SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. Do you have a Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

million in a new round of financing from Peter Thiel, FF Angel , Siemer Ventures , 500 Startups , Andrej Henkler (former Bertelsmann executive), and Alexsis de Raadt-St. Jackson added, “FinTech has traditionally lagged behind the innovation that’s happening in other areas of enterprise software. 25 Years of Writing Code.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review Bertelsmann Technology 88

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. How did you start blogging? “My In 2004 / 2005 I was starting to get intrigued with user-generated content. was starting. The value of Pitch Decks; Brad’s personal preferences on deal presentation; and Brad’s practice of accepting cold approaches via email.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

InfoChachkie

JUNE 11, 2012

Although it may be comfortable to start a company with your friends, it is a mistake, unless your friend(s) happens to be ideally suited to their role in your venture. Bill Gates – “The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Education Entrepreneur 279

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

What is it to start up a company, and run it to the brink of shutdown�only to have it acquired and restarted immediately? That's the fascinating story behind Los Angeles-based Earbits (www.earbits.com), which offers up a mobile music streaming service focused on discovering both new and talent.

Software Review 100

Software Review Startup Metrics Content 100

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. We had several emails back and forth where he provided basic details on the concept. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? Was it a case of needing Homework?

CTO Hire 241

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Develop 241

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

I asked some of the same questions I ask in my Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions and then I get to a very common conversation: Me : Do you have specs? It's the same as when I've created financial models and then have it reviewed by a hard-core CFO, sophisticated investor or similar kind of expert. Founder : Ummm. what do you mean?

Develop 354

Develop Development Technical Review CTO Coach 354

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

Josh Kaplan and Dee Murthy, both founder and co-CEO of the Los Angeles–based company, started Ghost in 2021 after previously working together at Four Five Group, a men’s apparel business. Over the past decade, they saw the differences in relationships as brands began to start more online. Syrup Tech bags $6.3M

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

It is code word for “I’m not ready to invest for whatever reason … I need more proof.&#. Tell them about what you’re up to in your business, show them your product or prototype, tell them your strategy, talk about the deals you’re working on and seek feedback. At 3:15 here if you’re interested).

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital Guide Startup Technical Review 309

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

Mike Stern (wasn’t sure which one so leave a comment if it’s you): Q: “is it possible to sell your startup without venture investment if the company has big traction and a large user base?&# But most importantly I lectured founders that you can’t avoid the admin of setting up your ESOP. Do it early.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

socalTECH

OCTOBER 28, 2010

How do you take a business you started as your own personal web site, and turn it into an online powerhouse, completely bootstrapped, from the little town of Ojai, California--not exactly known as a technology town? Tell us the story about Lynda.com, and how it all started? So, that's how I got started teaching computer skills.

Startup 242

Startup Web Design Writing Web 242

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

I started with a Top 10 list for Nivi (at VentureHacks), but I couldn’t cram it into 10 so it became a Top 11 list. There’s one attribute (coming soon) that I need to have in order to write a check but I don’t believe is vital for success. OK, it’s not really my final part. version of their product was.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2011

We actually built that about a year and a half ago, and are bringing that back due to overwhelming demand. Jimmy Hendricks: We actually started two and a half years ago. So, we took that contest and crowdsourcing platform, and started ArtisticHub. It ended up becoming our breakout product. So we completely refocused.

Platform 263

Platform Training Software Review Advertising 263

socalTECH

MAY 11, 2010

We caught up with EcoMom CEO Jody Sherman , to learn more about the company. We have almost a thousand bloggers who are writing reviews about the products we offer, and we also review them from our own point of view, to help support parents decisions and learning about products in the real world.

Software Review 200

Software Review Commerce Startup Sites 200

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 23, 2010

And to give credit where it’s due (in addition to the content that Fred producers) a lot of the discussion works well because of the Disqus commenting platform. Fred talks about it here – he beat me to the punch because I always wanted to write about how awesome this is. Quora “Lite&#.

Blogging 301

Blogging SEO Startup Writing 301

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

In the startup world, the former happens when a VC makes a bad investment, and the latter occurs when they miss a great opportunity. Thus, while we maintain a healthy degree of optimism, we begin each funding discussion knowing that most nascent startups are not worthy of an investment, until we prove them otherwise. Unicornless.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

It’s unbelievable how often start up founders stifle their company from growing by not knowing how to effectively communicate their brand. In order to prepare for TechCrunch Disrupt 2012 I reviewed company bios via the official site and read taglines that said “cool” rather than what the company does. 1 Pre Planning.

Press 97

Press Startup Technical Review Email 97

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 28, 2012

The first-ever Silicon Beach Fest attracted more than 2,000 attendees from LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, New York, Toronto, and London to celebrate LA startups and entertainment with panels, parties, pitch fests, hackathon, and beach games: volleyball, basketball and surfing lessons in Santa Monica and Venice on June 21-23, 2012.

Hollywood 67

Hollywood Technical Review Startup Rustic Canyon 67

SoCal Delicious

AUGUST 31, 2010

Also, as any changes to each login will be handled by JanRain, you wont have to keep updating your authentication code if changes are made by the login provider. Creating Your Application Start by going to JanRain Engage and signing in. Then click "Get Started" and you can start deploying the widget.

Software Review 40

Software Review PHP Class Startup 40

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

This morning's interview is with San Diego-based Kadonk (www.kadonk.com), a startup which is creating project management tools that work with Microsoft Project. The key here is to provide visibility to everyone along the process--not just at the start, when you put it on the wall, or email the project plan to everyone.

Startup 100

Startup Software Review Technical Review Software 100

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2010

For our interview today, we caught up with Al Eisaian , CEO of Pasadena-based IconApps (www.iconapps.com), which is developing mobile applications for the iPhone market. We caught up with Al recently to hear about his latest startup. How did you end up in the mobile market from last running an enterprise software firm?

Mobile 168

Mobile .Net Pasadena Software Review 168

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

No one wakes up and says to themselves, “I need to buy that product I have never heard of before.” Affiliates invest the up-front marketing expenses required to attract customers. Some might be from banner ads and others may arise from an email campaign. . Unattributed – There is no such thing as organic customers.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. but: Something is Still Missing.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2015

BTW – if anybody at Twitter reads this you need to fix your “embed Tweet” code because as you’ll see from above it doesn’t properly embed when you have a quoted Tweet. **. I just write. Many start – I finish. I told her I need “20 minutes” to write a blog post. HSzvQK63th.

Blogging 150

Blogging Writing Email Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2010

Most early stage startups having monthly board meetings. It makes no sense to meet in August or December due to travel schedules of most investors. For the record, this is not a secret, coded messages to companies for which I am on the board! I ran board meetings as a startup CEO for more than 8 years. We’re busy.

Startup 301

Startup Venture Capital Software Review Email 301

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2009

Wordpress), video (YouTube), pictures (Flickr), review sites (Yelp) and collaborative content (Wikipedia). Facebook popularized the short-form “status update&# and this initially is called the “feed&# but over time starts to become known as the “ stream.&# Twitter then popularizes the idea of having only a stream (e.g.

Ideas 286

Ideas Advertising Google Technical Review 286

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

File this under both Startup Adivce and Sales & Marketing Advice. Oh, and Demo charges the startups $18,000. Too many startup execs place too much emphasis on the big stage launch. I’ve heard many startup CEO’s (and VCs!) It started socially. Robert’s article is worth reading.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m inspired by the enthusiasm of the young, emerging startup ecosystem that is here. As I gear up to give a keynote at the annual Seattle 2.0 awards dinner on Thursday night I started reflected on what it would take to “change the trajectory&# for Seattle or for any regional market, really.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

I never implied that startups are all great and job hoppers are all at fault. No rule is ever absolute no matter how it sounds when one writes a blog. Most of what I learned about operating startups I learned from the really tough years at my first company from 2001-2003. Yes, I know that many employers are bad.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

We had email, instant messaging, group calendars, discussion boards, etc. It was an online community like CompuServe and eventually started offering people dial-up access to the Internet for a monthly fee. They had a proprietary browser, their own search engine, their own content, chat rooms, email system, etc.

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Web 2.0 Startup 318

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Many people will write the history on why Ring became an enormously successful company and why it became a real-world unicorn in a world when many startups are anointed that merely on paper. It is an LA-based company that was recently acquired by Amazon, which you can read more about in this incredibly well-researched article.

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

So let’s start with resumes as the perfect metaphor and then expand. If the recruiting manager’s job consisted solely of reviewing your resume it would be an easy task. I would then have as many pages of analysis as required to show the detailes of my review. I review many products every week.

Slides 346

Slides Software Review Blogging Venture Capital 346

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Sometime around 2003/04 my technology team turned me on to “Spolsky on Software&# a periodic newsletter served up blog style from Joel Spolsky of FogCreek Software, a maker of bug-tracking software. After leaving Juno, he founded his own software company, Fog Creek Software. Defensibility in Software.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285