SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2007

My role is to work as part of the team to (1) understand related technologies and technical opportunities, (2) understand and help drive alignment around a vision of where the business should go, and (3) mesh those together to help make disciplined, proactive technical decisions. Then, we come to an agreement on terms.

Startup

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Here are some resources that come from other sources: Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? And you may also want to review Startup Development. I've tried to collect them together here as a starting point for this topic. Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do?

CTO Hire

socalTECH

JUNE 18, 2014

Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies said Tuesday that it has named Anna Segobia Masters as its new Vice President of Human Resources, and Deputy General Counsel. Masters replaces current VP Administration and Human Resources Robyn E. McGowan, who is stepping down due to health reasons. READ MORE>>.

Technical Review

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

Leading edge technology software and manufacturing require constant course corrections and iterative restarts. In any case, before you select a specific outsourcing or contract alternative, there is no substitute for doing thorough due diligence. Don’t count on contracts and non-disclosure agreements to save you.

Software Review

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

It is often the fortuitous mixture of new technologies, customer awareness and then acceptance of the technology and then the slow adoption into our daily lives that leads to markets exploding. Facebook, Google) to a large market opportunity then you had better have enough resources to compete. And let’s be clear.

Development Team Review

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. What are the biggest areas of technical risk? What technology research is required? What technologies will we use? What specific technical innovations might make sense?

Fractional CTO

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Periodically we do portfolio reviews to evaluate whether we have enough diversified risk across the fund. One such theme was “water conservation” and we morphed it into a broader theme of agriculture technology or “ag tech” for short. We look at stage, geography and of course sector. 6SensorLabs.

Funding

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

Tuesday, October 2, 2012 -- Clean Technology Council Workshop. Can new water recycling technology prevent a water crisis?Carlos Reyes, PE, Director of Resource Conservation, Las Virgenes Municipal Water District reviews new technology that can create a reliable water supply to arid regions.

Technology Council

SoCal CTO

APRIL 27, 2011

I'd suggest: Startup CTO or Developer , Startup Founder Developer Gap , Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO. Interviewing them is also tough, especially if you are not yourself technical. Get a Technology Advisor that can help. This happens A LOT among technical people. This is a must.

CTO Hire

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Because of the rapid pace with which Venture Capitalists review investment opportunities, they must employ pattern matching techniques which include identifying common fundraising deal breakers. A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Such deal breakers come in a variety of colors and styles.

Technical Review

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 27, 2012

David encourages entrepreneurs to stay away from the big tech firms (such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple) because they are hard to compete with. I believe entrepreneurs should, in David’s words, “build big businesses on the outskirts” but I don’t believe that Silicon Valley tech giants will outmaneuver startups.

Technical Review

TechCrunch LA

MAY 20, 2021

Construction tech startups are poised to shake up a $1.3-trillion-dollar As more people spent time at home last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the startup saw its contract revenue spike by 5x, Wu says. Eano also works on projects like building ADUs (accessory dwelling units). trillion-dollar industry.

Technical Review

SoCal CTO

APRIL 27, 2011

I'd suggest: Startup CTO or Developer , Startup Founder Developer Gap , Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO. Interviewing them is also tough, especially if you are not yourself technical. Get a Technology Advisor that can help. This happens A LOT among technical people. This is a must.

CTO Hire

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

According to a recent Forbes article , UC Santa Barbara''s Technology Management Program offers students a superior startup education over the University of Pennsylvania (home of Wharton), as well Harvard, Northwestern and even its acclaimed southern neighbor, the University of Southern California. Want to be an entrepreneur? Techpreneurs.

Santa Barbara

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

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. And I try my best to point them to resources that can help them longer term. What's you believe is your biggest technology risk, if any?

CTO Hire

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

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. And I try my best to point them to resources that can help them longer term. What's you believe is your biggest technology risk, if any?

CTO Hire

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2014

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Marketing is everything these days. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2021

Some pundits argue that the E-Myth principle is now outdated, due to the instant access to information via the Internet, pervasive networking via social media, and courses on entrepreneurship at all levels of education. The Technician’s Perspective envisions the business in parts, constructed from the bottom up, based on technical tasks.

Technical Review

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

I’ve spoken our goal of funding more ambitious project before and we’ve enlisted the research help of a Principal in our firm – Kevin Zhang , who has an interest in Agtech (agriculture technology). Their vision is to create technology and products for a world where food is grown in and around where people live.

Technical Review

TechEmpower

MARCH 4, 2024

Focusing on generative AI applications in a select few corporate functions can contribute to a significant portion of the technology's overall impact. This shift allows business to reallocate human resources to more complex and strategic roles, or eliminate those positions entirely.

Generative AI

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 25, 2015

So it brings not only TechZulu, but also Gadget Review great pleasure to announce a partnership with Microsoft. Qualified startups can receive up to $60K in Azure cloud credits, technical support, access to Microsoft software, and more. Azure is the open source friendly cloud technology for all startups. Is that you?

Technical Review

socalTECH

DECEMBER 3, 2012

NEOGOV , which has quietly built an enterprise software company supplying human resources software to the government and public sector. Damir Davidovic: NEOGOV is a cloud-based, human resources suite. Once those states were signed up, and did lots of due diligence, it went easier. What is Neogov?

Software Review

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

And of course the most successful technology companies: Google, Facebook, Salesforce.com [duh], Oracle, Microsoft all have loads of sales people. As in, “Well, as a tech firm we put tons of effort into APIs so that you can do your own integrations. But they’re technology people not sales people!

Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

Some analysis and due diligence along the following lines should be performed on every idea, as a reality check, before committing your efforts and other people’s money to building a business: Look for places where competitors are few. Choose projects with financial resources within your reach.

Technical Review

socalTECH

AUGUST 4, 2015

We caught up with Mike recently to better understand the company's technology, why there's an interest in energy storage by utilities, and more about that deployment. Can you talk about your technology? 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

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

Put simply – you need enough users in a segment who care about what you’re doing to dictate investing further in the product or in sales & marketing resources. And finally there is the most modern spin on these concepts by two individuals who have built tech startups and have done an excellent job at describing the process.

Startup

socalTECH

MAY 3, 2012

Forbes Magazine has just published its annual Midas List , its annual ranking of the top 100 venture capitalists, and -- despite a record number of IPOs and exits last year from southern California technology companies -- Southern California's venture capital community was shut out of the list entirely.

Southern California

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

I have been close to the tech & startup sectors for more than 20 years and I can’t think of a period in which I felt more optimistic about the innovation and value creation I see in front of us. This world of local meets retail meets digital advertising portends to technology disruption and with it VC opportunities.

Venture Capital

socalTECH

JULY 16, 2013

As much as the idea of "Silicon Beach" wants to represent the whole of the local technology industry in Los Angeles, there are -- as one would expect in such a large metropolitan area -- many different neighborhoods and communities spread across the region, all with their own individual identities, companies, and technology focuses.

Pasadena

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one. You need to have passionate tech entrepreneurs who want to build businesses locally. The ingredients are all here.

Venture Capital

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Here are some resources that come from other sources: Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? And you may also want to review Startup Development. I've tried to collect them together here as a starting point for this topic. Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do?

CTO Hire

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Unfortunately, with limited resources, this isn’t possible, and it frustrates customers and the team. New entrepreneurs, especially technical ones, are excited by early adopters, and tend to focus on their feedback, which will always suggest more product features and options. Focus first on finding more of the right customers.

Technical Review

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

It requires you to expend your two most valuable resources, your time and your money. One is obvious, without protection, such IP might prove to be of little worth, as other companies can mimic the technology without recourse. Most US high-tech companies begin the utility patent process by filing a provisional patent application.

IP

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

What's the best way to reach out and recruit diverse candidates for your technology company? is an HR tech platform that makes it very easy for companies to source diverse talent. How do you create those communities, and are those focused on different technical areas? It's not easy, which is why Los Angeles-based Divercity.io

Technical Review

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2011

We need instant access to the most important of all resources, current contact info. Here’s the latest technology. Several of these have good reviews, including PIMEX, Diasho, Enhilex, and Advanced Contact Manager. That’s just wrong. So I’ve been scouting around for something better, looking at the pluses and minuses.

Technical Review

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 8, 2011

For those who still might be wondering what Spotlight: LA Tech is all about, It’s a screening room for new technology homegrown in our region. It’s a gathering of friends and tech enthusiasts of all stripes. This Spotlight takes place Thursday, July 14, at The California Institute of Technology (CalTech). RSVP: AGENDA.

CalTech

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 11, 2021

Healthvana , a health tech startup that began with a specific focus on providing patient information digitally for individuals living with HIV, is helping Los Angeles County roll out mobile vaccination records for COVID-19 using Apple’s Wallet technology. “We look and feel like Instagram.

Technical Review