CTO Custom Outsource Outsource Development 
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?
SoCal CTO
APRIL 2, 2012
Hiring seems to be the preferred use of seed funds (by investors and founders), whereas I'd prefer a focus on customer acquisition. In many cases, during my Free Startup CTO Consulting Session with them, we discuss where they are in in the process. The startup founder is definitely not ready to hire a CTO. Far from it.
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Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 20, 2010
Because more technology people probably read startup blogs I’m guessing this post will come under more scrutiny. The terms “CTO&# and “VP Engineering&# have such stigmas associated with what they are that I’m sure some people will feel uncomfortable with the definitions I’ve put forward. Experience.
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. Investors and early customers were becoming worried about the ability of the founder to deliver.
Startup Professionals Musings
APRIL 17, 2022
The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Conflicting visions won’t work. Marty Zwilling.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 5, 2010
You attend five customer meetings together over a two-week period and after each meeting you replay the results in the office about what it meant. And that rep doesn’t just send an email to his boss – he has coffee with the head of customer service. He gossips with the office manager who tells 3 software developers.
Tech Zulu Event
NOVEMBER 26, 2012
At Silicon Beach Fest Hollywood 2012 Kevin Winston organized a panel called “How to Find and Hire a Developer”. Always have a developer do a test project before hiring them to make sure they deliver quality work. This means selling at least 5-10 customers in advance, before it is even built. Ask for is code samples.
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