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. I have been working full time with two founders for about 10 months on full time basis. Please let this be a lesson to everyone – founders and CTOs.

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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? Go to user groups. Refine your elevator pitch.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ). and Microsoft had become.

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SoCal CTO

MAY 13, 2014

You can’t afford and don’t want to hire a full-time CTO or architect. For me, if I can help you within a couple hours Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions , I’m happy to do that and I don’t expect compensation or equity for that. Here’s the other aspect that both Tony and I preach: get help. That’s great advice.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

I told her that I believed America’s best asset – driven initially from software innovation mindset in the San Francisco Bay Area and media innovation driven from Los Angeles – was our willingness to accept failure. Of course the naysayers are out again. We hired outside experts. Of course not.

Technical Review 417

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

The truth is you really don’t know how your teammates or your bosses will perform in good times and bad. You hire people who look good on paper. So one of the surest signs you’ve hired a leader is the willingness of his or her former team to re-assemble. After 6 months – you know. You REALLY know.

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socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

The Internet doesn't work right, and is broken, and without a CDN, you can't do what you need to do if you're the CTO of a large website. Software-as-a-service companies write good software, and network companies build good networks, but rarely do you find both that do that well as the same time.

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Innovation and Geography I ran across a post in Read/Write Web - Does Location Matter in Web Innovation? that talked about a recent NY Times article When It Comes to Innovation, Geography Is Destiny. eHarmongy) as an acting CTO.

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socalTECH

MARCH 8, 2013

Now, Frost has set up shop buildling out a whole series of companies in the industry, and we caught up with him to learn more about the companies (Predixion Software, Cirro, Lineage, Kumo, etc.) We have our own small seed fund, which we trigger to fund that company and hire a team, a CEO and a CTO.

Incubator 208

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socalTECH

MAY 2, 2017

Andrew Bermudez , co-founder and CEO of Irvine-based Digsy (www.getdigsy.com) wasn't looking to build software to help commercial real estate brokers close more deals. He's the former CTO at Stocktwits, and he did the analysis and found out a lot of stuff. What is Digsy? My background is in commercial real estate.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

So yes, I want to hire somebody with really high IQ and EQ but not somebody who is more knowledgeable at your specific skill set than you are. Nah, of course not. or; “I don’t have enough money to hire my team yet. You have beautifully executed software. How can I hire a team without any money?

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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. Accounting?

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socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

The company provides SAT, ACT, and other similar test preparation courses and related software. We took the recent round, because Jake and I feel very passionately about our social missions, and, about four years ago, we started developing the software to create software. We're at $499, they are at $999.

Software Review 178

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

Of course, not all VCs are like that, and I've started some good relationships with them, but others are complete a**holes. My CIO had been ex-CIO at Herbalife, and was an EVP of Software for Disney. We hired the ex-CTO of Sears, and other senior executives out of Disney in software.

Venture Capital 100

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SoCal CTO

JUNE 26, 2012

I've done four Free CTO Consulting Sessions in the past month with startup founders who all had run into variations of the same problem. They didn't feel they had visibility into timelines and costs for development of their software. My belief is that you shouldn't sign that contract. They couldn't plan their business.

Outsource Development 254

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Good entrepreneurs can admit when their course of action was wrong and learn from it. I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. You’re sales person is getting blocked by the CTO who says she shouldn’t go above him but the CTO isn’t approving the deal.

Entrepreneur 414

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Alon Schwartz

DECEMBER 14, 2008

I’m being asked this by technologies, of course, but also from other, non-tech people like private investors, VCs, SEO experts, marketing guys, potential hires, partners, and any random guests that just happen to stop by and say hi to Jason (of course…). Thank God my 9 year old son hasn’t asked me that yet…. I rest my case.

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Alon Schwartz

DECEMBER 14, 2008

I’m being asked this by technologies, of course, but also from other, non-tech people like private investors, VCs, SEO experts, marketing guys, potential hires, partners, and any random guests that just happen to stop by and say hi to Jason (of course…). Thank God my 9 year old son hasn’t asked me that yet…. I rest my case.

LAMP 40

LAMP PHP Java CTO Hire 40

Alon Schwartz

DECEMBER 14, 2008

I’m being asked this by technologies, of course, but also from other, non-tech people like private investors, VCs, SEO experts, marketing guys, potential hires, partners, and any random guests that just happen to stop by and say hi to Jason (of course…). Thank God my 9 year old son hasn’t asked me that yet…. I rest my case.

PHP 40

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SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

they need a developer more than they need a CTO. Of course, you probably are going to provide more of a feature list. I’m a long way into development and I’m 90% done and we are having issues getting it completed See Symptoms of a Weak Development Team and Poor Software Developers - Pull the Plug Early.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Of course I have. 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. And of course you need a mature venture capital industry. That’s why more VCs ought to be spending time in Seattle.

Venture Capital 317

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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. Five Reasons You Haven’t Launched - Software By Rob , November 10, 2010 Photo by stevendepolo. It may be that all the doomsayers are right.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

StrongMail Systems (Digital Messsaging Infrastructure Software) Status: VC-backed (Sequoia Capital, Globespan and Evercore) Lesson: Trust your gut. Wireless & Voice Application Software) Exit: technology acquired Lesson: Timing is critical. First-time Sequoia CEO Insecurity 10. As CTO, it was my job to solve this problem.

Startup 40

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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. 8220; His three things (worth reading his whole post anyway) are set vision/strategy and communicate broadly, recruit/hire/retain top talent, and make sure there’s enough cash in the bank. It’s great advice.

Startup 191

Startup Product Technology Venture Capital 191