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Technical Advisors: Every Startup Needs One

TechEmpower

Why do this without the right technical advisor? Would you create contracts without an attorney? Just like attorneys, technical advisors can help navigate waters that many find murky. Actually, many startups need two kinds of technical advisors. This is especially important with outsourced development teams.

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Technical Advisors: Every Web/Mobile Startup Must Have One

SoCal CTO

I did a presentation recently for a graduate class from The Founder Institute around getting online/mobile products out the door. It was like having a bunch of mini- Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions all in one room. Third party products are used appropriately. There are two kinds of advisors that are commonly needed.

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Hiring Developers Before Product/Market Fit?

SoCal CTO

The problem is you don't yet have product/market fit, and until you do, you don't really know what to build. When product vision is truly clear, then it makes sense to execute it, and hiring follows. These companies are very early-stage and definitely have not shown product/market fit. They need to determine product/market fit.

CTO Hire 205
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Lead Developer to CTO at a Startup

SoCal CTO

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
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Startup CTO or Developer

SoCal CTO

I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. I used an image from Roger Smith that describes the varying roles of a CTO as the company matures.

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How To Scale Your Startup Far Beyond Organic Growth

Startup Professionals Musings

Every entrepreneur tries to maximize his startup growth by building and selling more product and services for the widest geographic area that he can support. Building through internal development, or organic growth, makes the most sense when you have a core set of skilled internal resources. Add basic partner contracts or alliances.

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Technology Roles in Startups

SoCal CTO

Background This post partly really came about as a result of a great conversation yesterday with David Croslin a former CTO at HP who recently conducted an interesting experiment. I am looking for one or two startups that I can work with on their road to success as a virtual C-level officer, board member, advisor or other relationship.