SoCal CTO

APRIL 27, 2011

Several people have recently come to me to help them source and/or hire full-time CTOs for their startup having found me through my post that looks at: Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data. The first thing I do is suggest they explore if they really need to hire a full-time CTO for their startup and if so, what kind of CTO they need.

CTO Hire 282

CTO Hire CTO Coach Technical Review Startup 282

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

Andrew & Petri posed a question to me, “If Walt Disney were starting his company today, what kind of company would he build?” They had all of their character development started (they showed up mock-ups) and the basic gameplay for Game 1 was through through (but not yet built).

Funding 373

Funding Technical Review Startup Screening 373

TechEmpower

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Are specific technologies or platforms involved in your project? Do they have experience with the technologies involved in your project? Although noteworthy, working with large corporations differs remarkably from working with startups. What are the review periods and your responsibility in the process?

Software Development 295

Software Development Software Review Develop Development 295

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

I wrote this conundrum and the need to take charge of how the market define your skills in my much-read blog post on “ personal branding.” Of course you could start your own company. But not everybody has the right skills to build a highly successful and valuable startup from scratch.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

SoCal CTO

APRIL 27, 2011

Several people have recently come to me to help them source and/or hire full-time CTOs for their startup having found me through my post that looks at: Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data. The first thing I do is suggest they explore if they really need to hire a full-time CTO for their startup and if so, what kind of CTO they need.

CTO Hire 225

CTO Hire CTO Coach Technical Review Startup 225

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

It is also a result of pent-up demand. Consumer spending is 70% of the economy and will continue to be stretched – We can look all we want at tech innovation, VC funding cycles and hot M&A deals, but ultimately growth and therefore investment must be underpinned by revenue. See point 2 below.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2022

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. High-technology product startups, without customers, don’t make a business. When these do not line up in the decision-making cycle, consumers feel true psychological discomfort.

Customer 122

Customer Custom Social Media Technical Review 122

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Let’s set up a framework. Profitability.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Xconomy

JUNE 24, 2019

These can be positive attributes in an entrepreneur, but in a more rational world, technology investors wouldn’t overvalue them. Fearlessness. Ruthless focus. Risk capital would be allocated based mostly on evidence, data, progress towards milestones—in short, on proof. In the real world, of course, proof is hard to come by.

Technical Review 107

Technical Review Course Capital Entrepreneur 107

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

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? And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ? Was it a case of needing Homework?

CTO Hire 241

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Develop 241

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

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. Every future entrepreneur should start by networking.

Product 127

Product Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Technical Review 127

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2021

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to the Internet as an opportunity to get rich quick, instead of a place where you can start a business you love, for very little capital and minimal technical expertise. Starting an Internet business is a new lifestyle, so you need to understand the implications.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Case Study Software Review Startup 124

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

Chris Dixon is one of my favorite people in tech and writes one of the few blogs I read religiously. If you don’t read it and you care about tech & entrepreneurship, you should. If you like the quick summary notes, please check out Adam’s blog on tech, entrepreneurship & VC as a thank you.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

There’s an article making the rounds in tech circles titled “ Growth Hacking is Bull ” written by Muhammad Saleem. His quip to suggest this is all a slight-of-hand, trickery dreamed up by marketing b *s is quite clever if misguided. For starters it brings a mindset to startups that not all of them have innately.

Technical Review 384

Technical Review SEM SEO Marketing 384

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

It’s a very important concept for me because in a startup you are constantly under pressure and have way too many distractions. Commitment & urgency are key drivers of success in startup businesses. I was recently talking with a startup company who wanted me to try their product. You already know it from your personal lives.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Thursday, March 22, 2007 Discussion Creation Among Bloggers - LinkedIn, Blogging and Discussion Groups Ive been participating in a Yahoo Group that are users of LinkedIn and who are Bloggers: [link] Its an interesting group of folks from diverse backgrounds. See Five Things Meme as an example.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach CTO Hire Southern California 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

I commented briefly on his blog and made a mental note to write a blog post. I filled up with 20 people pretty quickly and realized this schedule was masochistic. TWTFelipe and I ended up speaking for nearly 30 minutes and we talked mostly about why his company was based in Canada and not the US.

Technical Review 282

Technical Review Startup High Tech Software Review 282

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about “ the politics of startups ” in which I asserted that all companies have politics, which in its purest sense is just about understanding human psychology. I think as a tech industry we have bred a culture that places more emphasis on product excellence than managing human behavior.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

He is not a technical person, but is somewhat web savvy. I asked some of the same questions I ask in my Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions and then I get to a very common conversation: Me : Do you have specs? Conversations with a technical advisors or possible developers should be iterative. Go find a new technical resource.

Develop 354

Develop Development Technical Review CTO Coach 354

Xconomy

NOVEMBER 13, 2016

View the Slideshow A little more than a year ago, amid a resurgence in San Diego’s software sector, Xconomy identified a baker’s dozen of local tech companies to watch in 2016. The idea was to feature early stage companies in the region that have not attracted much attention or raised a substantial amount of startup capital.

San Diego 40

San Diego Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Startup 40

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Reviewing financial & operational performance. As You Start to Mature.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2013

As the end of the year approaches, it’s a good time for every startup to assess the metrics, technology, and platforms they’re using to manage the business. Of course, everyone is happy when the numbers keep going up, but the data needs to be mined constantly for deeper meanings and trends. Customer loyalty and retention.

Metrics 100

Metrics Technical Review Sales Customer 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

My internal compass has always steered me strongly toward the belief that founders who can scale with their startup companies are better to back that founders who eventually need to hire a CEO. Very few founder CEOs go into the job ever expecting to give up their seat. So give up the CEO role? It’s your baby.

Startup 303

Startup Technical Review Product Blogging 303

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2016

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to the Internet as an opportunity to get rich quick, instead of a place where you can start a business you love, for very little capital and minimal technical expertise. Starting an Internet business is a new lifestyle, so you need to understand the implications.

Startup 107

Startup Technical Review Case Study Software Review 107

Xconomy

JANUARY 3, 2018

Any year-end review of technology news must also include reports on Russian hacking of the 2016 election campaign, and the manipulation of social media channels to spread false and divisive political messages. Have all these. Read more » Reprints | Share:

Technical Review 71

Technical Review Social Media News Software Review 71

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. The world has changed much since I started my first company in 1999. some came from our customer service, some were to improve performance / scalability from tech ops, some were bug fixes, etc.) Tim started to change our processes. Turn Your Organization Inside Out.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Los Angeles-based online dog sitting marketplace DogVacay appears to be in growth mode, based on a recent notice the company sent out to its blog. DogVacay operates an online marketplace which helps connects dog owners with vetted dog sitters, offering up reviews of those sitters, tools to keep owners connected with their pets, and more.

Technical Review 191

Technical Review Incubator Blogging Los Angeles 191

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

I’m going to save that for a future blog post. Get your product/market fit working before you ramp up your costs (or raise too much money). The Greycroft event was a 10 out of 10 so I’ve diligently taken notes. Nail it before you scale it” – I missed who said this but I love this quote. I felt the same way.

Startup 279

Startup Venture Capital Tips Custom Development 279

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. Brad on blogging. How did you start blogging? “My In 2004 / 2005 I was starting to get intrigued with user-generated content. In 2004 / 2005 I was starting to get intrigued with user-generated content. was starting. Human Computer Interaction.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2017

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. High-technology product startups, without customers, don’t make a business. When these do not line up in the decision-making cycle, consumers feel true psychological discomfort.

Technical Review 55

Technical Review Technology Social Media Social Network 55

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Start-up Lessons.&#. Recently I wrote a blog post about how I hated losing, but I embrace it. My starting line with every entrepreneur is that everything I learned about being an entrepreneur I learned from F’ing it up on my first business.

Startup 247

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Writing 247

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

I’m a very big proponent of the “lean startup movement&# as espoused by Steve Blank & Eric Ries. In the late 90′s I saw a dangerous trend creeping into the startup world, which was that companies were suddenly raising huge amounts of money too early in their existence. This post originally appeared on TechCrunch.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

Let’s start with the fund. Santa Monica is the place where the highest concentration of early-stage startups are created if you consider also the contiguous geography of Venice Beach. What’s up with that? To start, we believe that our industry was too closed-door and secretive. So what changed?

Funding 343

Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

However, savvy startups can leverage LinkedIn to create a customer acquisition and a churn reduction tool. Just as SimpleLegal has success ousting competitors, its Customer Success team must be diligent to avoid being likewise a victim of employee churn. A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Bro Benefits.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Software Review Technical Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 23, 2010

I was an early user of Quora and like all new technologies they take a bit of playing with them for a while, discussing them with others and reflecting on them to let them sink in. Take AVC.com, the blog by Fred Wilson. It was this sort of techie / geeky looking UI implementation of questions that anybody could ask about startups.

Blogging 301

Blogging SEO Startup Writing 301

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

When the masses start all running one way without questioning “why?&# – and when it defies any logic I can figure out in my head – I call bullshit. They have marked-up paper gains propped up by an over excited venture capital market that has validated their investments. “ Question Authority.&#.

Invest 299

Invest Angel Technical Review Venture Capital 299

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2010

Everyone is talking about how social media can help you jumpstart your business at no cost, and experts are springing up on all sides to help you do it at a high cost. So who do you believe, and what are the keys to success for your startup? Blogging (Wordpress), micro-blogging (Twitter), and social networks are the trinity.

Social Media 95

Social Media Media Startup Blogging 95