SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2013

I''m spending more of my time recently working with non-technical startup founders who are having challenges with their software/web/mobile development teams. Common Signals I''ve written previously about Symptoms of a Weak Development Team. Rogue developers with their own agenda. One of your better developers leaves.

CTO Coach 219

CTO Coach Develop Development Startup 219

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

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 are going for a reality check on your current situation - wondering if you have a Weak Development Team or a Startup Founder Developer Gap.

CTO Coach 211

CTO Coach Startup Web Guide 211

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. Please let this be a lesson to everyone – founders and CTOs. Of course, that doesn’t help here. Do they recognize any Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

CTO 167

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 167

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. Please let this be a lesson to everyone – founders and CTOs. Of course, that doesn’t help here. Do they recognize any Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

CTO 150

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 150

SoCal CTO

MAY 19, 2010

I’m seeing and hearing that it’s becoming tough finding good developers again, at least here in Los Angeles. On Friday, at the LA CTO Forum , I heard from a couple of CTOs having trouble finding good developers. I was wondering, what methods have you found to be successful in finding developers?

Develop 175

Develop Development TechEmpower Southern California 175

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 9, 2009

I just had an all-too common conversation with the founder of a startup who had spent more than a year working with a software development company who had produced a mess. The mess really comes from a developer who was willing to get started on a product that was not fully thought out. What's the User Interface Beyond the Web Site ?

Software Development 292

Software Development Develop Development Startup 292

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. Of course, it's way more complex than just these questions. It needs to be a conversation.

Develop 396

Develop Development Startup SEO 396

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

"I'm looking for a partner / cofounder who can not only head the technical aspects and build a working model of the site, but someone with the connections to put a great development team together when we need it. Make sure you go through the 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot to Ask a Startup Founder. Find out who is good.

CTO Hire 211

CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. Of course, it's way more complex than just these questions. It needs to be a conversation.

Develop 384

Develop Development Startup SEO 384

SoCal CTO

MARCH 16, 2010

I am hearing from my project management team a bit of distrust in the technical capacity of our web development team. I think we suffer because of the distance and culture but the project management team takes every late delivery or small bug as evidence that the development team may not be capable. Massive overtime.

Develop 179

Develop Development Course Software Development 179

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2013

I'm going to be looking at aspects like: Things to consider before building your MVP Features often overlooked when documenting an MVP for developers Understanding important metrics you want to measure Risks and challenges in developing an MVP. Have you Documented Your MVP for Your Developer s? Correct your course quickly.

CTO Coach 219

CTO Coach Metrics Framework Software Development 219

SoCal CTO

MAY 13, 2014

A little while ago, I suggested that Every Web/Mobile Startup Should Have a Technical Advisor. You can’t afford and don’t want to hire a full-time CTO or architect. While Bob’s post focuses on Technology Advisors and the Startup Founder Developer Gap , we also discussed advisors more broadly. That’s great advice.

CTO Coach 241

CTO Coach Startup CTO Hire Template 241

socalTECH

JANUARY 16, 2013

Lynda.com offers up online education courses on things like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Microsoft Excel, AutoCAD, and much more. Robison reports that the company now has over 400 employees, spread across seven building in a Carpinteria campus, in addition to a web development branch in Calabasas, and sales offices in the UK and Australia.

Funding 178

Funding Santa Barbara ReachLocal Southern California 178

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2009

Quality of Events Of course, the bigger issue with events is finding the ones where you will have a really good opportunity to network with interesting people. In his post, he mentions the following events / event organizers, and you should visit his post for a bit more on each of them.

Southern California 243

Southern California Los Angeles Technology Council Stirrers and Shakers 243

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? eHarmongy) as an acting CTO. Of course, thats probably even more true in Silicon Valley. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Social Media 150

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?

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2010

If you’re a Web-based startup, for example, show me how many unique visitors you think you can get in the beginning, and what you’re using for an estimated conversion rate (buyers to browsers). And it will be a consistent picture provided both to the team (CTO, COO) and to investors. Give me granularity.

Metrics 159

Metrics Search Engine Optimization Startup Ideas 159

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

The company--which is in the business of operating a content delivery network (CDN) to accelerate the delivery of web graphics, multimedia, applications, and more to end users-- recently disclosed it more than doubled its revenues in 2012, and has grown to over 230 employees--all due to a huge amount of demand for CDN services by its customers.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 15, 2009

Steve Gilison worked as a market researcher and product manager at a startup where my company, TechEmpower , did the software / web development. Of course, I immediately gave him the whole spiel on Visible Networking and Steve was totally game to make our networking visible. Of course, it's probably harder to find these folks.

Los Angeles 179

Los Angeles Product Angel Startup 179

SoCal CTO

MAY 22, 2012

Of course, given the size of this list and having kids, I really can't attend a lot of these. So, you may also want to go look at: Los Angeles Startup Events Here are some of the events and meetups that I've spoken at, attended or at least interest me. So, if you happen to read this and want to meet me, just reach out directly.

Los Angeles 198

Los Angeles Southern California Angel Enterprise Forum 198

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

Of course everything could be replicated if a massive juggernaut like Amazon or Google wanted to pour all of their resources into it but I’m talking about technology that is hard to replicate, takes years of know-how and once adopted is significantly valuable. Of course the media doesn’t do nuance well so this is an emotional topic.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

Because I knew that Ethan was on to a powerful idea and one in which he had developed huge competence and domain knowledge in. In industry this is known as “yield management” and of course it needs to exist. I asked him if he would consider raising $3m in stead and we would put up most of the funds.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 14, 2009

Cliff Allen is someone I've known for quite a few years and he's a go to person for me when I'm thinking about issues around marketing, sales, technology, startups and networking. A few years ago, my CTO spotted a need that local groups and organizations have in handling RSVPs and registrations for meetings and events. Hey, radio.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Networking Marketing Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2014

And I spoke with the CTO of another great company I used to be on the board of and enlisted his support in potentially being an advisor to one company. Of course I could go on and on. Let’s say your a junior developer, marketer, product manager, biz dev person at a startup or well-established technology company.

Networking 366

Networking Startup CTO Coach Email 366

SoCal CTO

JUNE 14, 2008

A very interesting topic, especially for those of us involved in developing for start-ups. At the CTO Group that I organize in Santa Monica, we've had lots of discussions around this. Most likely, a Level 2 platform's apps also call into the platform via a web services API to draw on data and services. It's funny.

Platform 150

Platform EC2 Java S3 150

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

That's where I learned I enjoyed interacting with customers and working with development teams to build and launch products. Fascinating that you are going against the trend of trying to make everything a web application. Of course, you should monitor social media such as Twitter, the social news sites, Facebook, etc.

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 31, 2011

We also had awesome group of mentors that included: David Waxman (Co-founder of PeoplePC, Spot Runner and Firefly Network), Paige Craig (CEO of BetterWorks ), Josh MacAdam (Co-founder/CTO at Ming.ly If Avesta sees someone drinking Coloft coffee (organic of course), he quickly asks if they’ve sold anything.

Los Angeles 73

Los Angeles Startup Angel Tech Coast Angels 73

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

By far the most popular post on this blog is 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot to Ask a Startup Founder. I find myself sending it to startup founders all the time – maybe just slightly less than Free Startup CTO Consulting. A developer should find out: What are the different types of users? What do they do?

Startup 150

Startup SEO CTO Coach Web 150

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 12, 2010

He previously co-founded and served as Chief Technology Officer of IMVU. Although Catalyst folded with the dot-com crash, Ries continued his entrepreneurial career as a Senior Software Engineer at There.com, leading efforts in agile software development and user-generated content. . He is a frequent public speaker.

Twiistup 40

Twiistup Riot Games UCLA Media 40

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

Another called Parker Harris, the co-founder and CTO. Dare I steer off the course from the tried-and-true PowerPoint ritual? Web service architecture that provides a content management platform for the Internet. In case VC’s haven’t figured this out yet, shit rolls downhill. Page 2: What’s unique about Koral.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Great content again in September that meets at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. Sean Murphy on the first dozen enterprise customers - Gabriel Weinberg , September 8, 2010 I recently did a Traction Book interview with Sean Murphy who runs a boutique cutomer development firm in Silicon Valley.

Startup 191

Startup Product Technology Venture Capital 191

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - 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 ? How to Take Down Facebook -- Hint: It Ain't Twitter. It may be that all the doomsayers are right.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Frank Addante

MAY 15, 2006

► February (1) Building and Developing an A++ Team ► 2008 (14) ► December (1) Develop a Culture Roadmap ► November (2) Green Week - Save the Environment and Your Cash Creating a Culture of Innovation: Cultural Values. Under Process, Over Deliver So, you need to develop a product? Build a SWAT team 3.

Advertising 40

Advertising Startup Chief Technology Officer Technical Review 40

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March There was some really great content in June. Running a business is not an easy job. And be generous.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

► February (1) Building and Developing an A++ Team ► 2008 (14) ► December (1) Develop a Culture Roadmap ► November (2) Green Week - Save the Environment and Your Cash Creating a Culture of Innovation: Cultural Values. Under Process, Over Deliver So, you need to develop a product? Build a SWAT team 3.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 30 Startup Posts in June 2010 Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March The following are the top items based on social signals. Not so bad.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217