socalTECH

MARCH 8, 2013

We now have seven companies, and have our own venture fund as well, and we'll be doing four or five for the next few years. For example, Cirro is a data federation engine, which links big data with corporate data in a very effective eway. Predixion is a great example of that. It's been great.

Incubator 208

Incubator Startup CTO Hire Ideas 208

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

For example. LPs (the people who invest in VC funds) want to know what “hot” deals you’re in. If you tried to build Instagram before the iPhone, for example, there was almost no way you could have seen their growth rate. In a pool of 25-30 investments in a VC fund the goal is to have 2-3 huge outliers.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Brad Feld hadn’t written his seminal “ term sheet series &# and The Funded hadn’t yet been created. NOTE: In the video I talked about how VC’s and entrepreneurs decide the total number of shares at the first major funding round and why it’s often a high number. Back then VentureHacks didn’t exist.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2017

For example, if they were working a deal, they would have to wait until it closed to get another deal. He's the former CTO at Stocktwits, and he did the analysis and found out a lot of stuff. How's the startup funded? What we've done a lot is really focused on hiring. Andrew Bermudez: It's kind of funny.

Sales 145

Sales Startup Email Tool 145

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

Running a new business starts with building a solid and credible business plan, working the investor funding process, and building an organization from nothing, with minimal resources. Sacrifice and time commitment. Who will be the CEO, CFO, and CTO? The next big challenge for a multi-partner startup is the allocation of roles.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity CTO Hire 101

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

What you will convey in your conversations What protections you will place on those communications For example, you might decide that portions of your concept will be controlled more closely (a secret algorithm). I might also be concerned about taking my idea directly to a large, well funded competitor who is know for innovation.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

What you will convey in your conversations What protections you will place on those communications For example, you might decide that portions of your concept will be controlled more closely (a secret algorithm). I might also be concerned about taking my idea directly to a large, well funded competitor who is know for innovation.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

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. A couple of quick stories / examples: 1. But “he didn’t have the budget to hire a developer until he had raised money!&#. Making Things Happen. He looked stunned.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

Running a new business starts with building a solid and credible business plan, working the investor funding process, and building an organization from nothing, with minimal resources. Sacrifice and time commitment. Who will be the CEO, CFO, and CTO? The next big challenge for a multi-partner startup is the allocation of roles.

Equity 91

Equity Startup CTO Hire CTO Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

Last week, Santa Monica-based Revolution Prep announced its first, institutional round of funding, worth $15M, from Kennet Partners. It was us, funding ourselves from credit cards, literally, to a company that is now on par with Kaplan and Princeton Review. How did you manage the growth you have, without outside funding?

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Every investor expects to see some traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. Show personal investment.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2014

I spent an hour on the phone working with Sam Rosen, the CEO of MakeSpace on a senior exec he is considering hiring. I will soon announce a few fundings (not yet closed, sorry) and I’m beginning to help them think about how to ramp up their engineering teams. It came from my weekend activities. But they must all start somewhere.

Networking 366

Networking Startup CTO Coach Email 366

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. And we are not even moving yet on the the next big release that I have to have to get my next round of funding. My belief is that you shouldn't sign that contract.

Outsource Development 254

Outsource Development Software Development Develop Development 254

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 16, 2014

For example, take someone who is developing a travel solution as a mobile application. How did you identify what you needed, and how did you come to hire the right people? Our co-founder and CTO, Josh Fester and I met each other online and within a month he moved from St Louis to LA. We’ve been working on Miigle ever since.

SoCal 104

SoCal Southern California Startup Platform 104

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. Want to know, for example, why Foursquare uses MongoDB to store check-in information? Call it facts for hire. Hiring The Right Candidate.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. They are: Fred Wilson: Lead Investors, Dipshit Companies, and Funding Every Entrepreneur. I've funded some myself. The Dry Run.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

. – Digital Messaging Infrastructure Company (incubated by Addante and Associates, LLC) Age: 25 - 29 (present) Time Period: 2002 - present My Role: Founder High Point: TBD Here is a summary of my experiences to-date with StrongMail: 1. Venture Capital Funding 7. First-time Sequoia CEO Insecurity 10. Relaxing 2.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 5, 2010

Those cultural normals are established through human connections: the night we all stayed late to get that release out the door, the day we celebrated our funding round or the day we landed our first big account. CEO, VP Products and CTO must all be in the physical location. If they’re not I won’t fund.

Technical Advisors 335

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Offshore Startup 335