SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Generally I can provide quite a bit of help in that brief time. And I try my best to point them to resources that can help them longer term. And I try my best to point them to resources that can help them longer term.

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CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

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.

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CTO Hire Startup Metrics eHarmony 175

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.

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Startup CTO Hire Technical Advisors Technical Review 231

SoCal CTO

APRIL 27, 2011

Several people have recently come to me to help them source and/or hire full-time CTOs for their startup having found me through my post that looks at: Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data. I have a great network of fellow CTOs, especially in the Los Angeles area. Get a Technology Advisor that can help.

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CTO Hire CTO Coach Technical Review Startup 225

TechEmpower

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

As part of the onboarding process, the app asks both job seekers and employers what they’re looking for - in a text box - while providing a few suggestions in a pop-up. This isn’t just our opinion - our startup metrics prove it! Even with the pop-up suggestions, we saw significant drop-off during user onboarding.

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Generative AI Artificial Inteligence TechEmpower Tips 295

SoCal CTO

MARCH 2, 2015

As the organizer of the LA CTO Forum , I get lots of inquiries by job seekers and people looking for CTO / VP Engineering talent. I’ve written quite a bit about aspects of this topic, especially from the perspective of startup founders looking for talent – you can find these in: Startup CTO.

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.

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CTO Hire Fractional VPE Startup Outsource Development 400

SoCal CTO

APRIL 25, 2017

Here is the most recent version of an all too common email inquiry from a startup founder. I'm working on a start up idea in the XXX market with my partner and we are currently looking for full stack developer to join us as a technical co-founder. I've written before about having an Initial Conversation with a Potential CTO.

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Email Startup Develop Development 150

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.

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Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

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. I have been working full time with two founders for about 10 months on full time basis. Of course, that doesn’t help here. What are the specifics of the 2%?

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CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 167

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.

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CTO Hire Startup Guide Examples 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

I recently wrote a post talking about how some VCs meddle in operating company decisions or some executive teams are too reliant on VCs to jump in and make hard calls for them. It’s harmful and hurtful to the startup and those that lead it. Allocation planning in product management in ingenious and helps a lot with CEO meddling.

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Startup Sales CTO Coach Course 150

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?

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Technical Review Development Team Review Software Review TechEmpower 260

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. What''s LawKick about? There are over 100 different questionnaires on the website.

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Help Startup CTO Hire Pricing 240

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. I have been working full time with two founders for about 10 months on full time basis. Of course, that doesn’t help here. What are the specifics of the 2%?

CTO 150

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 150

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.

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CTO Coach Startup Web Guide 211

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. After a decade on the job I’ve started to speak more openly when newer industry colleagues now ask me what I’ve learned. I don’t think this is the job.

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Venture Capital Capital CTO Coach Startup 150

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. Common Signals I''ve written previously about Symptoms of a Weak Development Team. Architecture All startups will make a lot of changes and scale the product as they move along.

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CTO Coach Develop Development Startup 219

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 8, 2013

I met fellow hustler Brian Curliss about 2 years ago at a Startup Weekend event that I was covering. It came as no surprise whatsoever when I found out that his new company MailLift was called up to the big leagues to join the 500 Startups accelerator. So what is so special about 500 Startups you ask?

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Startup CTO Coach Mentor Class 86

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've recently received several emails from people looking for a technical cofounder for their startup. " Typically, this requires quite a bit more information for me to be able to respond and provide real help. Of course, you will want to figure out a bit more about the specifics of what this developer needs to know vs. can learn.

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CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

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.

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CTO Coach Mentor Startup Technical Advisors 259

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. The conversation with Bob was about what the composition of advisors should look like. I wanted to capture some of the broader conversation.

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CTO Coach Startup CTO Hire Template 241

TechEmpower

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Here are some items to think about: Have you defined the functionality? Although noteworthy, working with large corporations differs remarkably from working with startups. Inquisitiveness: Prior to starting the project, you should receive an estimate of the work effort. Or do you need help evaluating software firms?

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Software Development Software Review Develop Development 295

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?

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Technical Advisors CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 332

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

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Their relationship with fans is 24/7 and, regardless of how you feel about the family, their popularity is a clear indicator of this new always-on connection between public figures and their fans. Creators take a 60 percent cut of all revenue with the remainder going to Binary Bubbles, the Los Angeles-based startup behind the service.

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Help Startup Activision Media 115

SoCal CTO

MAY 18, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups, Startup Development and being a Startup CTO. Here are a couple of the other collections: 16 Great Startup Posts from March , Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April. Thanks Steve!

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Startup SaaS Metrics Patents 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

Kraft, who co-founded Thrively with fellow startup veteran Girish Venkat, sat down to talk to us about Thrively, as it emerges out of beta. Kraft, who co-founded Thrively with fellow startup veteran Girish Venkat, sat down to talk to us about Thrively, as it emerges out of beta. Tell me about your new company?

Help 252

Help Idealab Activity Startup 252

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.

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CTO Coach Mentor Startup TechEmpower 180

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 17, 2011

I was just talking with someone who's new to Los Angeles and wanting to connect into the Los Angeles Startup Community. I told them that I had recently seen several posts/articles talking about how vibrant the community has become. So, I promised I would create this post to help point them in the right direction.

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Los Angeles Southern California Startup Angel 196

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.

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Framework Startup Java PHP 330

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

” But I went back to the office and talked with Stuart Lander & David Lapter and said, “no prizes for guessing which job Ethan’s going to take.” When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it. In the same year they won Business Insider’s Startup competition. Nice sweep!

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

SoCal CTO

MAY 17, 2011

I was just talking with someone who's new to Los Angeles and wanting to connect into the Los Angeles Startup Community. I told them that I had recently seen several posts/articles talking about how vibrant the community has become. So, I promised I would create this post to help point them in the right direction.

Los Angeles 188

Los Angeles Southern California Startup Angel 188

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. Come up with various ideas. Ask around about others. But let's just say you came up with Groupon as one of them.

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Startup Examples Acquisition Ideas 301

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.

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CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach Develop 205

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

We all like to think of startups as “non hierarchic&# organizations and to some extent that should be true. I see two common mistakes in companies (not just in startups, in fact). You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on.

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Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308