SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2012

So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Most notably, he was the original CTO for eHarmony for its first four years making him partly responsible for more than 4% of the marriages every year. He ends by looking at how this might help startups in the room.

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire Startup Metrics eHarmony 175

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 trying to determine what technologies might apply that you should be evaluating. Helping you with your challenges is fun.

CTO Coach 211

CTO Coach Startup Web Guide 211

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

This is not only sad but incredibly frustrating, because it is so easy to see how a great technology can be developed and commercialized if only - if only the CTO hadn't been impulsive and insecure and brought on a business partner too early in the game. … And it’s not just inexperienced CTOs. Lack of confidence? Camaraderie?

CTO Hire 150

CTO Hire Startup Equity Sales 150

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.

CTO Hire 400

CTO Hire Fractional VPE Startup Outsource Development 400

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Based on my posts Startup CTO or Developer and Acting CTO , Chris O’Meara wrote an interesting post Startup CTO: Could It Work? They tend to know where to find good help in terms of employees and consultants. If you think that's person you need, the question becomes "what else do you expect a CTO to contribute?"

CTO Hire 150

CTO Hire Startup Guide Examples 150

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

In the mean time, if you need some extra help, get some contractors to test out specific things. When I talk with early-stage companies, often the discussion starts with them asking me about Hiring a CTO for Your Startup , or Finding a Technical Cofounder for Your Startup or How to Find Programmers for Your Startup. Far from it.

CTO Hire 205

CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach Develop 205

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

" Typically, this requires quite a bit more information for me to be able to respond and provide real help. Your technical advisor can likely help. You should definitely hit up the Startup Weekend events as well. They often can help a lot in navigating to expertise and to possible resources.

CTO Hire 211

CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

Founders vs. Early Employees To help with this discussion, let me start with a definition of "early employee." Jason Cohen in How to think about cash vs. equity compensation (definitely read the comments) provides similar kinds of formulas. I'll get to service providers in a later post.

Equity 391

Equity CTO Hire Startup Examples 391

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Eventually you need a VP of Product to handle your product roadmap, a CTO for engineering leadership and VPs of sales, marketing & biz dev. This is when your job function truly starts to match the definition of “leader” because that’s exactly what your role is. The “doers” in your organization.

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

Monday, November 9, 2009 -- New Manufacturing Technology for Clean Energy. Energy Leadership Lecture Series with Mark Pinto, Senior VP and CTO, Applied Materials. The overwhelming societal and market pull today for new solutions in the field of clean energy offers an exciting opportunity to build on a similar base of technology.

Technology 100

Technology Platform Help Marketing 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

At Upfront when we know we have a winning hand we prefer to put more capital to work, which both helps the entrepreneurs succeed and drives more aggregate financial returns for our LPs. It takes all types and helping people realize their best skills and interests is an incredibly important part of the job.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

The situation is pretty common it got us to riff a bit around how to get programmers to help him build out a proof-of-concept version for his startup. Ask a few CTO type people. Or ask me Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions. Ask for help. You should definitely hit up the Startup Weekend events as well.

Guide 349

Guide Startup Mobile Framework 349

SoCal Delicious

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Main February 23, 2010 Advice for CTO Founders: Dont Let Business Kill the Business Founding a technology company is an amazing thing. Too often, however, I have found CTO / Founders paired with business people who not only don't add value, but frequently detract from the value of the business.

CTO Coach 28

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Mentor 28

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Thursday, March 22, 2007 Discussion Creation Among Bloggers - LinkedIn, Blogging and Discussion Groups Ive been participating in a Yahoo Group that are users of LinkedIn and who are Bloggers: [link] Its an interesting group of folks from diverse backgrounds. Maybe this meme will help.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach CTO Hire Southern California 150

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

The situation is pretty common it got us to riff a bit around how to get programmers to help him build out a proof-of-concept version for his startup. Ask a few CTO type people. Or ask me Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions. Ask for help. You should definitely hit up the Startup Weekend events as well.

Guide 296

Guide Startup Mobile Framework 296

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

Startups that come to me and ask me to sign an NDA in order to get Free Startup CTO Consulting really are missing it. Definitely take a look at he suggests you balance the choices. Again, relying on StartupRoar this time looking at NDA for Startups , I found some good stuff that you should definitely go through in more detail.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

Startups that come to me and ask me to sign an NDA in order to get Free Startup CTO Consulting really are missing it. Definitely take a look at he suggests you balance the choices. Again, relying on StartupRoar this time looking at NDA for Startups , I found some good stuff that you should definitely go through in more detail.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

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.

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Plus, he told us a little bit about how he's helping to build a mini cluster of technology companies in the Silverlake area. We had to figure out what would help the other 90 percent build better and more interesting sites. We're definitely Los Angeles natives, but we got the opportunity to do TechStars.

Startup 242

Startup CTO Coach Blogging Social Media 242

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 13, 2009

I'm hoping you can help me figure out who I should be connecting with on this. How can I get more help setting up my blog? And while I always tell people to just dive in and do it (and mention that if they get stuck, just ask a 25 year old to help you), there are definitely a lot of people in the audience that need more hand holding.

Social Media 167

Social Media Los Angeles Media Angel 167

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2014

Even if you are looking in all the right places, it helps to know what you are looking for. In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO.

Software Review 107

Software Review Entrepreneur CTO Hire Outsource Development 107

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2011

For this morning's interview, we spoke with Scot Richardson , CEO of Los Angeles-based LaughStub (www.laughstub.com), which develops software which helps comedy clubs and others manage ticket sales, online marketing, and customer relationship management. How did you get into the technology business?

Ticketmaster 140

Ticketmaster CTO Hire Tech Coast Angels Social Media 140

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

Not only is the volume going up, but more people are accessing the internet, which adds complexity across the networks, whether it's via a PC connection at your office, through your iPad as you're roaming, or your iPhone. That's something we're definitely going to consider and look at for the longer term, but we have no specific timeline.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

The most common ones I see and salute are CEO, CFO, and CTO. A few other credible ones would include Chairman of the Board (COB), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales). Chief Diversity Officer. Chief Information Officer.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Funding Cloud Computing CIO 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Even if you are looking in all the right places, it helps to know what you are looking for. In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO.

Software Review 103

Software Review Equity CTO Hire Outsource Development 103

SoCal CTO

JUNE 15, 2011

The purpose of Branchout is helping people to network their way to jobs. Instead, I want to look at how they've integrated themselves with Facebook and particularly how they engage users to help viral spread. and as part of completing your profile, it helps you spread the message around Branchout.

Examples 331

Examples Startup Course Networking 331

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 25, 2007

I read the first three pieces of information and was trying to think of how I could help him. I went from being frustrated that I wasn't helping to pretty helpful based on this list. Work Your Network Once you have your one pager ready, I'd definitely use LinkedIn to see who I can already find. How do you create the list?

Networking 183

Networking Help Startup Blogging 183

SoCal CTO

JUNE 15, 2011

The purpose of Branchout is helping people to network their way to jobs. Instead, I want to look at how they've integrated themselves with Facebook and particularly how they engage users to help viral spread. and as part of completing your profile, it helps you spread the message around Branchout.

Examples 323

Examples Startup Course Networking 323

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

On the SEO side of things, I'll definitely want to get your feedback on Browse My Stuff. How did it help you? FI and Adeo have already been helpful making introductions to several of the leading early-stage investors for casual gaming companies. I'll be interested to see what it turns into. For me, it's a matter of degree.

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

CallFire today extended its position as a leading provider of text message and voice apps that help organizations grow, with the launch of a definitive next-generation platform capable of scaling to meet the exploding global demand for advanced cloud telephony features, services and capacity.

SaaS 68

SaaS Platform CTO Hire Class 68

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2013

The most common ones I see and salute are CEO, CFO, and CTO. A few other credible ones would include Chairman of the Board (COB), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales). Chief Diversity Officer. Chief Information Officer.

Startup 97

Startup Invest CTO Hire Cloud Computing 97

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

It's definitely for people meeting contacts--people who have hundreds, if not thousands of contacts, and just need a way to prioritize those contacts, set an important level, and set those keywords, and follow up interval. Tyler Koblasa: It was because I couldn't find a good tool to help me follow up with important contacts.

Startup 145

Startup Social Network Tool Santa Monica 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2011

Even if you are looking in all the right places, it helps to know what you are looking for. In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO.

Software Review 96

Software Review CTO Hire Startup Outsource Development 96

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2010

When added to my volume of Facebook messages, LinkedIn requests, blog comments and Tweets my head is definitely below water. Colin Kelley, the CTO of RingRevenue , left a comment in my last post about the need to “ mask interrupts &# in order to get work done. So I often try to stay off of email during the day.

Product 280

Product Startup Email Technical Review 280

SoCal CTO

MARCH 30, 2010

I would agree that the primary goal for most social networking sites today is to help produce deeper relationships and build new online communities. But the 24x7, 60M person cocktail party definitely changes the questions and problems. I want to find people who can help me with ideas around the business model for my startup idea.

Social Media 179

Social Media Media Social Network Networking 179

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

But my definition of the word is much broader. That leverage technology or drive change. Stuart Lander , who was the President & COO is now helping run Internships.com. Ryan Lissack is the CTO of Maker Studios. I think we should encourage an entire generation to think about building startups.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Goal Setting and Making Plans There’s a lot of content that already exists around the basics of goal setting, i.e., SMART goals: Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely However, it’s far easier to teach someone about these than it is to help them create the goals themselves. Remember what it’s like when you set your own SMART goals.

Satisfaction 167

Satisfaction Examples Course Technical Review 167