Company Competition CTO Hire Sales 
Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 20, 2010
I recently did a post for startups on understanding sales people. This time I thought I’d try and address engineering talent. 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.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 16, 2014
One of the vivid memories I have from being a startup CEO is the feeling that most people in your company have a look in their eyes that like they can do your job as well as you. Eventually you need a VP of Product to handle your product roadmap, a CTO for engineering leadership and VPs of sales, marketing & biz dev.
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Startup Professionals Musings
APRIL 17, 2022
Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Carry minimal historical baggage.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 1, 2010
A good early-stage CEO needs to be accessible, to be accountable for producing results and should be establishing the cultural norms of the company through direct leadership at all levels. But issues do arise as your company grows. I see two common mistakes in companies (not just in startups, in fact).
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 15, 2019
Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Carry minimal historical baggage.
Both Sides of the Table
JANUARY 26, 2010
You can always tell during this discussion whether the entrepreneur has logged into their products, talked to their customers, read all the news stories and gotten all of the back channel info on the competition. You can tell if they have a deep-seated competitive spirit. Can’t go a mile deep on competition?
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 5, 2010
The conversations bleed into the sales messages the next time, they wend their way into software designs and form the plan of attach against competition. The best companies are built on common beliefs and culture – a common sense of purpose. CEO, VP Products and CTO must all be in the physical location.
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