Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Working hard together at a big company just isn’t the same. The truth is you really don’t know how your teammates or your bosses will perform in good times and bad. You hire people who look good on paper. Who came in the office at 2am when the servers crashed – even on the night of the big company party.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

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 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2019

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. A good overall example is the synergy between Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as well as long-time Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. Carry minimal historical baggage.

Software Review 88

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 88

socalTECH

MARCH 8, 2013

DatAllegro was one of the first companies in what is now the "big data" industry, and helped to pioneer the entire segment. Now, Frost has set up shop buildling out a whole series of companies in the industry, and we caught up with him to learn more about the companies (Predixion Software, Cirro, Lineage, Kumo, etc.)

Incubator 208

Incubator Startup CTO Hire Ideas 208

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. Before I started my first company in 1999 I worked for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). One example was Ryan Lissack. Ryan was the most talented technologist we had hired at BuildOnline. We hired Ryan at a really young age and without a tremendous amount of prior experience.

CTO Hire 322

CTO Hire Startup Resource Entrepreneur 322

SoCal CTO

APRIL 20, 2010

I’ve had several recent conversations with startups who are building companies based on matching. One of the things that I think gets commonly missed by these companies when I first talk to them is that they need more than providing matching, they need performance support. For example, getting a complex graph created in Excel.

eHarmony 150

eHarmony Examples FAQ Design 150

socalTECH

MARCH 21, 2013

How is the changing demographic of web visitors changing how local companies operate? We recently chatted with Debra Domeyer , CEO of Oversee.net (www.oversee.net), a Los Angeles company which provides both domain monetization and runs vertical, consumer lead generation and marketing sites, to hear about the company.

Mobile 224

Mobile CTO Hire CPC Web 224

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2014

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. A good overall example is the synergy between Google co-Founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as well as with Chairman Eric Schmidt. Partner decisions are more important than hiring decisions.

Software Review 107

Software Review Entrepreneur CTO Hire Outsource Development 107

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

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. Who will do that?

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

For example. Eventually a successful startup will grow into a big company. Growth will slow, partly due to internal limits and partly because the company is starting to bump up against the limits of the markets it serves.” ” And when you read the article carefully it allows for a period of discovery in your business.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2013

We spoke with CEO Darren Marble to learn more about why analytics are important to the modern film-maker, and how the company is helping. Darren Marble: I spent the last ten years in enterprise sales, selling enterprise software and services to Fortune 500 companies. What is FilmBreak? What's your background? Where's the service now?

Hollywood 256

Hollywood CTO Hire Social Media Platform 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. A good overall example is the synergy between Google co-Founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as well as Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. Believe in the same ethical and diversity boundaries.

Software Review 56

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach 56

socalTECH

JUNE 9, 2014

We caught up with Lee Essner , the President of Jukin Media, to learn more about how the company thinks it has figured out how to make a business round viral videos. That''s where the traditional media companies--the morning shows, the news clips shows, the ad agencies--can see what is viral and trending, and can license it directly from us.

Media 235

Media Content Startup IP 235

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

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. A couple of quick stories / examples: 1. Making Things Happen.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2017

He was just trying to collect more data for his startup on what was happening on real estate deals that the company had been referring to brokers. However, he quickly discovered the deal data the company was collecting was not just data--but a guide to the best practices on helping brokers close more deals, quickly.

Sales 145

Sales Startup Email Tool 145

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

What you will convey in your conversations What protections you will place on those communications For example, you might decide that portions of your concept will be controlled more closely (a secret algorithm). This is going to be fairly specific to the company. This will only be disclosed when there is an NDA in place.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

What you will convey in your conversations What protections you will place on those communications For example, you might decide that portions of your concept will be controlled more closely (a secret algorithm). This is going to be fairly specific to the company. This will only be disclosed when there is an NDA in place.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2014

In today''s electronic world, there is an immense number of data sources creating millions of data points that companies are hoping to make sense of. There are lots of products that might look for any mention of a product name or company name, and yes, we do that--but more importantly, we are also analyzing situations that arise.

Orange County 245

Orange County Startup News IBM 245

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

The company provides SAT, ACT, and other similar test preparation courses and related software. To hear about the company, we spoke with Ramit Varma , co-founder of the company. It was us, funding ourselves from credit cards, literally, to a company that is now on par with Kaplan and Princeton Review.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. Other founders, “as a privately held company we don’t disclose our valuation.&# Me, “dude, I’m not a journalist. The VC assumes you’ll have an option pool.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). Ideally, they will have links to distributors you need, or even be investors in your company as well. Build qualified advisory board.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2014

I spent an hour on the phone working with Sam Rosen, the CEO of MakeSpace on a senior exec he is considering hiring. I spent an hour across two phone calls with him telling him why I believe MakeSpace will be a billion dollar company (which I do). You might first seek to meet your peer group in comparable jobs at similar companies.

Networking 366

Networking Startup CTO Coach Email 366

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). Ideally, they will have links to distributors you need, or even be investors in your company as well. Build qualified advisory board.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). Ideally, they will have links to distributors you need, or even be investors in your company as well. Build qualified advisory board.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Alon Schwartz

DECEMBER 14, 2008

I’m being asked this by technologies, of course, but also from other, non-tech people like private investors, VCs, SEO experts, marketing guys, potential hires, partners, and any random guests that just happen to stop by and say hi to Jason (of course…). The whole notion of a company trying to make money from selling software makes me sick.

LAMP 45

LAMP PHP Java CTO Hire 45

Alon Schwartz

DECEMBER 14, 2008

I’m being asked this by technologies, of course, but also from other, non-tech people like private investors, VCs, SEO experts, marketing guys, potential hires, partners, and any random guests that just happen to stop by and say hi to Jason (of course…). The whole notion of a company trying to make money from selling software makes me sick.

LAMP 40

LAMP PHP Java CTO Hire 40

Alon Schwartz

DECEMBER 14, 2008

I’m being asked this by technologies, of course, but also from other, non-tech people like private investors, VCs, SEO experts, marketing guys, potential hires, partners, and any random guests that just happen to stop by and say hi to Jason (of course…). The whole notion of a company trying to make money from selling software makes me sick.

PHP 40

PHP LAMP Java CTO Hire 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CIO) and a product lead (CTO). Ideally, they will have links to distributors you need, or even be investors in your company as well. Build qualified advisory board.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. Want to know, for example, why Foursquare uses MongoDB to store check-in information? Who better to answer than the company's engineering lead.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. On the other hand, I meet plenty of people who complain bitterly about corporate politics—sometimes even in the companies they run.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

Frank Addante

JANUARY 23, 2007

. ► November (1) 2 Ears and 1 Mouth: There's a Reason ► October (2) Be Best at Something Tear Down Your Firewalls ► September (3) Elements of Sustainable Companies We're Not Saving Lives. Web Development & Marketing Technology) Exit: evolved into L90 (next company) Lesson: What you dont know cant stop you.

Outsource Development 40

Outsource Development Develop Development Product 40

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Great content again in September that meets at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. I applied to hundreds of jobs: low-level VC roles, startups jobs, even to big tech companies. Big companies rejected me outright or gave me a courtesy interview before rejecting me. Kanye West. Carpe Diem.

Startup 191

Startup Product Technology Venture Capital 191

socalTECH

JULY 23, 2009

It's somewhat unusual in this economy to find companies who are seeing strong growth, so we were intrigued recently in running into BlackLine Systems (www.blackline.com), a firm which develops software for helping in the financial reporting process. We caught up with Therese to hear about her company and why it's growing.

Startup 124

Startup Software Review CTO Hire Oracle 124

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 16, 2014

For example, take someone who is developing a travel solution as a mobile application. How did you identify what you needed, and how did you come to hire the right people? Our co-founder and CTO, Josh Fester and I met each other online and within a month he moved from St Louis to LA. We’ve been working on Miigle ever since.

SoCal 104

SoCal Southern California Startup Platform 104

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 16, 2016

Computer Vison Startup Nanit If you follow me on Snapchat ( msuster ) you might already know that I’ve been looking at and investing in a number of companies in the computer vision space. He and I attend board meetings together in this NYC-based (and Israeli) company. The CTO, Tor Ivry , heads engineering out of Israel.

Invest 150

Invest Course Startup CTO Hire 150

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

. ► November (1) 2 Ears and 1 Mouth: There's a Reason ► October (2) Be Best at Something Tear Down Your Firewalls ► September (3) Elements of Sustainable Companies We're Not Saving Lives. Web Development & Marketing Technology) Exit: evolved into L90 (next company) Lesson: What you dont know cant stop you.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40