury Systems. READ MORE>>.
TechEmpower has been instrumental in developing chatbots like these, utilizing generative AI to sift through internal documents and user manuals, enabling them to provide precise answers to customer service questions. It also facilitates rapid prototyping, allowing for quicker iterations and thus shorter development cycles.
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