SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. I used an image from Roger Smith that describes the varying roles of a CTO as the company matures. Rather they should get a part-time Acting CTO who can help close the gap.

Fractional CTO 225

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach 225

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2016

It is a hugely compelling show because Zakaria covers world issues that will affect all of us in ways that are accessible and with frameworks for processing disparate information. But they also take on issues in science, technology and management. I have a board meeting coming up this week and I just reviewed the agenda.

Coach 150

Coach Technical Review Framework Google 150

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

When should you start a company? What company should you start? When should you join a company? Anyone who has worked in a large company further knows that timing a product launch or a new marketing strategy has more to do with internal politics than reading market forces. When should a VC invest?

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Xconomy

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

With public interest in artificial intelligence technologies on the rise, five of the world’s largest corporations—vying against each other in so many spheres—are banding together to support research on the ethical and societal issues raised by machines with increasingly human-like capabilities.

Artificial Inteligence 40

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Technical Advisors Research 40

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2011

Craig has recently uncloaked his stealth startup, BetterWorks (www.betterworks.com), focused on helping companies to manage and offer fringe benefits to their employees. What we're giving companies, is a platform to create, manage, and measure perks for all of their employees.

Startup 216

Startup Technical Review Software Review Platform 216

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 1, 2014

On one end, entrepreneurs who have (at minimum) built something customers love and are willing to pay for, and the other hand, investors who are looking for the very companies who fit that profile. Visions pan of endless cold emails and long days attending meetups and pitch nights while your operations/tech team grind away.

Invest 100

Invest Startup Technical Review Software Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

Most technology startups seem to be founded by three types of people: product managers, engineers or biz dev types (MBAs and the like). Very few of them are started, in my experience, by sales people and very few early stage companies really understand sales. They’re great at orchestrating your company to deliver product demos.

Startup 350

Startup Sales Framework Organization 350

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. We short-handed this marketing mix as “ the four P’s ” – product, price, promotion and place (distribution) – this was devised in 1960 and while a little bit dated is still a useful framework. It’s worth a quick read.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

What Porch is all about, and it''s a pretty fun problem, is helping people improve their home, and help improve what can be a painful experience of fixing, maintaining, and improving your largest asset. What inspired you to start the company? I actually started my first technology startup out of Stanford twelve years ago.

Startup 133

Startup Guide CTO Hire Organization 133

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

I hope I straddled people’s points of view well enough not to have offended anybody while adding a framework for how I think about the service. Babak Nivi is one of the most understated, helpful & important people on the entrepreneur / startup scene in NorCal. Most VCs fund companies with a degree of traction.

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

The company recently closed an impressive $19 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital to build out the engineering teams. For example, Waze tapped into its community during Hurricane Sandy to help the White House and FEMA identify which gas stations had power. Chartboost doesn’t take a cut.

Mobile 71

Mobile Technical Review Platform Startup 71

SoCal Delicious

JANUARY 9, 2014

Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle framework “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” Simon Sinek If your customers believe in your mission, then they’ll warm to you and listen to what you offer and how. This helps to add some constraints to the design process as everyone has a clear idea of what the product isn’t.

Startup 78

Startup Design Customer Custom 78

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

We caught up with co-founder and CEO Darrius Thompson--who was also a co-founder at DivX--to learn more about the startup, the saga behind how the company started, and the funding. Darrius Thompson: We came from a company called DivX, where we had built a business primarily around consumer software. What's the idea behind OpenCandy?

Software Review 100

Software Review Software Startup Examples 100

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

This leads to a set of questions: What is the role of a CTO in the early stages of a company, and does that role change later on as both the company and that individual matures? It specifically answers the first questions about role and how it changes as the company matures. What are the biggest areas of technical risk?

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

Visualization is so important to help yourself & others conceptualize ideas. This applies equally to VCs, startups & big company executives. I personally find music more distracting than helpful. I want to know how many people, their level of tech sophistication, their age and their interests.

Writing 356

Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

Nearly every company faces its crisis moments and only through the inspiration , focus and dedication of the leadership can you motivate teams to dig in deep and come out the other side stronger. I made an investment in a company with deep domain knowledge. ON LEADERSHIP. I argued for the opposite. Leaders are intelligent, for sure.

CTO Hire 363

CTO Hire Technical Review Startup Demand 363

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2020

This is counter to the traditional business premise of “control,” so many companies are still pushing back. Charlene Li, in her classic book “ Open Leadership ,” shows leaders how to tap into the power of the social technology revolution and use social media to be “open” while still maintaining control.

Framework 159

Framework Social Media Software Review Social Network 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2023

This is counter to the traditional business premise of “control,” so many companies are still pushing back. Charlene Li, in her classic book “ Open Leadership ,” shows leaders how to tap into the power of the social technology revolution and use social media to be “open” while still maintaining control.

Social Media 112

Social Media Media Software Review Social Network 112

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2018

This is counter to the traditional business premise of “control,” so many companies are still pushing back. Charlene Li, in her classic book “ Open Leadership ,” shows leaders how to tap into the power of the social technology revolution and use social media to be “open” while still maintaining control.

Software Review 92

Software Review Social Media Social Network Technical Review 92

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2016

This is counter to the traditional business premise of “control,” so many companies are still pushing back. Charlene Li, in her classic book “ Open Leadership ,” shows leaders how to tap into the power of the social technology revolution and use social media to be “open” while still maintaining control.

Software Review 90

Software Review Social Media Social Network Technical Review 90

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2013

This is counter to the traditional business premise of “control,” so many companies are still pushing back. Charlene Li, in her book “ Open Leadership ,” shows leaders how to tap into the power of the social technology revolution and use social media to be “open” while still maintaining control.

Social Media 102

Social Media Entrepreneur Software Review Social Network 102

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2012

This is counter to the traditional business premise of “control,” so many companies are still pushing back. Charlene Li, in her recent book “ Open Leadership ,” attempts to show leaders how to tap into the power of the social technology revolution and use social media to be “open” while still maintaining control.

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Social Network Software Review Social Media 97

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2010

This is counter to the traditional business premise of “control,” so many companies are still pushing back. Charlene Li, in her latest book “ Open Leadership ,” attempts to show leaders how to tap into the power of the social technology revolution and use social media to be “open” while still maintaining control.

Social Media 89

Social Media Startup Software Review Social Network 89