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But what was interesting to me was that I found myself recommending that each of them should have a technicaladviser. Review the code being built. This is exactly the kind of thing I'm doing as a Part-Time CTO or TechnicalAdvisor for startups. There are two kinds of advisors that are commonly needed.
My role is to work as part of the team to (1) understand related technologies and technical opportunities, (2) understand and help drive alignment around a vision of where the business should go, and (3) mesh those together to help make disciplined, proactive technical decisions. Then, we come to an agreement on terms.
I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. It depends on the business, people, technologies, etc. Each situation is just a bit different.
I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. The technology team disagrees on direction and wants resolutions. There’s a guy in Los Angeles that I met at several tech networking events. Good entrepreneurs have a penchant for doing vs. over-analyzing.
Often this situation is characterized as a “good problem to have” until you’re the technical person who needs to solve the problem—and quickly. Well, there are a number of technical reasons for applications suffering performance issues. Performance in your technology selection process. So, why does this happen?
Based on my experience advising new entrepreneurs as well as more mature businesses, I recommend the following strategies for building business momentum, while still optimizing the limited resources of every small business: Find more customers that like what you do best. Focus first on finding more of the right customers.
For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.” He or she has worked at some very successful big technology or media companies and went to a great school. I saved my main point for last.
Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. Consistently review and respond to relevant online feedback. Reach out to friends and supporters for positive mentions.
I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. Even after your application is accepted, the issuing process takes a lifetime in today’s technology (4-5 years). Software technology changes rapidly. Patents have become a tax on innovation.
Unlike Yelp and listings sites that are focused on user-generated reviews or things like that, we're really a portfolio sharing site, and a tool of professionals. He and I connected, and walked through PartySlate and what we were doing, and he immediately said he wanted to invest and become an advisor to the company.
Yet, despite his exceptional courtroom theatrics, you would be foolhardy to hire good old Johnnie to review your software cross-licensing agreement. Your lawyer is a trusted advisor, but in the end, you run your business, your lawyer does not. Bill Review – Believe it or not, lawyers and their staff are human (insert “gasp” here).
I still generally advise software startups to file a patent as a barrier to entry from competitors and to increase their valuation by investors, but every entrepreneur needs to understand the tradeoffs. That’s more than a lifetime in today’s technology. Patent offices can’t keep up with software technology.
With public interest in artificial intelligence technologies on the rise, five of the world’s largest corporations—vying against each other in so many spheres—are banding together to support research on the ethical and societal issues raised by machines with increasingly human-like capabilities.
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