Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. So, the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder.

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Equity Patents CTO Hire Startup 99

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

I was asked by a reader how much equity he should give out to early employees and to service providers in a very early stage startup. Founders are likely not paid for a long time and have a sizeable equity percentage for early risk and having the concept. Same Value for Sweat Equity as Investment Dollars?

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Equity CTO Hire Startup Examples 391

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Of course, I provide part-time CTO services. So, I wanted to use this post to make it official - we are offering free startup CTO consulting sessions. I'm looking for free (equity only) development, should I contact you?

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CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Of course, I provide part-time CTO services. So, I wanted to use this post to make it official - we are offering free startup CTO consulting sessions. I'm looking for free (equity only) development, should I contact you?

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

SoCal CTO

MARCH 2, 2015

As the organizer of the LA CTO Forum , I get lots of inquiries by job seekers and people looking for CTO / VP Engineering talent. I’ve written quite a bit about aspects of this topic, especially from the perspective of startup founders looking for talent – you can find these in: Startup CTO.

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CTO Hire CTO Coach Los Angeles Angel 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder.

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Equity Patents CTO Hire Startup 95

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder.

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Startup Equity Patents CTO Hire 174

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? The good news is that likely is not what they want.

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CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

SoCal CTO

APRIL 25, 2017

We have been reading about the LA CTO Forum and we thought it would be a great place to find him/her. I've written before about having an Initial Conversation with a Potential CTO. Of course, this needs to be "elevator size" - 3 to 4 sentences. Please let me know if you can share this information with your members.

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Email Startup Develop Development 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder.

Equity 62

Equity Startup Patents CTO Hire 62

socalTECH

JANUARY 16, 2013

Lynda.com , the online video education provider which has been one of the region's most successful, bootstrapped companies--is no longer bootstrapped, after inking a massive, $103M growth equity round. Lynda.com offers up online education courses on things like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Microsoft Excel, AutoCAD, and much more.

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Funding Santa Barbara ReachLocal Southern California 178

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.

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CTO Coach Startup CTO Hire Template 241

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2014

You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology or money. The first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90 percent of the equity. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder.

Equity 104

Equity Patents Startup CTO Hire 104

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.

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Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

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. We're privately funded today, with some equity from Menlo Ventures and Steamboat Ventures. It's a mission critical IT service that website owners need. Those two areas are a bit of a moving target.

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CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Good entrepreneurs can admit when their course of action was wrong and learn from it. 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. They move the ball forward every day. They are quick to spot their mistakes and correct.

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Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

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). Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better. If you are strong enough to surround yourself with a strong team, that’s great progress toward success.

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Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

Of course, you should monitor social media such as Twitter, the social news sites, Facebook, etc. On the development side, my top go-to person is my KlickFu co-founder and CTO, Rod Morison , as well as the other developers who are contributing to the project. Tell Rod about the LA CTO Forum. He sounds like he'd be a good member.

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Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

they need a developer more than they need a CTO. What happens when you have a really good developer is that a gap exists where you may not ask the right questions to specify the right system, consider appropriate 3rd party technologies, etc. Of course, you probably are going to provide more of a feature list.

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Develop Development CTO Coach CTO Hire 280

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). Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better. If you are strong enough to surround yourself with a strong team, that’s great progress toward success.

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). Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better. If you are strong enough to surround yourself with a strong team, that’s great progress toward success.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

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). Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better. If you are strong enough to surround yourself with a strong team, that’s great progress toward success.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

Alon Schwartz

JANUARY 18, 2009

In the Q&A session someone asked about how to split equity between partners. Having the right partner can greatly help at challenging times like equity splits. If you’re the CEO and you’re looking for a partner CTO (sound familiar) you’re not just checking him out, he is checking you as well. What is a Partnership?

Startup 58

Startup Equity Tips Commerce 58

Alon Schwartz

JANUARY 18, 2009

In the Q&A session someone asked about how to split equity between partners. Having the right partner can greatly help at challenging times like equity splits. If you’re the CEO and you’re looking for a partner CTO (sound familiar) you’re not just checking him out, he is checking you as well. Like marriage.

Startup 56

Startup Equity Tips Commerce 56

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 20, 2014

’ OP: Of course we had to do a lot of research to figure out if this was a viable solution. It was great to relive a moment when I was in my dorm room at Harvard and watching Toy Story 3 on my laptop and seeing something that we built with no cash, just sweat equity. I wouldn’t have asked people to work for us on sweat equity.

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Startup Entertainment CTO Coach Screening 91

Alon Schwartz

JANUARY 18, 2009

In the Q&A session someone asked about how to split equity between partners. Having the right partner can greatly help at challenging times like equity splits. If you’re the CEO and you’re looking for a partner CTO (sound familiar) you’re not just checking him out, he is checking you as well. What is a Partnership?

Startup 40

Startup Equity Tips Commerce 40

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 12, 2010

He previously co-founded and served as Chief Technology Officer of IMVU. As an undergradudate, Leila authored background papers for the World Bank's Development Research Group and Ashoka on equity and social rights. Eric Ries is the author of the blog Startup Lessons Learned and the lean startup methodology.

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Twiistup Riot Games UCLA Media 40

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. How to Take Down Facebook -- Hint: It Ain't Twitter. The United States is now a debtor nation to China and that the bill is about to come due.

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Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Great content again in September that meets at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. previously explained that it usually requires some equity, but here is some more step by step practical advice. CompStudy 2008 Report on Equity and Cash Compensation at Technology Startups.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Of course I have. There’s you and your killer CTO co-founder. And of course you need a mature venture capital industry. Imagine if the ambassadors from Seattle organized a dinner with 8 entrepreneurs, the CTO of Amazon, the head of Xbox and the head of marketing for Starbucks. I’m in Seattle this week.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

One of the first tough decisions that startup founders have to make is how to allocate or split the equity among co-founders. Another common “failure to start” situation I see is one where the “idea person” insists that the idea is 90% of the value (and 90% of the equity). Who will be the CEO, CFO, and CTO?

Equity 91

Equity Startup CTO Hire CTO Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

One of the first tough decisions that startup founders have to make is how to allocate or split the equity among co-founders. Another common “failure to start” situation I see is one where the “idea person” insists that the idea is 90% of the value (and 90% of the equity). Who will be the CEO, CFO, and CTO?

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity CTO Hire 101