SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

I've posted quite a few things on the topics associated with being a Startup CTO. I've tried to collect them together here as a starting point for this topic. Here are some resources that come from other sources: Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering?

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 175

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

I've posted quite a few things on the topics associated with being a Startup CTO. I've tried to collect them together here as a starting point for this topic. Here are some resources that come from other sources: Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering?

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire CTO Coach Resource Startup 175

socalTECH

JANUARY 31, 2013

For our Insights and Opinions section today, we share an article by John Shiple , who provides technology consulting to CEOs, helps outline some of the key things startup (and other) CEOs ought to know in dealing with their CTO. Start at the top  with the CEO and CTO. It's also (More.). READ MORE>>.

Help 214

Help Startup Technology Companies 214

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

CTO Hire Startup Metrics eHarmony 175

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

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

Technical Advisors CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 332

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

CTO Hire Startup Guide Examples 150

SoCal CTO

MAY 14, 2012

Ben Kuo just posted on SoCalTech: Are the good times for startups back? At the event, the enthusiasm for startups was palpable. Certainly it feels like there's been a recent surge in Startup activity here in Los Angeles and as well nationally. It has gone from 2 or 3 a week about a year ago to more than 5 per week.

Los Angeles 254

Los Angeles Angel Startup Miramar 254

TechEmpower

AUGUST 14, 2023

Startup founders make decisions on a daily basis – significant decisions that will have lasting impact on their business. Actually, many startups need two kinds of technical advisors. CTO Founder – Do they really still need a technical advisor? We’ve talked about this before in Startup CTO or Developer.

Technical Review 260

Technical Review CTO Coach CTO Hire Software Review 260

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. Is there a lot of rework?

CTO Coach 219

CTO Coach Development Develop Startup 219

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. Is this a Wordpress hack?

Guide 349

Guide Startup Mobile Framework 349

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. Before I jump into the 28 questions, let me start with 14 questions that I will want to go through first so I know a bit more about what we are talking about. SEO for Startups )?

Development 396

Development Develop Startup SEO 396

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. Before I jump into the 28 questions, let me start with 14 questions that I will want to go through first so I know a bit more about what we are talking about. SEO for Startups )?

Development 384

Development Develop Startup SEO 384

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 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

MARCH 4, 2010

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. Later he posted about his experience in Challenges of Startups.

Technical Review 170

Technical Review Technical Advisors CTO Coach Startup 170

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. Connected Advisors?

CTO Coach 241

CTO Coach Startup CTO Hire Template 241

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

CTO Coach Mentor Startup TechEmpower 180

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

I promised to do this post as a follow-up to the session to provide additional links and information. The real reason to build an MVP is to do early tests of key Startup Metrics for the business. We end up using WordPress a lot as the marketing front-end of our web sites. It had a passionate group of 50 people attending.

Technical Review 338

Technical Review CTO Hire CTO Coach Software Review 338

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. Is this a Wordpress hack?

Guide 296

Guide Startup Mobile Framework 296

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

You may end up hiring these people eventually and you'll know more about them when you do. When I talk with early-stage companies, often the discussion starts with them asking me about Hiring a CTO for Your Startup , or Finding a Technical Cofounder for Your Startup or How to Find Programmers for Your Startup.

CTO Hire 205

CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach Development 205

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

So I promised that I would provide a follow-up after the session. This is that follow-up and hopefully it’s useful to people outside of the session as well. Challenges I started by asking the founders in the room to tell me some of the challenges they have working with developers. Have they considered everything?

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Development Develop CTO Coach CTO Hire 280

SoCal CTO

JUNE 26, 2012

I've done four Free CTO Consulting Sessions in the past month with startup founders who all had run into variations of the same problem. You are just setting yourself up for problems. Actually, you are setting yourself up to be in the situation of the two founders that had outsourced.

Outsource Development 254

Outsource Development Software Development Development Develop 254

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

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. Before I started my first company in 1999 I worked for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). So I’ve always had this in mind with me at startups. Ryan was junior and didn’t want to tell me but I was able to pick up on it by listening. I had to make a choice.

CTO Hire 322

CTO Hire Startup Resource Entrepreneur 322

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

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

Help Startup CTO Hire Pricing 240

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

Customer Custom CTO Coach Startup 227

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

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. They often make great team members such as head of products, CTO, head of sales, CFO, etc. A caller dialed in to ask us questions about his startup. I was recently on TWiST with Jason Calacanis. I had nothing to lose!

Entrepreneur 293

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital CTO Hire 293

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 Twiistup Social Network 225

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 8, 2019

Just weeks after Canoo took the wraps off of its electric vehicle , the Los Angeles-based startup and co-founder Stefan Krause has been accused of gender and marital discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, and wrongful termination in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. Stefan Krause filed for divorce from Christina Krause in July 2019.

CTO Hire 198

CTO Hire Startup Los Angeles Design 198

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

By far the most popular post on this blog is 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot to Ask a Startup Founder. While I’ve updated it a few times, it continues to get at important questions that startup founders need to be asking. It was originally written in 2011 and has had amazing staying power. What do they do? Is SEO important?

Startup 150

Startup SEO CTO Coach Web 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 5, 2007

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? .

Southern California 150

Southern California CTO Coach CTO Hire Social Media 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.

Development 520

Development Develop Technical Review SEO 520

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

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?

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Los Angeles Networking Marketing Startup 150