Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

I believe that over capitalizing companies too early often favors the VC. In the late 90′s I saw a dangerous trend creeping into the startup world, which was that companies were suddenly raising huge amounts of money too early in their existence. Over funding often produces bad behavior in early-stage companies.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2012

While you may be able to offer a price & terms for your service and not ever negotiate (especially if you’re an Internet company that sells cheaply to small businesses over the web and without onsite support & service) – you’ll still likely have to negotiate on business development deals. Your IT Reviewer.

Development Team Review 293

Development Team Review Software Review Pricing Startup 293

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

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. Maybe you are wondering if you have a Weak Development Team ? Do you have a Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

CTO Hire 264

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 13, 2012

A couple of weeks ago, twelve companies moved into the new downtown San Diego, EvoNexus incubator--which is run by CommNexus. When companies come into our incubator, we take no equity, we take no stake in the company, it's completely free for the participant. That's through the generosity of the Irvine Company.

Incubator 212

Incubator San Diego Technical Review Development Team Review 212

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

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. Maybe you are wondering if you have a Weak Development Team ? Do you have a Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2010

But many CEO’s and management teams fail to set clear guidelines on what the company objectives are and make sure that everybody is driving toward the same goal. It’s actually quite hard to lay out an annual company strategy that is articulate and underpinned by facts. Similar with product features.

Startup 323

Startup Press Development Team Review SEM 323

InfoChachkie

MARCH 16, 2016

Car companies spend a significant amount of money on superficial design features, including the timbre of the sound emitted when a car door is shut. Even less time is spent on developing the aspects of a car that become evident long after the purchase is completed. A version of this article previously appeared Forbes.

SaaS 100

SaaS Startup Software Review Development Team Review 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

The company was founded by Bong Koh, a former EIR at Prism VentureWorks and venture capitalist at Advanced Technology Ventures; he also co-founded ibeatyou. We're taking our cue from other companies like Yelp, and their Elite Yelpers program. What's the story on how you started the company?

Startup 271

Startup CTO Coach Activity Software Review 271

socalTECH

JANUARY 25, 2016

Becka Klauber Richter is co-founder of the startup, and spoke to us about the company, which she co-founded with Kasey Edwards. What's your background, how did you start the company? Our company started as University Sitters, and we pivoted it to this new company, Helpr. What is Helpr?

Demand 100

Demand CTO Coach Screening CTO Hire 100

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 10, 2011

He is a great example of…building an enchanting company.”. That’s too bad ,” Steve told him, “ because I signed the inside, along with the other members of my development team. However, the danger with such opportunistic, short-term activities is that they derail the company from achieving its strategic goals.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Santa Barbara Entrepreneur 279

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

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 ?

CTO Hire 241

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Develop 241

InfoChachkie

MAY 19, 2011

As noted in parts I and II of this series, agreements with Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) can be alluring and potentially fatal. This series describes how entrepreneurs can craft company-changing agreements with BDCs, while avoiding Kiss of Death contract provisions. Unmitigated exclusivity can be the death knell of a small company.

Outsource Development 193

Outsource Development IP Technical Review Entrepreneur 193

Jason Nazar

JUNE 18, 2009

I know many of their founders and early employees, and one of the co-founders of Intermix (the parent company of MySpace) is an investor. Leverage a worldwide community to enable a perfect market for outsourcing activities like online research, writing, & content review. MySpace has lost the battle as the “place for friends”.

Development Team Review 76

Development Team Review Content Sites eHow 76

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

We have been using LinkedIn for both sourcing recruits and reviewing backgrounds for recruits. Its been great to zero in on very specific skillsets. The level of resumes we get through our LinkedIn networks is top notch. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach CTO Hire Southern California 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Way back in the early eighties, I was privileged to be part of the original IBM PC development team, led by Don Estridge. For example, even though we were leading an entrepreneurial effort within IBM, we found it a challenge to deal with the inbred mainframe culture, reverence for process, and accounting practices of a large company.

IBM 85

IBM IBM Entrepreneur Technical Review 85

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

I believe that it’s OK for young people to learn and try different roles, companies and geographies. Most of what I learned about operating startups I learned from the really tough years at my first company from 2001-2003. I learned how to do a pipeline review with sales people without getting bullshitted to.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Blogs weren’t popularized yet so it was an oddity for me to read the founder of a software company spewing out advice. But I loved reading them and so did my team. I asked him if he’d be willing to allow me to interview him for This Week in VC and we filmed it in the offices of Stack Overflow – his new company.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285