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What does it mean to be a CTO for a startup? Should a startup CTO spend their time programming? The role of a CTO varies as the company matures. Here’s a graphic from Socal CTO that illustrates the roles as they change over time: In its earliest days, a startup’s top need is often to produce a product.
I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. I used an image from Roger Smith that describes the varying roles of a CTO as the company matures.
Using my StartupRoar as a radar, I came across a great post by Gabriel Weinberg Do you really need a full-timehire for that? Hiring seems to be the preferred use of seed funds (by investors and founders), whereas I'd prefer a focus on customer acquisition. In other words, they come in asking for help with sourcing and hiring.
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? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? Did they have a Weak Development Team ?
I’ve come to realize that I have lots of posts around startup software development scattered around in different posts. How to Work With a Contract Web Developer How To Bootstrap Your Startup Thought it would be good to capture them in one spot and also include links to related posts from other sources.
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. I hope many will read this and have an answer for the question, “what’s the different between a CTO and a VP of Engineering?&#.
million software developers worldwide. Given this diversity, it's important to be selective in the development services company with whom you choose to partner. In the 25 years that TechEmpower has been in business, we’ve seen thousands of companies come and go. Has the company handled projects similar to yours?
Todd Gitlin of Safire Partners - a go to resource here in LA for recruiting C-level positions at startups - was nice enough to compile some data again this year (see last year's Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data ). Or they are looking at Hiring a CTO and want to see what salary and equity ranges look like.
I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. Of course, I provide part-timeCTO services.
I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. Of course, I provide part-timeCTO services.
I've posted quite a few things on the topics associated with being a Startup CTO. Here are some resources that come from other sources: Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do? Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do?
I've posted quite a few things on the topics associated with being a Startup CTO. Here are some resources that come from other sources: Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do? Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do?
It was like having a bunch of mini- Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions all in one room. Structure developmentcontracts appropriately or directing the in-house team appropriately. Structure developmentcontracts appropriately or directing the in-house team appropriately. Plan for past the initial MVP.
I''ve written before about finding Web Development Firms in Los Angeles. What I didn''t discuss was how you should go about selecting the right company. They''ve been in talks with some consulting companies, but don''t quite the know the criteria for evaluating them and things like references(and where to get them).
For your first key hires, three, five, maybe as much as ten, you will probably not be able to use any kind of formula. If i is the average outcome for the company with the addition of some new person, then they're worth n such that i = 1/(1 - n). of the company for him. of the company for him. Which means n = (i - 1)/i.
I was just interviewed by Frank Peters - Tony Karrer and the Founder-Developer Gap. I received a follow-up question from an early-stage startup about the Founder Developer Gap that I’ve described before and that was part of the interview with Frank. This is somewhat the heart of what a CTO does. It’s a painful situation.
Even when they have talked to multiple developers or development firms, we’re often the first to ask basic questions like “Who are your customers?” ” or “Are you developing for desktop, tablet, mobile, or all three?” The innovator/developer relationship needs to be a conversation.
There's an old adage in software development that I refer to all the time: The first 90% of development takes 90% of the time. The remaining 10%, takes the other 90% of the time. I used a company in India to develop the site, and it's mostly done. I used this when I taught software engineering.
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. About 18 months ago, the entire group began to mention that they were having more difficulty finding good developers.
This is not only sad but incredibly frustrating, because it is so easy to see how a great technology can be developed and commercialized if only - if only the CTO hadn't been impulsive and insecure and brought on a business partner too early in the game. … And it’s not just inexperienced CTOs. Lack of confidence? Camaraderie?
Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-timeCTO for more than 30 startups. Most notably, he was the original CTO for eHarmony for its first four years making him partly responsible for more than 4% of the marriages every year. He is a frequent speaker at trade and industry events.
I received an inquiry from a reader of my blog and thought I would provide some thoughts, but would definitely welcome input: I am an unpaid CTO of a small startup. I have been working full time with two founders for about 10 months on full time basis. But they also don’t want to part with cash.
Cloud-based email delivery startup SendGrid , one of the companies out of the TechStars accelerator, said this week that it is accelerating hiring at the firm, including at the firm's Anaheim location. SendGrid is based in Boulder, Colorado.
"I'm looking for a partner / cofounder who can not only head the technical aspects and build a working model of the site, but someone with the connections to put a great development team together when we need it. Make sure you go through the 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot to Ask a Startup Founder. Find out who is good.
BlackLine Systems , the developer of financial close software headed by Therese Tucker, is planning a big hiring boost this, expecting to hire more than 50 more employees this year on top of an existing 75 people working at the company. Therese Tucker is the former CTO of SunGard Treasury Systems. READ MORE>>.
Los Angeles-based financial software developer BlackLine Systems said today that it has hired a new, Chief Technology Officer. According to the enterprise software company, it has named Alain Avakian as its CTO. READ MORE>>. blackline systems executive rentcom accounting software close financial alain avakian'
I received an inquiry from a reader of my blog and thought I would provide some thoughts, but would definitely welcome input: I am an unpaid CTO of a small startup. I have been working full time with two founders for about 10 months on full time basis. But they also don’t want to part with cash.
TechEmpower has been instrumental in developing chatbots like these, utilizing generative AI to sift through internal documents and user manuals, enabling them to provide precise answers to customer service questions. It also facilitates rapid prototyping, allowing for quicker iterations and thus shorter development cycles.
I’m seeing and hearing that it’s becoming tough finding good developers again, at least here in Los Angeles. On Friday, at the LA CTO Forum , I heard from a couple of CTOs having trouble finding good developers. I was wondering, what methods have you found to be successful in finding developers?
Goleta-based Transphorm , which develops high voltage, Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductors, has received $18.5M in a contract from the U.S. According to Transphorm, the Office of Naval Resaerch--part of the U.S. base contract with the company, which will go to establish a domestic source of Gallium Nitride epiwafers.
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.
San Diego-based eSUB Construction Software --fresh off a $12M funding round --says it has hired on a new Chief Technology Officer (CTO), to help it development its platform. The company says she has over 15 years of senior leadership experience.
Just saw a great post by Mark Geller - Developers wanted… in Los Angeles, U.S.A. Mark tells us: there is a lot of demand for developers right here in L.A. If you have solid web skills and a few years experience, either with a commercial company or running your own legit projects, there are dozens of companies in L.A.
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).
I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. And a big factor is how big is the Founder Developer Gap.
This is part of my Startup Advice series. Before I started my first company in 1999 I worked for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). You develop a cynicism that the future will be better. Ryan was the most talented technologist we had hired at BuildOnline. In my observation this seldom worked. I had to make a choice.
This is purely anecdotal, but it seems like a lot of companies are hiring technology talent here in Southern California. I’ve recently seen several tweets from software developmentcompanies looking for talent. And I’ve heard from several people looking for Startup Software Developers.
Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ). So why did Larry need to return?
Los Angeles-based advertising software developer SteelHouse is in major executive expansion mode, saying late Monday that it has named Boris Bronshteyn as its Chief Technology Officer, and David U. Innes, who was Chief Monetization Officer for Steelhouse, has been at the company for more than six years. Rovion and Yoyodyne.
Los Angeles-based electric vehicle developer Fisker Inc. --the According to Fisker, the new, downtown San Francisco location is designed to be a "focal point and development center" for the company's software and vehicle electronics, and is designed for employees to work flexibly between remote and office. READ MORE>>.
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.
Los Angeles-based Inktank , the developer of the open source, distributed storage software Ceph, is expanding its executive tem today, saying that it has hired James Duncan as its new CTO, Russell Kojima as VP Professional Services, and Debbie Moynihan as VP Marketing. READ MORE>>.
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. in Computer Science.
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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