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

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

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2012

It always has great, fresh content from a wide variety of industry professionals.

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire Newsletter Content Sites 175

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

” Bill Gross, who is one of the Godfathers of the Internet, once told me, “ If you don’t design a product that is 10x better than the competition then you’ll never build anything truly big or amazing.” ” That’s what we’ve set out to build at MakeSpace. 10x the experience.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire Startup 380

socalTECH

JUNE 9, 2014

The third piece of our business, is we''ve developed the infrastructure, technology, and methodology to discover content, and put it into our own, salesforce like system, which allows our researchers to pick out videos, track down the content creators, and do all of the contracting through the system.

Media 235

Media Content Startup IP 235

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

Because I am true to the hiring practices I preach, I wanted a strong exec who would “ punch above their weightclass ” by taking a job they hadn’t yet done but would hugely aspire to and thus work harder to out perform. In the same year they won Business Insider’s Startup competition. Nice sweep!

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2014

You fill out the short questionnaire, lawyers submit their price quotes, and they get hired. We''ve worked out he bugs, and since then have hired a full time CTO and others. The hard part, is getting in front of those people at the right time. There are over 100 different questionnaires on the website.

Help 240

Help Startup CTO Hire Pricing 240

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

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. Feels a real passion and love for their role.

Software Review 154

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 154

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

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. You’ll need to hire and retain talen to grow your company. It was accept the terms or go into bankruptcy so we took the money. The VC assumes you’ll have an option pool.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

He listed all of the product releases that were up coming, the customers that were in the pipeline and where he saw his competition moving. Your highest priority right now is hiring the 1 or 2 people that are going to join your company and make a difference. There’s you and your killer CTO co-founder.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

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. In Rob’s spare time he always seems to be going to a boxing class or some other competitive, physical activity.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

socalTECH

OCTOBER 10, 2013

We''ll mostly be doing enterprise sales here, but also looking at the technology and design front, hiring better talent, taking design to a new level than maybe what we are in China. It''s also a dog-eat-dog world over there with the competition. Our CTO is mainland Chinese, but was educated here. Getting the talent is an issue.

Southern California 170

Southern California Startup SoCal CTO Hire 170

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. Startups that come to me and ask me to sign an NDA in order to get Free Startup CTO Consulting really are missing it. The Top Five Reasons Entrepreneurs Should Learn About IP Law What Can a Well Drafted Contract Do For Your Company?

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

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

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. Startups that come to me and ask me to sign an NDA in order to get Free Startup CTO Consulting really are missing it. The Top Five Reasons Entrepreneurs Should Learn About IP Law What Can a Well Drafted Contract Do For Your Company?

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

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

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

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

At CallWave, Colin was CTO, Jason was CFO and I was in charge of product marketing and customer acquisition. Who do you view as your biggest competition? We’re always hiring great people. I think these personal traits are what reunited us; even more so than our vision for RingRevenue. You’re right.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

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

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2014

We''re looking for lighting bolts in time which are important. Whether that''s for competitive analysis or market analysis, our product is basically able to monitor--on a very large scale--things that are important to your particular company. I was hired to head up strategy, marketing development, and product management.

Orange County 245

Orange County Startup News IBM 245

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

It might not be problems in geometry, it might be because students can't add fractions in algebra. So, we give basic instruction and then signal teachers on where to better focus their classroom time. We also have a director of curriculum and CTO, which as enlarged the user experience on the technical team.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

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. Feels a real passion and love for their role.

Software Review 88

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 88

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

It’s the exact same phenomenon in sales when you’re in a competitive RFP and 5 firms are pitching. It’s the MOST important thing you need to do in fund raising — create a million excuses of why you need a little bit more time and have more stuff to show them. By the end the buyer forgets why they loved your presentation.

Funding 238

Funding Venture Capital Startup Course 238

socalTECH

JULY 23, 2009

Therese is the former CTO at SunGard Treasury Systems, and has a wealth of experience in the financial software market. I had actually retired from SunGard as CTO before starting BlackLine. How much competition is there in this space with people like Oracle, SAP, etc? I've always worked on financial systems.

Startup 124

Startup Software Review CTO Hire Oracle 124

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). It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.” Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

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). It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.” Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

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). It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.” Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

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

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). It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.” Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 25, 2008

We were over 2x up on this round, and we also had a bunch of individual investors who wanted to put in--people who had invested in our competition a few years ago. It's a great time for that, because there's lots of talent out there. We were oversubscribed, and had a stack of term sheets.

Startup 113

Startup CTO Hire Resource Venture Capital 113

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

Frank Addante

JANUARY 23, 2007

Bringing in Steady engineers too early could result in a less competitive product, bringing them in too late could result in instability. Ive hired some of my best people straight out of college, taxi cab drivers and have even stolen coffee makers from Starbucks. Steady engineers are likely to sacrifice innovation for quality.

Outsource Development 40

Outsource Development Develop Development Product 40

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

We initially hired him as our in-house recruiter. Tim did such a great job of hiring the best, brightest people so quickly that our company infrastructure wasn’t keeping up. Our IT group was not able to support all of the new people we hired. As CTO, it was my job to solve this problem. Tim was my right arm at L90.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40

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. Every time I see my graduate students try to teach for the first time, it’s usually so painful I bite my lip. The Dry Run.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2021

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. Use external sourcing to fill in the non-critical gaps.

Organization 132

Organization CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 132

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. Competing To Win Deals - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , November 7, 2010 The venture capital business is highly competitive. You got it.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

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. Use external sourcing to fill in the non-critical gaps.

CTO Hire 91

CTO Hire Startup Outsource Development Resource 91