Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2010

Because more technology people probably read startup blogs I’m guessing this post will come under more scrutiny. 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.

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SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

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. Now I feel like I was part of the team to build the company but equity valuation offered to me is not fair. But I’m assuming you want to remain at the company.

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SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2012

Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO 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. Tony has been bridging that gap for 15 years with companies of all shapes and sizes.

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

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. … Lack of confidence? Camaraderie? Perhaps all of the above.

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SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Are you a non-technical startup founder who’s about to go have a conversation with a Chief Technical Officer (CTO) or Technical advisory type person? Maybe you are trying to determine what technologies might apply that you should be evaluating. Or you want to know about whether you have the right Web Development Company.

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SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

And that should be the focus of the founders -- to find the special fit that will make your company take off. When I talk with early-stage companies, often the discussion starts with them asking me about Hiring a CTO for Your Startup , or Finding a Technical Cofounder for Your Startup or How to Find Programmers for Your Startup.

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SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

Early Employees To help with this discussion, let me start with a definition of "early employee." " Steve Blank divides the individuals associated with startups as: Founders Early Employees (Employees # 1-25) Later Employees (Employees # 26-125) The reality is that the definition of founder and employee is not clear.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've talked about that in lots of other posts, so you can visit some of these to help determine what you specifically need: Startup CTO or Developer Startup Software Development – Do Your Homework Before You Develop Anything Key ingredients in the equation are: How complex is the system? Do you have dollars to pay for development?

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” 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 challenge is to recognize and recruit that ideal partner match early with minimal cost and risk.

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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. In the early days the CEO is the jack-of-all-trades, doer-of-all, famously the “chief janitor” or coffee maker. How hard could it be?

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SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

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. Definitely take a look at he suggests you balance the choices. Definitely read the whole thing. How Stealthy Should You Be? " Ummm.

Startup 211

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SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

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. Definitely take a look at he suggests you balance the choices. Definitely read the whole thing. How Stealthy Should You Be? " Ummm.

Startup 198

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SoCal Delicious

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Home About Press IA Capital Partners Archives After 17 years in M&A, Derivatives and Trading, Im spending my time with young entrepreneurs in and around financial technology and digital media. Main February 23, 2010 Advice for CTO Founders: Dont Let Business Kill the Business Founding a technology company is an amazing thing.

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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.

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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. in Computer Science.

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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. However, it definitely has served as a hub.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

The first check I wrote was just over 10 years ago into a company called Invoca who just announced a new $56 million in funding led by Scott Hilleboe at HIG Growth Partners. Ownership Matters At Upfront we focus our energy on fewer companies where we take meaningful ownership and we continue to invest throughout the lifecycle of the company.

Venture Capital 223

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SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 9, 2009

I just had an all-too common conversation with the founder of a startup who had spent more than a year working with a software development company who had produced a mess. If you are finding that your system definition is changing as the result of this conversation, then it means that more homework is needed.

Software Development 292

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2019

In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” 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 challenge is to recognize and recruit that ideal partner match early with minimal cost and risk.

Software Review 88

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 88

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

Ask a few CTO type people. Or ask me Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions. Some places you can find programmers locally: In your company or other companies. You should definitely hit up the Startup Weekend events as well. It needs to be funded to be successful. What do you do if you don't know the size?

Guide 349

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SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

Ask a few CTO type people. Or ask me Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions. Some places you can find programmers locally: In your company or other companies. You should definitely hit up the Startup Weekend events as well. It needs to be funded to be successful. What do you do if you don't know the size?

Guide 296

Guide Startup Mobile Framework 296

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2011

Their fees are too high to put on a $15 ticket, and you don't need to pay for the technology to handle 30,000 people simultaneously trying to get assigned seats. How did the company start? How did you get into the technology business? Scot Richardson: I'm definitely the business side of the co-founders.

Ticketmaster 140

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Plus, he told us a little bit about how he's helping to build a mini cluster of technology companies in the Silverlake area. Is the idea to have multiple projects as part of the company? We're definitely Los Angeles natives, but we got the opportunity to do TechStars. It's actually uncommon to have a female CTO.

Startup 242

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SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 17, 2007

b) history of success; and c) abundance of start-up companies (so if one fails there is another to jump on). Ben actually didn't address the issue raised by Will that there is definitely a shortage of really good developers, engineers, etc. willing to go work for startup companies. There are definitely lots of events going on.

Southern California 150

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socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

The company--which is in the business of operating a content delivery network (CDN) to accelerate the delivery of web graphics, multimedia, applications, and more to end users-- recently disclosed it more than doubled its revenues in 2012, and has grown to over 230 employees--all due to a huge amount of demand for CDN services by its customers.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

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.” The company hasn’t really reached ‘ escape velocity ‘ which means it must not be working.”

Startup 390

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2014

In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Even if you are looking in all the right places, it helps to know what you are looking for.

Software Review 107

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SoCal CTO

JANUARY 31, 2011

This comes up a lot and if you are thinking about one of these kinds of startups, definitely take a look at Matching Algorithm. When I talk to the founders of one of these “eHarmony of” companies, one of the hardest problems is how to predict and test the concept in the early days – before you have scale.

eHarmony 204

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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.

Startup 191

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SoCal CTO

JANUARY 31, 2011

This comes up a lot and if you are thinking about one of these kinds of startups, definitely take a look at Matching Algorithm. When I talk to the founders of one of these “eHarmony of” companies, one of the hardest problems is how to predict and test the concept in the early days – before you have scale.

eHarmony 196

eHarmony Marketing Startup Zag 196

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 14, 2009

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. I’ll give you equity in the company.” That said, it definitely is difficult to find really good startup software developers. who would love to talk with you.

Software Development 150

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

The difference between Mingly and other companies, is we're event driven--it's all driven from a to-do list, essentially action-based. It also generated search alerts--like a Google alert, for mentions of that person's name, company, and also keywords. I started my first company in 1996, when I was in high school.

Startup 145

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SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March There was some really great content in June. Companies have a fairly predictable life cycle.

Startup 175

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Even if you are looking in all the right places, it helps to know what you are looking for.

Software Review 103

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SoCal CTO

JUNE 14, 2008

The topic is: Betting Your Company On An Internet Platform? At the CTO Group that I organize in Santa Monica, we've had lots of discussions around this. Availability, stability, support His definition of open. VRM - his company - goal is to provide a Level 4 platform. By definition need redundancy.

Platform 150

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” 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 challenge is to recognize and recruit that ideal partner match early with minimal cost and risk.

Software Review 56

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SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

My first job out of school was at one of the early bioinformatics companies in Silicon Valley, working as the head of technical services. On the SEO side of things, I'll definitely want to get your feedback on Browse My Stuff. Your last two positions Google Photos and United Online were really big companies.

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