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Initial Conversation with a CTO or Technical Advisor

SoCal CTO

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 have questions about the types of developers you need and even whether you need a Startup CTO or Developer or both. I’d prefer that you don’t make the same mistakes.

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Start-up Advisors

SoCal CTO

Andrew Warner from Mixergy posted - Before Looking for Funding, Get an Advisor. Of course, it's sometimes hard to find advisors. Like Christian Gammil (who I recommend as an advisor) working with entrepreneurs is something I really enjoy. eHarmony for start-up / advisor relationships? That's great advice.

Startup 150
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What Makes an Entrepreneur? Four Letters: JFDI

Both Sides of the Table

(In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Entrepreneurs make fast decisions and move forward knowing that at best 70% of their decisions are going to be right. This paralyzes most people.

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Announcing a Deal I’ve Wanted to Talk About for a Year

Both Sides of the Table

I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. And I had been telling my partners for a couple of years that I thought Ethan was one of the more talented entrepreneurs I had come across in San Francisco. In industry this is known as “yield management” and of course it needs to exist.

CTO Coach 359
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Ryan Blair, HashtagOne: From Gang Member, To Entrepreneur, To Anti-VC

socalTECH

I want to invest in entrepreneurs that have the capacity to be number one at whatever they are doing, and do it within our skill base, which is direct-to-consumer. So, now, as a VC, I swore I'd never treat entrepreneurs like those VCs treated me. I love entrepreneurs. What's the theme of your investments? I know all of that.

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Product Manager Entrepreneur Mark Geller

SoCal CTO

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. On the one hand, an entrepreneur should not be overly paranoid and should know the ropes that VCs and other professional investors generally will not sign NDAs to see the concept or a prototype--and even if they did, it would not provide much protection.

Product 150
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Here is How to Make Sense of Conflicting Startup Advice

Both Sides of the Table

Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. Of course triangulation is a mathematics term that is used in sailing and other activities to help you better navigate when you don’t have your bearings. What is a founder to do? Triangulate.

Startup 407