SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. Great stuff. " The emotions around sunk costs run deep. Good stuff from Jason.

Pricing 150

Pricing Acquisition Customer Custom 150

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

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? This should be an iterative process with advisors and customers providing feedback on the product. Founder : Ummm. what do you mean? You likely are writing your first one of these.

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SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Sometimes I make a blog entry. A day might include a discussion with a finance partner, an investor, a customer or a fusion partner. Our new customer acquisition has grown and our costs have plummeted. We are actually getting paid now to obtain customers, so our customer acquisition costs are now negative.

Acquisition 170

Acquisition Customer Custom Ideas 170

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 Finding Good Developers in Los Angeles? Im part of a CTO group that meets once a month to discuss various topics. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

Los Angeles 150

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 27, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 27, 2007 Stanford Podcasts - eHarmony - Greg Waldorf I was just pointed to a set of great podcasts done by Stanford B-School and particularly, I just listed to the podcast by eHarmonys Greg Waldorf. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO.

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 28, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Wednesday, February 28, 2007 Google Maps Mobile I recently downloaded Google Maps Mobile for my Treo. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Sunday, February 25, 2007 Interesting Model for University President Saw a post by Paul Kedrosky pointing us to Graeme Thickins on How Stanford Does It. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

CTO Coach 150

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 23, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Friday, February 23, 2007 Events and Networking in Los Angeles One of the issues I discussed in Innovation and Geography was that the geography and traffic in Los Angeles generally makes it more difficult for networking. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO.

Los Angeles 150

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Sunday, February 25, 2007 Challenge of Predicting Winners I just read a bit on the payout to YouTube from the Google Acquisition ( Internet News , CNN ). He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

Tony Karrer is CEO/CTO of TechEmpower , a Los Angeles Web Development firm, and is considered one of the top technologists in e-Learning. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 A Different Kind of Incubator - The Hive I recently met with The Hive a new incubator in Orange County. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 Where LinkedIn Works for Me Ive been a long time user of LinkedIn , but only recently have started getting the benefits I always expected. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 9, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Friday, March 9, 2007 Map of VC Investments Found this Map of 2006 VC Investments post. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Innovation and Geography I ran across a post in Read/Write Web - Does Location Matter in Web Innovation? eHarmongy) as an acting CTO. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, March 20, 2007 Kevin Federline Search Engine Just saw a post - Sleep with a pop star, get your own branded search engine. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 13, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8 Ways the Internet has Changed Software Marketing Great post - 8 Ways The Internet Changed Software Marketing - is an interesting take on how different it is these days to market software. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. Good stuff.

CTO Coach 150

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Thursday, March 1, 2007 Entreprenuer Network Great post by Ben Kuo - The Importance of the “Network&# to Entrepreneurs - the informal connections between people in the technology industry here who have a vested interest in helping entrepreneurs take their companies to the next level.

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SoCal CTO

MAY 15, 2009

He handles strategic partnerships and enterprise agreements with large corporate customers, as well as serving as the company's in-house general counsel. Dr. Tony Karrer, CEO/CTO of TechEmpower Dr. Tony Karrer, CEO/CTO of TechEmpower Dr. Tony Karrer is the CEO/CTO of TechEmpower, a software, web, and eLearning development firm.

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SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. Putting customers first. Legendary customer support. You could just outspend. Innovative.

Startup 248

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Xconomy

MAY 16, 2018

CEO Gerry Widmer said Wednesday the San Diego-based company is expanding its workforce and extending its Web content management system (WCMS) to international customers. Apuzzo shifted to his preferred role as CTO.) After establishing a partnership with the Google Cloud Platform, Zesty.io founder Randy Apuzzo at the end of 2017.

Google 49

Google San Diego SaaS Capital 49

SoCal CTO

MARCH 5, 2007

Common revenue streams are consulting, training, support, customization, upgraded versions for corporate applications, etc. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

Southern California 150

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Monday, March 12, 2007 MyShape Article - Analyst Misses the Point The NY Times did a piece today on MyShape, a start-up in Pasadena - Log in Your Measurements, and the Clothes May Fit. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. Technology Jobs in Southern California – a Rebound.

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SoCal CTO

APRIL 1, 2009

I am excited to be participating in and announcing the of: Southern California Tech Central This is a community of people in Southern California who have come together to help find and organize the best content from blogs, news sources and other web sites all around technology in So Cal. And perhaps to stimulate new connections.

Southern California 150

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, March 20, 2007 Time Rich, Time Poor and Apple Jeremy Liew at Lightspeed Venture Partners has an interesting post: Time Rich or Time Poor? He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

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SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 14, 2009

Along the way, I co-authored three books on one-to-one marketing ( [link] ) to help marketers learn how to built and nature relationships with their customers. A few years ago, my CTO spotted a need that local groups and organizations have in handling RSVPs and registrations for meetings and events. Hey, radio. Great stuff.

Los Angeles 150

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SoCal Delicious

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

tries to expand beyond Twitter roots Blogs Im Reading Andrew Corn Barry Ritholtz Fred Wilson FT Alphaville Howard Lindzon Marc Andreessen Michelle Leder Paul Graham Paul Kedrosky Trader Mike Active Investments AdCopy AdSafe Alphacet Beacon Trust Company bit.ly Vaultive « Are Derivatives the Real Problem? Lack of confidence? Camaraderie?

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

But the thing I am most proud of about Rob is that he has taken a company with a uniquely talented founder & CTO – Nick Halstead – and managed to build a very tight working relationship with Nick where we drive world-class product development without having the usual founder / CEO conflicts. Email updates frequently.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Neither is very strategic nor in the best interest of either set of customers that VCs have (portfolio companies & LPs). David is also frequently an inspiration for a story on my blog. We brought Ryan Lissack down from San Francisco to become Maker’s CTO and the rest is history. Writing a book will be fun.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

It's like WordPress, but instead of blogging, it provides an online community, which is self-hosted. We have about 8500 customers there, but only a small percentage have built great communities that took off, and the rest floundered. It's actually uncommon to have a female CTO. SocialEngine is a white-label, community platform.

Startup 242

Startup CTO Coach Blogging Social Media 242

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). For a business, you must define the absolute minimum features you need to satisfy the customer problem, and test it in the market. Get a real customer and real revenue. Build qualified advisory board.

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SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 11, 2009

And I'm looking forward to more interaction now that she's blogging. BLOG: [link] LINKEDIN: [link] TWITTER: [link] What's a phone booth? We came up with a positioning strategy that helps them sell value-added when recession-pinched customers are squeezing them for low rates. Maybe you can blog about that?

Marketing 150

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 18, 2010

What are some of the top things you've published online, e.g., blog posts? I’d love to get your thoughts at some point about writing for these publications vs. on your own blog. Vince: In addition to my management writing I’ve interview many CEOs and innovators.

Startup 225

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). For a business, you must define the absolute minimum features you need to satisfy the customer problem, and test it in the market. Get a real customer and real revenue. Build qualified advisory board.

Startup 104

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SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 26, 2007

Found this through Ben Kuo's blog: Media Matchmaker: autopsy of a failed startup from the Frank Peters show. Interesting to hear Betsy say that the technology was not differentiated. There's not much downside for the customers on each side and would lower resistance. Good stuff! Quite a contrast.

Startup 150

Startup eHarmony Blogging Customer 150

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. I’ll start with an obvious one – I talk with the entrepreneur about competitors. But that’s a digression.

Entrepreneur 286

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SoCal CTO

JUNE 14, 2008

I'm blogging from the CalTech Enterprise Forum. At the CTO Group that I organize in Santa Monica, we've had lots of discussions around this. Benefit of a proprietary platform can be finding customers. The topic is: Betting Your Company On An Internet Platform? Stamps.com - two back-ends - mainline service vs. marketing site.

Platform 150

Platform EC2 Java S3 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). For a business, you must define the absolute minimum features you need to satisfy the customer problem, and test it in the market. Get a real customer and real revenue. Build qualified advisory board.

Startup 101

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