Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

This strategy is called “organic growth,” yet it alone may yield only a fraction of the potential you could achieve, unless you add the additional strategies of partnerships and M&A (mergers and acquisitions). Add basic partner contracts or alliances. Both of these qualms are wrong and shortsighted. External scanning for resources.

CTO Hire 91

CTO Hire Startup Outsource Development Resource 91

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. Meredith came to see me along with the CTO Marc Berte.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

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. Believe in the same ethical and diversity boundaries.

Software Review 88

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 88

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

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

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?

Entrepreneur 286

Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire Sales 286

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. The passion has to be in the business context – meaning results oriented, customer oriented, and sensitive to competition. 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

socalTECH

OCTOBER 10, 2013

In what is a fairly unusual move, last week, Tradesparq (www.tradesparq.com), a Chinese startup in the area of B2B trade information, said it was planning on setting up its operations here in Southern California, as part of an expansion and scaling of the company. How long has company been around? What is Tradesparq?

Southern California 170

Southern California Startup SoCal CTO Hire 170

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. The passion has to be in the business context – meaning results oriented, customer oriented, and sensitive to competition. Partner decisions are more important than hiring decisions.

Software Review 103

Software Review Equity CTO Hire Outsource Development 103

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). BuildOnline (the company I founded) has just announcement plans to be more aggressive in growing in the US. Let me not bury the lede.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

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. The passion has to be in the business context – meaning results oriented, customer oriented, and sensitive to competition. Partner decisions are more important than team member hiring decisions.

Software Review 56

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach 56

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2011

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. The passion has to be in the business context – meaning results oriented, customer oriented, and sensitive to competition. Partner decisions are more important than hiring decisions.

Software Review 96

Software Review CTO Hire Startup Outsource Development 96

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. This is going to be fairly specific to the company. Startups that come to me and ask me to sign an NDA in order to get Free Startup CTO Consulting really are missing it. You’ll get suggestions for improvements. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2010

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. The passion has to be in the business context – meaning results oriented, customer oriented, and sensitive to competition. Partner decisions are more important than hiring decisions.

Software Review 92

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 92

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. This is going to be fairly specific to the company. Startups that come to me and ask me to sign an NDA in order to get Free Startup CTO Consulting really are missing it. You’ll get suggestions for improvements. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Growth like this, this early in a company’s lifecycle rarely happens. In his spare time he raised nearly $30 million. Trust me – that kind of encounter can mean the difference between securing a contract, protecting yourself from getting turfed or getting acquired one day. Please meet her while she’s there.”

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

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

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. Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. The VC assumes you’ll have an option pool.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

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). Investors are likely to make a few phone calls, so make sure these people really have taken the time and commitment to work with you, and know your business. Build qualified advisory board.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

And for many companies a good deal of their business is still closed over the phone–through their call centers. This is especially true for companies with expensive and complex products or services that are more consultative in nature, like insurance, financial services, home services, education and travel, etc. You’re right.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

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

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). Investors are likely to make a few phone calls, so make sure these people really have taken the time and commitment to work with you, and know your business. Build qualified advisory board.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

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). Investors are likely to make a few phone calls, so make sure these people really have taken the time and commitment to work with you, and know your business. Build qualified advisory board.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CIO) and a product lead (CTO). Investors are likely to make a few phone calls, so make sure these people really have taken the time and commitment to work with you, and know your business. Build qualified advisory board.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 25, 2008

The firm is announcing a substantial Series D funding round today, so we spoke with the firm's CEO, Jason Howe, to get the details on the company and what it's doing. Jason Howe: What we do at Awarepoint is, at the 10,000 foot level, is RTLS - Real Time Location Services. Congrats on funding. Explain what your products do?

Startup 113

Startup CTO Hire Resource Venture Capital 113

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

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

It’s the company that evokes fear into more startups and venture capitalists looking to fund eCommerce businesses than any other potential competitor. Every pitch I’ve ever seen has led to the, “Would Amazon eventually do this? And could we then compete?” ” type questions. 10x the experience. I’m long NY.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire Startup 380

socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2014

We spoke with Michael Chasin, the company''s co-founder, about the startup. You fill out the short questionnaire, lawyers submit their price quotes, and they get hired. One day, I was talking with a friend who was trying to develop and app for a school event, and had created his own app creation company. What''s LawKick about?

Help 240

Help Startup CTO Hire Pricing 240

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. Who better to answer than the company's engineering lead. Over the last few weeks, the Real Ventures team has met with easily 50 companies.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

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

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’ve always been a big believer that just a couple of key individuals make all of the difference in a company’s success. I was meeting with a first-time CEO of a very promising young startup recently and offering my advice on what his priorities should be. There’s you and your killer CTO co-founder.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

When you run a startup you’re always on borrowed time. You have cash in the bank, a monthly burn rate and a “cash out” date that few in the company truly comprehend. I’ve never met a founder who wasn’t acutely aware of his or her ticking time bomb and the sense that failure and humiliation is a real possibility.

Funding 238

Funding Venture Capital Startup Course 238

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

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

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.

Technical Advisors 335

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Offshore Startup 335