SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

I received an inquiry from a reader of my blog and thought I would provide some thoughts, but would definitely welcome input: I am an unpaid CTO of a small startup. Please let this be a lesson to everyone – founders and CTOs. Find a lawyer and someone who does CTO searches for VC backed companies in your area.

CTO 167

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 167

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. But the reality is that I engage with about 5 new startups each year which means that I end up working with less than 5% of the startups where I provide these free consulting sessions.

CTO Hire 264

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

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. During Stabilization, often the focus is transitioning to a full-time CTO.

Startup 231

Startup CTO Hire Technical Advisors Technical Review 231

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. But the reality is that I engage with about 5 new startups each year which means that I end up working with less than 5% of the startups where I provide these free consulting sessions.

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

I received an inquiry from a reader of my blog and thought I would provide some thoughts, but would definitely welcome input: I am an unpaid CTO of a small startup. Please let this be a lesson to everyone – founders and CTOs. Find a lawyer and someone who does CTO searches for VC backed companies in your area.

CTO 150

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 150

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. Wireframes?

Develop 520

Develop Development Technical Review SEO 520

socalTECH

DECEMBER 13, 2022

Santa Barbara-based Beni, a startup which lets users find and buy secondhand apparel and accessories, said this morning that it has raised $5M in funding. According to the company, the funding was spit between a seed round of $4M, and earlier pre-seed and seed funding.

Software 113

Software Seed Funding Santa Barbara Startup 113

SoCal CTO

APRIL 18, 2012

Todd Gitlin of Safire Partners - a go to resource here in LA for recruiting C-level positions at startups - was nice enough to compile some data again this year (see last year's Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data ). Or they are looking at Hiring a CTO and want to see what salary and equity ranges look like.

CTO Hire 294

CTO Hire Equity Demand Resource 294

socalTECH

MAY 14, 2019

Santa Barbara-based Curtail , a new cybersecurity startup which recently landed $3.25M in funding, said this morning that it has named two VPs. According to the startup, Deborah Scanlon will serve as vice president of strategic sales, and Nigel Quinnin will take on the role of vice president of development at the company.

Funding 133

Funding Chief Technology Officer Santa Barbara Seed Funding 133

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

Todd Gitlin of Safire Partners was nice enough to compile some data on CTO Equity and Compensation at Venture Backed Companies for the LA CTO Forum and present last year. Todd is a go to resource for people looking for talent in startups. It is interesting to see the salaries of CTOs of pre-Revenue even pre-Launch companies.

CTO Hire 273

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Company 273

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ?

CTO Hire 241

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Develop 241

socalTECH

DECEMBER 15, 2021

Los Angeles-based Papaya, a fintech startup developing a mobile bill payment application, says it has raised $50M in a Series B funding. The funding was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, and also included Sequoia Capital, Acrew Capital, 01 Advisors, Mucker Capital, Fika Ventures, F-Prime, and Sound Ventures.

Mobile 113

Mobile Chief Technology Officer Idealab Los Angeles 113

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. … Mark Suster has similar advice in Hiring at a Startup? Camaraderie?

CTO Hire 150

CTO Hire Startup Equity Sales 150

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

LA saw its first big enterprise exit in recent memory with the recent acquisition of Signal Sciences for $775 million, and less than a month later a hometown startup, Britive has raised $5.4 million from LA’s own venture fund, Upfront Ventures and a clutch of security experts.

Los Angeles 308

Los Angeles Chief Technology Officer Culver City Angel 308

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

Responding to Elizabeth Warren’s call to regulate and break up some of the nation’s largest technology companies, the venture capitalists that invest in technology companies are advising the presidential hopeful to move slowly and not break anything. — Balaji S. Srinivasan (@balajis) March 8, 2019. ” .

Technical Review 144

Technical Review Startup Chief Technology Officer Social Media 144

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

San Diego-based Stemson Therapeutics , a startup working on therapies to cure hair loss, has raised $7.5M in a seed funding round. The funding came from Allergan Aethetics and Fortunis Capital. According to the company, the new funding will go to advance development of its therapeutic solution to cure hair loss.

Chief Technology Officer 124

Chief Technology Officer Seed Funding San Diego Resource 124

socalTECH

JULY 27, 2016

The The Stage Fund , a investment and acquisition firm focused on acquiring turnaround companies, has tapped a longtime Southern California entrepreneur, Dan Tamkin , as a new Managing Partner in Los Angeles. According to the fund, Tamkin will be setting up a West Coast office for the fund, which is based in Denver, Colorado.

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles Chief Technology Officer Funding Angel 100

socalTECH

MARCH 24, 2011

Venice-based CitizenGlobal , a startup working on crowd-sourced video content, has landed the inventor of the web wiki as Chief Technology Officer. in a stealth funding last August. The news was first uncovered by The Oregonian , a Portland paper, which noticed Cunningham had departed AboutUs, a Portland wiki firm.

Chief Technology Officer 153

Chief Technology Officer Venice Web News 153

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. Because I’ve asked more than 100 VCs similar questions I start to notice patterns in thinking.

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

socalTECH

AUGUST 26, 2021

Orange County-based fintech startup Happy Money, which operates a service to help consumers better manage their money and pay off credit card debt, says it has named Jeff Winner as the company's Interim CEO. He has been at Happy Money since early 2020, recently serving as Chief Operating Officer.

Orange County 113

Orange County Chief Technology Officer Funding Help 113

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

I was asked by a reader how much equity he should give out to early employees and to service providers in a very early stage startup. Founders vs. Early Employees To help with this discussion, let me start with a definition of "early employee." the better the startup will be. Risk Premium on Equity Compensation?

Equity 391

Equity CTO Hire Startup Examples 391

SoCal CTO

MAY 19, 2008

Andrew Warner from Mixergy posted - Before Looking for Funding, Get an Advisor. He recommends that early stage companies get input from people who know the funding process, know the vertical, etc. On the flip side, as a person who regularly advises early stage start-ups, I often have a hard time finding interesting start-ups.

Startup 150

Startup Mixergy eHarmony Course 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've recently received several emails from people looking for a technical cofounder for their startup. Make sure you go through the 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot to Ask a Startup Founder. You should definitely hit up the Startup Weekend events as well. Here's an example of that kind of email.

CTO Hire 211

CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.

Startup 174

Startup Equity Patents CTO Hire 174

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Los Angeles-based startup Emotive, which develops conversational text messaging software, said this morning that it has raised $50M in its Series B funding round. The funding was led by CRV, and also included Mucker Capital, TenOneTen Ventures, plus new investors, Stripes and Vulcan Capital.

Chief Technology Officer 113

Chief Technology Officer SpaceX Commerce Los Angeles 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Irvine-based Bitvore , the big data, artificial intelligence, and data analytics startup, has upped its latest funding round to $14.2M, as part of what appears to be an ongoing $17.75M funding effort. The company's President, Jeff Curie, was also an executive at Access360, IBM, and SupplyFrame.

Artificial Inteligence 170

Artificial Inteligence Tech Coast Angels Funding IBM 170

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 9, 2022

The funding, a Series C, will be used to continue expanding Boulevard’s product and engineering teams and to build out more tools targeting an ever-wider set of users in the bigger wellness and beauty sector (those product additions are typically big — it most recently added a whole new payments feature). Focusing on the U.S.

Help 195

Help Startup UCLA Tool 195

socalTECH

JANUARY 16, 2013

According to Eric Robison, the firm's CEO, the funding round will go towards increasing the firm's global reach and expanding content. Lynda.com offers up online education courses on things like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Microsoft Excel, AutoCAD, and much more. Meritech Capital also participated in the funding.

Funding 178

Funding Santa Barbara ReachLocal Southern California 178

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2022

Wouldn’t you like to be one of the lucky people who joined Google and Facebook when these were startups, and now be a multi-millionaire or better? So people ask me “How many shares should I ask for or expect when I join a startup today?” Thus, options don’t “pay the mortgage” today, so to speak. 7% Product Manager,2 -.3%

Startup 137

Startup Equity Pricing Marketing 137

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. Outgrowing your stack: Your tech stack was just right for your startup. Due diligence prep: You’re coming up on a funding round or looking at a potential exit.

Technical Review 260

Technical Review Development Team Review Software Review TechEmpower 260

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 23, 2021

Gates’ call is being met by startups and public companies hailing from everywhere from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, London to Los Angeles, and Berkeley to… um… Chicago. These products don’t get at the full potential for cellular technology according to Daan Luining, Meatable’s chief technology officer.

Chief Technology Officer 261

Chief Technology Officer Technical Review Software Review Product 261

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2016

Santa Monica-based SPACES , a new virtual reality startup, said today that it has raised $3M in a funding round from Comcast Ventures, Boost VC, Canyon Creek Capital, Colopl VR Fund, GREE Inc., Kai Huang, The Venture Reality Fund, the Sinovation Fund, Youku Global Media Fund and CRCM VC.

Santa Monica 113

Santa Monica Startup Venture Capital Funding 113

TechCrunch LA

JULY 3, 2018

Postie , a new Los Angeles-based startup, has a vision for the future of advertising and marketing — and it’s direct mail. The company was founded by Dave Fink and Jonathan Neddenriep, two former principals at the startup studio and early stage investor, Science. They aren’t the only ones. Postie has raised $3.5

Dollar Shave Club 232

Dollar Shave Club Chief Technology Officer Advertising Los Angeles 232

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

One of the recommendations I make all the time to startup founders, is to find other founders who have tackled similar problems as yours and talk to them about how they solved these problems. My suggestion to both of them is that they should talk to founders (or maybe early employees) who have launched startups with similar characteristics.

Startup 301

Startup Examples Acquisition Ideas 301

socalTECH

DECEMBER 19, 2017

San Diego-based Luna DNA , a new genomic information startup based on the Blockchain protocol, and led by veterans of Illumina, sas it has raised $2M in a seed funding round. According to Luna DNA, the funding came from individual investors and former executives from DNA sequencing equipment developer Illumina. READ MORE>>.

Seed Funding 113

Seed Funding Startup San Diego Knowledge Base 113

socalTECH

OCTOBER 25, 2016

Pasadena-based Embodied , a new startup developer "affordable personal robots", has raised funding from Intel Capital. Size of the funding was not announced. A recent regulatory filing from Embodied suggests the funding round was worth around $3.79M. READ MORE>>.

Funding 100

Funding Southern California Pasadena Research 100

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 12, 2022

providing freshly packaged salads, heat-and-eat prepared meals and vegan overnight oats, raised $7 million in funding as it goes after the $34 billion fresh prepared foods market. Nestlé acquires healthy meal startup Freshly for up to $1.5B. Positive Food Co., On days when we did the ‘Positive Popups,’ people loved it.

Invest 175

Invest Los Angeles Startup Funding 175