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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.
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.
What does it mean to be a CTO for a startup? Should a startup CTO spend their time programming? Exploring new technologies? The role of a CTO varies as the company matures. That’s why the CTO’s attention is on programming for the earliest stage. It’s understandable - a hands-on developer can produce a product.
Because more technology people probably read startup blogs I’m guessing this post will come under more scrutiny. The terms “CTO&# and “VP Engineering&# have such stigmas associated with what they are that I’m sure some people will feel uncomfortable with the definitions I’ve put forward. Experience.
I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (ChiefTechnologyOfficer) in very early stage companies. In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. That’s why Roger Smith puts the focus of the CTO on programming for the earliest stage.
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.
The problem is you don't yet have product/market fit, and until you do, you don't really know what to build. When product vision is truly clear, then it makes sense to execute it, and hiring follows. These companies are very early-stage and definitely have not shown product/market fit. They need to determine product/market fit.
Based on my posts Startup CTO or Developer and Acting CTO , Chris O’Meara wrote an interesting post Startup CTO: Could It Work? They tend to know where to find good help in terms of employees and consultants. If you think that's person you need, the question becomes "what else do you expect a CTO to contribute?
Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal , which provides online marketing products for small- and medium-sized businesses, reported today that it has named Jeff Hagins as ChiefTechnologyOfficer, and promoted Steven Power, former Australia CEO, to Executive Vice President of Global Sales Operations. Edwards, and Lockheed Martin.
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 trying to determine what technologies might apply that you should be evaluating. Or you want to know about whether you have the right Web Development Company.
I did a presentation recently for a graduate class from The Founder Institute around getting online/mobile products out the door. It was like having a bunch of mini- Free Startup CTOConsulting Sessions all in one room. Third party products are used appropriately. I've talked about this before in Startup CTO or Developer.
So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Most notably, he was the original CTO for eHarmony for its first four years making him partly responsible for more than 4% of the marriages every year. Tony has a Ph.D. He is a frequent speaker at trade and industry events.
Investors my tell you that, but what they can look at your product on paper and tell what it does and they will understand if it can be built. Leverage Existing Platforms or Third Party Products - you want to test your social network, grab Drupal and whip something together, or even just use a hosted service.
To bring that ability to name your own price on products, Los Angeles-based Greentoe (www.greentoe.com) recently launched, allowing consumers to name their own price to retailers of everything from electronics to baby products. Joe Marrapodi: GreenToe is a name your own price marketplace for products. What is Greentoe?
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. Delivery of code/product that clearly has not been tested. How strong is product management? Let''s consider a brief description of what a CTO needs to be able to do.
The Strategic Technical Advisor looks at the business and determines what makes sense from a technology perspective in the short-term and longer-terms. CTO Founder – Do they really still need a technical advisor? We’ve talked about this before in Startup CTO or Developer. Is this person a CTO or a developer?
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. I suggested that they should look for someone like me, but on the business end.
Steve Gilison worked as a market researcher and product manager at a startup where my company, TechEmpower , did the software / web development. I have about 11 years in the technology sector including roles doing market research, sales and product development. My focus has been marketing strategy and product development.
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?
I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. Actually, David’s taking even broader roles than I generally do as he’s CEO for at least one startup.
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 CTOConsulting 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.
they need a developer more than they need a CTO. What happens when you have a really good developer is that a gap exists where you may not ask the right questions to specify the right system, consider appropriate 3rd party technologies, etc. As a founder, you do need to be telling the developers what the business and product goals are.
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 went out and found a developer and built a product. This person was educated at the best US schools and had worked for a top-tier strategy consulting firm – one of the big 3.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 -- Managing Your Product/Service Lifecycle. Your product is just about to go out the door. But how do you ensure that your product or service is what the customer really wants, needs and will pay for? Youre reviewing your launch plan and task assignments. See [link] (more)
Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTOConsulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Major Phases / Major Features - What are the major features in the major phases for the product? Do you transact immediately or on delivery of some product or service? Are there specs?
" Today I had two conversations with early stage startups (see Free CTOConsulting ). " One was an enterprise software product. Would it take more work to sell the enterprise product than they could make on it? The other was a consumer play with possible viral growth. Neither felt like a slam dunk.
Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTOConsulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Major Phases / Major Features - What are the major features in the major phases for the product? Do you transact immediately or on delivery of some product or service? Are there specs?
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 FractionalCTO to help navigate the critical early stage of development.
Common revenue streams are consulting, training, support, customization, upgraded versions for corporate applications, etc. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?
I've done four Free CTOConsulting Sessions in the past month with startup founders who all had run into variations of the same problem. There are many different Agile Software Development methodologies, but just about all of them have a strategic level element that focuses on the larger picture of the product.
Do you know the relative effort to build your prototype or minimum viable product? Ask a few CTO type people. Or ask me Free Startup CTOConsulting Sessions. If you come up to a programmer and just ask them to help you build your product. It needs to be funded to be successful. Is this a Wordpress hack?
Other common scenarios that we’ve seen: Scaling and new markets: Your company and product are established, and now you’re scaling or going after new markets. Our goal is to build a decent understanding of your business, your product, and your technology. We then review the answers with the technical and product teams.
Vince: I’m an author, speaker and management consultant with a special expertise in online media sales. Today I lead a small consultancy that helps advertising supported develop and scale the revenue producing sides of their businesses. Our current focus is Actors and Actresses and we are moving into other verticals.
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?" Formerly, he was Managing Director of both Product Management and of Business Development at Los Angeles Times Interactive.
Ulrich Kranz, originally the company’s CTO, has since taken over the day-to-day operations of Canoo. Stern is listed as a director to UK incubator Pitch@Palace and as consultant for Celestial Limited. Much of the lawsuit focuses on Stefan Krause, who stepped away from the CEO role at Canoo in August for personal reasons.
Do you know the relative effort to build your prototype or minimum viable product? Ask a few CTO type people. Or ask me Free Startup CTOConsulting Sessions. If you come up to a programmer and just ask them to help you build your product. It needs to be funded to be successful. Is this a Wordpress hack?
The old way was difficult, time consuming, and often expensive; referrals, calling up lawyers, going through initial consultations. They''re actually initial consultations, ranging from divorce to DUI. We''ve worked out he bugs, and since then have hired a full time CTO and others. But, how do you start?
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. How did that happen?
They often make great team members such as head of products, CTO, head of sales, CFO, etc. And we’re lucky because they deliver many of the great products, services and content that we consume in our lives every day. Great companies are comprised of great individual point people or functional leaders.
I've had several Startup CTOConsulting sessions recently where it became apparent that the Founder needed help with the business and product as much or more than the technology. I suggested that they should look for someone like me, but on the business end.
You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll gauge people’s excitement level for the product and for various features. Startups that come to me and ask me to sign an NDA in order to get Free Startup CTOConsulting really are missing it. You’ll discover flaws and hopefully correct them.
You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll gauge people’s excitement level for the product and for various features. Startups that come to me and ask me to sign an NDA in order to get Free Startup CTOConsulting really are missing it. You’ll discover flaws and hopefully correct them.
We thought, we could put out a better product than Kaplan or Princeton Review, which would be more compelling, and also would tie in a strong social mission. Talk about what's different from what you offer from the many SAT/ACT/prep products and services out there already? Ramit Varma: We talk about it in two different ways.
Tony is currently Founder/CEO for Eventify, an LA-based startup creating a venue marketplace, and Visible Factors, an SEO consulting company. His firm works to infuse projects with the management, social and production assistance needed to break away from the pack. Founder’s Table, CEO, CTO, CIO, COO, and President, CallFire.
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