SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2012

" I realized that I've never captured topics that I've covered (I'm always willing to look at other topics), nor have I put up my speaker bio. So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Tony has a Ph.D.

CTO Hire 175

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TechEmpower

JULY 24, 2023

At TechEmpower, we frequently talk to startup founders, CEOs, product leaders, and other innovators about their next big tech initiative. Still, if you’re a business leader and your developers haven’t asked you these questions, look for a Fractional CTO to help navigate the critical early stage of development.

Develop 520

Develop Development Technical Review SEO 520

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2007

I generally am working as an acting CTO for about 3-4 start-ups or other companies at any one time. I also found this interesting graphic of the changing needs around the CTO role in different size/type companies that somewhat echoes my experience. Roger Smith ) This helps explain where I normally play.

Startup 231

Startup CTO Hire Technical Advisors Technical Review 231

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? Chris starts with a description of the person that pretty much every startup is looking for: Their primary characteristics are deep technical skills and a hacker mentality.

CTO Hire 150

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2010

I recently did a post for startups on understanding sales people. A few people have asked me to try and define the perfect startup organization chart. But I do have more insight into understanding your startup team. Often I’m asked by startup CEO’s about how to best build an engineering team.

CTO Hire 400

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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 going for a reality check on your current situation - wondering if you have a Weak Development Team or a Startup Founder Developer Gap.

CTO Coach 211

CTO Coach Startup Web Guide 211

SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2013

I''m spending more of my time recently working with non-technical startup founders who are having challenges with their software/web/mobile development teams. These are often the same things that cause a founder to reach out to me about helping their CTO, VP Engineering, tech team, off-shore development, etc.

CTO Coach 219

CTO Coach Develop Development Startup 219

TechEmpower

AUGUST 21, 2023

Keeping up with the competition: You’re a market leader in a fast-growing field. Newer, nimbler competitors keep introducing new features before your team can catch up. A technical review can help your development team adopt new processes and strategies to maximize their speed and efficiency. Are you ready?

Technical Review 260

Technical Review Development Team Review Software Review TechEmpower 260

socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2013

For this year's first article, we share the advice of Tony Karrer , Founder and CTO of TechEmpower , Founder and CTO of Aggregage and organizer of the LA CTO Forum and Startup Specialist Network , two local groups focused on startups. Then we discussed how they could go about finding this startup business advisor.

CTO Coach 180

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SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 10, 2012

It was like having a bunch of mini- Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions all in one room. This is exactly the kind of thing I'm doing as a Part-Time CTO or Technical Advisor for startups. I was very worried for several startup in the room. CTO Founder - Do they really still need a technical advisor?

Technical Advisors 332

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SoCal CTO

MAY 13, 2014

A large part of this conversation is what kinds of advisors startups should be looking for. A little while ago, I suggested that Every Web/Mobile Startup Should Have a Technical Advisor. We both felt that most startups are not taking a very systematic approach to defining with they need in terms of advisors.

CTO Coach 241

CTO Coach Startup CTO Hire Template 241

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

In the mean time, if you need some extra help, get some contractors to test out specific things. You may end up hiring these people eventually and you'll know more about them when you do. In other words, they come in asking for help with sourcing and hiring. The startup founder is definitely not ready to hire a CTO.

CTO Hire 205

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socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2014

But, how do you start? The old way was difficult, time consuming, and often expensive; referrals, calling up lawyers, going through initial consultations. We spoke with Michael Chasin, the company''s co-founder, about the startup. They''re actually initial consultations, ranging from divorce to DUI.

Help 240

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SoCal CTO

JUNE 13, 2011

We had an interesting presentation at the LA CTO Forum by the CTO of a startup who chose Groovy / Grails as the framework for their startup. t prompted a good discussion around how CTOs go about choosing the programming language and framework for their startup. They start with lots of other things.

Framework 330

Framework Startup Java PHP 330

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2021

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. In every startup, as well as in mature companies, there is no substitute for constantly maintaining a pipeline of alternatives. Don’t use alliances for core competencies.

Organization 132

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SoCal CTO

JANUARY 2, 2013

I've had several Startup CTO Consulting sessions recently where it became apparent that the Founder needed help with the business and product as much or more than the technology. Then we discussed how they could go about finding this startup business advisor. They may open doors to the next role.

CTO Coach 259

CTO Coach Mentor Startup Technical Advisors 259

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

The conversation centered around a founder who's key question is "Where Do I Find a Developer for My Startup?" 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. Ask for help.

Guide 349

Guide Startup Mobile Framework 349

socalTECH

MAY 28, 2013

We caught up with CEO and Co-founder Joe Marrapodi to hear more. You put your price into our gauge, which has the colors red, yellow, and green to help guide consumers in making the most appropriate offers. That gauge helps make sure the offers that consumers place are realistic, for example, not offering $200 for a $2000 Canon camera.

Pricing 273

Pricing Product Help Sales 273

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

The conversation centered around a founder who's key question is "Where Do I Find a Developer for My Startup?" 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. Ask for help.

Guide 296

Guide Startup Mobile Framework 296

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Still, if you've not heard these questions from a developer, they are not helping you as much as they should. SEO for Startups )? What are your key Startup Metrics ?

Develop 396

Develop Development Startup SEO 396

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. It is to out friend. Enjoyed this post? Disruptive. We get it! I Be specific.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Still, if you've not heard these questions from a developer, they are not helping you as much as they should. SEO for Startups )? What are your key Startup Metrics ?

Develop 384

Develop Development Startup SEO 384

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

" Today I had two conversations with early stage startups (see Free CTO Consulting ). Vision Synching in a Lean Startup The Fallacy of Customer Development Entrepreneurs, Lower Investors’ Risk by Validating your Start-up Company’s Business Proposition Lessons Learned: What is customer development?

Customer 227

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SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks? Lots of thoughts here.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks? Lots of thoughts here.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

SoCal CTO

MARCH 9, 2010

In my post, Technology Roles in Startups , I described some of the different ways I engage with startup companies such as CTO Founder , CTO , Part-Time CTO , Acting CTO , Consultant, Advisor and Advisory Board Member. Mark Suster - Should Your Startup Have an Advisory Board?

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Technical Review Technology CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2013

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. In every startup, as well as in mature companies, there is no substitute for constantly maintaining a pipeline of alternatives. Don’t use alliances for core competencies.

Acquisition 88

Acquisition CTO Hire Startup Outsource Development 88

socalTECH

AUGUST 5, 2013

Unlike those, however, one of the latest projects, ActiveReplay (www.activereplay.com) has some serious, experienced executives behind it, who have the experience in designing hardware devices--in the form of CEO Dr. Anatole Lokshin, who helped create the consumer GPS market as the CTO of Magellan Navigation. seconds, or 0.5

Startup 166

Startup Examples Design Product 166

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

After a decade on the job I’ve started to speak more openly when newer industry colleagues now ask me what I’ve learned. We then help surround founders with other talent who want to join important causes but don’t have the startup idea themselves. That’s why I often say The role of VC is “chief psychologist.”

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital CTO Coach Startup 150

SoCal CTO

MAY 15, 2009

Social networking sites and microblogs are used not only to build company brands, but to foster productivity; social media tools help build communities around the question, "What are you working on?" In 2005, Majid coauthored "Data Strategy" a book designed to help streamline information management within organizations.

Social Network 150

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socalTECH

MARCH 26, 2014

We caught up CEO and founder Dan Rodrigues to learn more. We also have a cloud-baesd, billing and practice management solutions, which enables them to manage all of their internal financial processes, and we also have solutions for billing and cloud-based outsourcing of back office tasks. What does Kareo do? How are you backed?

Startup 160

Startup El Segundo CTO Hire Outsource Development 160

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

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. In every startup, as well as in mature companies, there is no substitute for constantly maintaining a pipeline of alternatives. Don’t use alliances for core competencies.

CTO Hire 91

CTO Hire Startup Outsource Development Resource 91

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 14, 2009

Cliff Allen is someone I've known for quite a few years and he's a go to person for me when I'm thinking about issues around marketing, sales, technology, startups and networking. Lots of online marketing before that, but we had some great results when we were picked up by a national radio program. What keeps you up at night?

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Networking Marketing Startup 150

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 15, 2009

Steve Gilison worked as a market researcher and product manager at a startup where my company, TechEmpower , did the software / web development. I’m currently working with several startups, helping them launch new web businesses. What keeps you up at night? Or they need to be going into a scaling up mode.

Los Angeles 179

Los Angeles Product Angel Startup 179

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In So I was surprised at the sheer volumes of decisions that had to be made when I became a startup CEO. The technology team disagrees on direction and wants resolutions.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

SoCal CTO

MARCH 18, 2010

Vince: I’m an author, speaker and management consultant with a special expertise in online media sales. I started out as screenwriter, went into local television, ran ad sales in the west for AOL and joined Facebook in the companies very early days. With that as a start it rarely feels burdensome. What keeps you up at night?

Startup 225

Startup Los Angeles Social Network Twiistup 225

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2017

Andrew Bermudez , co-founder and CEO of Irvine-based Digsy (www.getdigsy.com) wasn't looking to build software to help commercial real estate brokers close more deals. He was just trying to collect more data for his startup on what was happening on real estate deals that the company had been referring to brokers.

Sales 145

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