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 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.

Los Angeles 179

Los Angeles Product Angel Startup 179

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2017

During the holiday season, our tradition over the last few years has been to post reflections on the past year and some predictions from Southern California's "movers and shakers" in the technology industry. In 2018 I hope we will see some maturing of what we refer to as a whole as "blockchain" but really meaning three separate things.

Press 193

Press Southern California Outsource Development Invest 193

socalTECH

MARCH 15, 2013

Nils Forsblom: TenFarms is a mobile app developer. We build mobile products, not just mobile applications, but products around them. Everyone from our team is from Finland, one is from Portugal, and we come and go between California and Finland. How did you end up here in Southern California?

Mobile 233

Mobile Southern California Startup Outsource Development 233

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

With some of the nation’s largest ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Southern California region is now fertile ground for businesses hoping to tackle what amounts to a trillion-dollar industry. Cui was brought on board to start developing the technology product — which Wen says is exactly like an Uber for trucking.

Startup 140

Startup Long Beach Los Angeles Southern California 140

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

During the holiday season, our tradition over the last few years has been to post reflections on the past year and some predictions for 2019 from Southern California's technology industry. Founders not only have to be serious product leaders and visionaries, but also strong people leaders.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 12, 2008

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 -- Partnering With Product Design Firms. A panel of expert practitioners will share their personal experiences using and providing contracted resources and answer your questions on this critical aspect of product development. See [link] (more).

Design 100

Design Product Outsource Development Resource 100

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 16, 2014

We recently sat down with Luc Berlin, co-founder of Miigle, a SoCal startup that has an aggressive global mission to bring entrepreneurs together from around the world. On the day of Miigle’s public launch, we chatted about developing his team, lessons learned, and how World Cup soccer fits into his vision. Yes that has changed.

SoCal 104

SoCal Southern California Startup Platform 104

socalTECH

AUGUST 4, 2015

Santa Barbara-based Ice Energy (www.ice-energy.com) has quietly been working away at developing energy storage systems to help smooth out the demand for energy on the nation's power grid. We have a lot in common in terms of those air conditioners and even the technology, but our product is different in an important way.

Southern California 100

Southern California Technical Review Demand Outsource Development 100

socalTECH

JULY 24, 2014

Southern California has a growing number of companies in the customer relationship management area, including a fairly new company in the area, Pipeliner CRM (www.pipelinersales.com). Nikolaus Kimla: We started to promote the product, and saw immediately that it was rocking around the world. Tell us about Pipeliner CRM?

Sales 229

Sales Startup Software Customer 229

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I keep my competitors as friends and those that didn’t choose me or my product as friends, too. They had a prominent NorCal investor already so I thought a SoCal lead would make sense – that I could help them in a more hands-on way. I was to tell noone until the contract was signed. Quite the opposite.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I keep my competitors as friends and those that didn’t choose me or my product as friends, too. They had a prominent NorCal investor already so I thought a SoCal lead would make sense – that I could help them in a more hands-on way. I was to tell noone until the contract was signed. Quite the opposite.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2009

We built a product that was really, really deep, meant for the business traveler, got rid of manual entry, allowed for cash transactions when you're out in the field, records receipt images from your Blackberry or iPhone type of camera. Let's build a product, which automates all these expense reports and exports to all those systems.

Web 2.0 100

Web 2.0 Startup SaaS Report 100

socalTECH

DECEMBER 3, 2012

It's surprising how often we run into rapidly growing companies that not many people have heard of, here in Southern California, but that's the case with El Segundo-based. New products we've launched include performance, onboarding, and backend HR functionality. In the past, we had been a one product company.

Software Review 243

Software Review SaaS Startup Technical Review 243

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 8, 2019

But, over the last ten years, consumers behavior has changed so drastically. People are all now using their mobile devices to find products and services. To their credit, they were able to carve out an investment so we could develop this. So, that's my story. That said, I'm a veteran technology guy here in SoCal.

Startup 113

Startup CitySearch Outsource Development Organization 113

SoCal Tech Calendar

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

If your company is positioned in a science, technology, or education field, you may be well poised for a government grant to validate your idea, develop your product, and grow your business. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program provides grants and, in some cases, contracts to qualifying small businesses.

Help 100

Help Outsource Development Research Education 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

My partner Greg Bettinelli is an avid sports fan who throughout his career has developed an expert understanding in online ticketing (at eBay has was a champion of the StubHub acquisition) and online marketing. I began playing Fantasy Football in 1993 before it was even a big thing.

Startup 150

Startup Outsource Development Mobile Southern California 150

SoCal CTO

JUNE 26, 2012

They didn't feel they had visibility into timelines and costs for development of their software. In three of the cases, the founder was finding that the software teams (1 in-house, 2 outsourced) were delivering relatively well in the short-run. My belief is that you shouldn't sign that contract.

Outsource Development 254

Outsource Development Software Development Develop Development 254

SoCal CTO

MAY 31, 2008

- beyond the obvious 'more great engineers' who do I invite to the party and when - when do I need legal, when do I bring in complementary skill sets, how do I decide between employees vs contractors, which roles need to be core and what can be outsourced. What is 'good enough'? when should I open the doors and let people in?

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Startup Outsource Los Angeles 150

socalTECH

OCTOBER 5, 2011

One of Southern California's biggest assets are the number of world class, local universities researching and developing technology and knowledge across a large number of disciplines. What our company is doing, is it is developing an online tool for people to find addiction treatment to meet their needs.

UCLA 204

UCLA Research Tech Coast Angels Offshore 204

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

I keep my competitors as friends and those that didn’t choose me or my product as friends, too. I had been competing to win a contract at Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK. They were looking for a collaboration tool to manage all of their large water development projects. Quite the opposite. I move on.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

It's a fairly straightforward system design, and is essentially what Urenco developed. In the New York Power Authority contract, the use was halfway between two substations. The roadmap for the product has us going back to New York to try to get our first install. Pentadyne had the product installed in New York Power.

Design 138

Design Training Southern California Outsource Development 138

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

While I do fill that role at the moment, I'm a little hesitant to refer to myself as a CTO as we still haven't launched a product, acquired a single user, or turned or a penny in profit. I've previously addressed the role of a CTO in early-stages in my post Startup CTO or Developer. How are we going to manage the product roadmap?

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

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.? You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. Lots of thoughts here.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

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.? You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. Lots of thoughts here.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - 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 ?

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

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.

Technical Review 338

Technical Review CTO Hire CTO Coach Software Review 338

SoCal Delicious

FEBRUARY 24, 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. So my advice to CTO / Founders?

CTO Coach 28

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Mentor 28

SoCal Delicious

MAY 6, 2012

He previously led business development for Affiliate Fuel, leading to its acquisition by Experian in 2005. Christopher Brereton is one of the founders and lead guru of PictureHealing , a company that develops community, awareness and support through photo sharing on iPhones. Sizhao “Zao” Yang – COO and Co-founder at BetterWorks.

Los Angeles 78

Los Angeles Entrepreneur Angel Fractional CTO 78

SoCal CTO

MARCH 4, 2010

And a big factor is how big is the Founder Developer Gap. There’s a funny phenomenon where often the best sounding technical people are often the worst developers. So, you can easily get sold that there’s little to no Gap. Unfortunately for a lot of founders, it’s hard to know the gap.

Technical Review 170

Technical Review Technical Advisors CTO Coach Startup 170

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. Product Friday: Monetizing Content is a Product Problem - This is going to be BIG. m the f%*kin’ boss.”. Same goes for television.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

SoCal Delicious

OCTOBER 8, 2012

Developments Blog. Gramercy Park Condo Goes Into Contract. In March of last year, Matt Jacobson, head of market development at Facebook, paid $10.9 In February, Googles YouTube signed a lease for about 40,000 square feet of production space in Playa Vista. Loading… Real Estate. » More. Real Estate.

Los Angeles 44

Los Angeles Software Review Technical Review Journal 44

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Some really great stuff in 2010 that aims to help startups around product, technology, business models, etc. 500 Hats , February 1, 2010 When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication? 500 Hats , February 1, 2010 When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication?

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378