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. Is it a sourcing question around whether you need a Startup CTO or Developer or both?

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

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

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. Experience and connections in your business area.

Equity 95

Equity Patents CTO Hire Startup 95

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2013

Slavin was previously a developer of real estate in the Los Angeles area, and according to the firm is a managing partner at private equity firm Napias Group.

Chief Technology Officer 215

Chief Technology Officer CitySearch Ticketmaster Santa Monica 215

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

Los Angeles-based Exym , which develops cloud-based EHR software used by outpatient behavioral clinics, has received an investment from private equity investor Alpine Investors. Terms of the deal were not announced. According to Exym, the transaction is with Alpine Investors V, VI, and VI-A, LP.

Funding 113

Funding Equity Los Angeles Software 113

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. Experience and connections in your business area.

Startup 174

Startup Equity Patents CTO Hire 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3% It never hurts to ask in a job interview what stock options are available, and don’t fall for the offer which promises to “work out the equity terms later.”

Equity 94

Equity Startup Pricing Marketing 94

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? Go to user groups. Refine your elevator pitch.

CTO Hire 211

CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

The funding came from private equity investor Primus Capital. Certona said the funding will go towards growing market share, product development, and expanding services and support. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Meyar Sheik; the company's co-founder and CTO is Geoffrey Hueter. Certona was founded in 2004.

Artificial Inteligence 100

Artificial Inteligence Funding San Diego Equity 100

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. Experience and connections in your business area.

Equity 62

Equity Startup Patents CTO Hire 62

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 8, 2019

The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court makes a number of allegations against Stefan Krause and Canoo, including that Christina Krause was paid less than other founding members and not given the co-founder designation or the equity stake that often comes with that title despite being a founding employee.

CTO Hire 198

CTO Hire Startup Los Angeles Design 198

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.

CTO Coach 241

CTO Coach Startup CTO Hire Template 241

socalTECH

MAY 10, 2012

Los Angeles-based online advertising firm Rubicon Project is significantly boosting its executive ranks today, saying that it has named a new CTO, General Counsel, and SVP of Product Management to the firm. READ MORE>>.

Ticketmaster 133

Ticketmaster Clearstone Yahoo Web 133

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

Social analytics and personalization platform GraphDive has closed $2 million in its first ever equity round from Crosslink Capital, Correlation Ventures, Plug & Play Tech Center, Start Capital and angel investors Pejman Nozad, Ullas Naik and Scott Banister. $2 2 million equity round. Power to harness the social data revolution.

Equity 65

Equity Social Media Google Tool 65

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 1, 2019

The new financing will give Relativity the cash to fully build its “Stargate” factory, a semi-autonomous, full-scale production facility that will house the company’s massive 3-D printers and produce its first rocket, the Terran 1.

Chief Technology Officer 168

Chief Technology Officer SpaceX Los Angeles Venture Capital 168

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. Like many product managers, my background is fairly eclectic. That's where I learned I enjoyed interacting with customers and working with development teams to build and launch products. Tell me a bit about your background. How did it help you?

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2022

CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3% It never hurts to ask in a job interview what stock options are available, and don’t fall for the offer which promises to “work out the equity terms later.”

Startup 137

Startup Equity Pricing Marketing 137

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). Building a product doesn’t get it distributed and sold.

Equity 91

Equity Startup CTO Hire CTO Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2011

CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3% It never hurts to ask in a job interview what stock options are available, and don’t accept an offer which promises to “work out the equity terms later.”

Equity 93

Equity Startup Pricing Marketing 93

SoCal CTO

MAY 27, 2010

You can follow the link above for more details, but the basic idea is that most startup founders have a pretty good understanding of the basics of what they want to do and a vision for the product. And there are all sorts of different kinds of technical people who might help with getting that product to happen.

CTO Hire 170

CTO Hire Develop Development Startup 170

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. Experience and connections in your business area.

Equity 104

Equity Patents Startup CTO Hire 104

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). Building a product doesn’t get it distributed and sold.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity CTO Hire 101

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

.&# Still, I’ll bet that functionally you divide areas of competence like sales & marketing, product, engineering, biz dev, etc. I usually encourage people to think about titles like, “Founder & CTO&# or “Founder & VP Marketing.&#. Dilute your cash, equity or both. and my favorite].

Startup 292

Startup CTO Hire Sales Email 292

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

His goal was to find a programmer who would come in as an early partner and work as an Equity-Only Developer. Do you know the relative effort to build your prototype or minimum viable product? At that point, you can't really just try to find someone to build it on the side, do equity only, etc. Ask a few CTO type people.

Guide 349

Guide Startup Mobile Framework 349

socalTECH

DECEMBER 7, 2016

We talked with Eli Aizenstat , the founder and CEO of Beatshare�and still a student--as well as President and longtime technology vet Barry Lieberman about the startup. Photo: Barry Lieberman, President and COO; Eli Aizenstat, Founder & CEO; and Rob Patrick, CTO). That funding was geared towards development of our product.

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels CTO Coach Startup Pasadena Angels 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I had just left Salesforce.com where I was VP, Products, after they had acquired my second startup. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2014

There are lots of products that might look for any mention of a product name or company name, and yes, we do that--but more importantly, we are also analyzing situations that arise. I was hired to head up strategy, marketing development, and product management. A good example of this, we can keep track of a supply chain.

Orange County 245

Orange County Startup News IBM 245

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

His goal was to find a programmer who would come in as an early partner and work as an Equity-Only Developer. Do you know the relative effort to build your prototype or minimum viable product? At that point, you can't really just try to find someone to build it on the side, do equity only, etc. Ask a few CTO type people.

Guide 296

Guide Startup Mobile Framework 296

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2015

CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3% It never hurts to ask in a job interview what stock options are available, and don’t fall for the offer which promises to “work out the equity terms later.”

Startup 102

Startup Equity Pricing Marketing 102

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

I spoke about the need of the CEO, CTO and head of Products to be in the same location. Convertible debt is a loan to the company that doesn’t typically get paid back but rather “converts&# into equity when you raise a larger round at a later date. Great exit. -

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

SoCal CTO

APRIL 8, 2010

Death By Competitive Analysis - Steve Blank , March 1, 2010 Trading emails with a startup CEO building an iPhone app, I asked him why potential customers would buy his product. How do you get press and the blogosphere talking about your product? You might be surprised why this is the case. In response he sent me a competitive analysis.

Startup 150

Startup Software Review Competition SoCal 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2017

CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3% It never hurts to ask in a job interview what stock options are available, and don’t fall for the offer which promises to “work out the equity terms later.”

Startup 56

Startup Equity Pricing Marketing 56

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 14, 2009

you can get to know Mark a bit more in my post Product Manager Entrepreneur Mark Geller ). First, early in the post, Mark mentions: The idea behind the meetup is to connect technology startups with prospective hires who may be interested to work for “alternative compensation”–e.g., reduced salary, partial equity, good experience, etc.

Software Development 150

Software Development Develop Development Software 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2013

CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3% It never hurts to ask in a job interview what stock options are available, and don’t fall for the offer which promises to “work out the equity terms later.”

Startup 89

Startup Equity Pricing Marketing 89

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

Before that, I was running product at Spotrunner. I''ve grown from driving part of the technology within the company, to driving all of the product development side, and also picking up product management and business development, around traffic acquisition and third party products. How big is YP?

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 223

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. He would have found somebody technical and inspired that individual to work for equity or deferred payment. He went out and found a developer and built a product.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

Before that, I was running product at Spotrunner. I''ve grown from driving part of the technology within the company, to driving all of the product development side, and also picking up product management and business development, around traffic acquisition and third party products. How big is YP.com?

Technical Review 211

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 211