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. They look at the code produced on a regular basis to ensure that it’s high quality and right for you. No good innovator turns down advice!

Technical Review 260

Technical Review CTO Coach CTO Hire Software Review 260

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. We only want software revenue.” We only want software revenue.” We like software.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

Los Angeles-based CapLinked , the developer of business transaction and deal management software-as-a-service, said today that it has raised $1M in an expansion round for the company. The new funding came from Subtraction Capital, FF Angel, 500 Startups, and other investors. The startup--which is led by PayPal veteran Erik M.

Software Review 235

Software Review Funding Draper SaaS 235

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

Los Angeles-based Parabol , a startup developing software management tools, used to manage the efforts of development teams, has raised $4M in a funding round, the company said this morning. The company's software helps development teams manage their processes, and is focused on Agile development processes. READ MORE>>.

Software Review 159

Software Review Tool Development Team Review Software 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

If you have a software development background like mine, I’m sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. If your software or your manufacturing process is your “secret sauce,” you need to keep the work in-house. Spend time building relationships, ask for referrals, and follow up.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

socalTECH

JANUARY 26, 2011

Manhattan Beach-based CapLinked , the developer of a software-as-a-service tool for managing venture capital and angel fundraising efforts for companies, said today that it has launched a free library of document templates covering the startup process. CapLinked, which is headed by PayPal alum Eric M. READ MORE>>.

Doc 178

Doc Software Review Manhattan Beach Template 178

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. What makes up revenue?

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I spend a lot of time with startups and thus hear many companies talk about their approach to sales and their interactions with customers. Starting with a positive. I had dinner this week with a top new customer at one of our enterprise software investments. ” I can’t make this stuff up.

Customer 341

Customer Custom Venture Capital Software Review 341

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. I seldom hire patent attorneys during due diligence but this was too important. We hired IP specialists to review prior art. We hired OSHA regulatory lawyers. It was impressive.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

It’s the company that evokes fear into more startups and venture capitalists looking to fund eCommerce businesses than any other potential competitor. He would pick up stuff from your apartment and bring it to storage for you and he could save money by having that facility be off site. And could we then compete?”

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire Startup 380

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. However, I’ve now begun questioning how and what an early-stage / startup CTO should be. What worries me a bit is how often I read that startups should hire a developer / hands-on lead developer. Gap closed, right? Probably not.

Fractional CTO 225

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach 225

socalTECH

MARCH 27, 2013

the developer of enterprise software for managing M&A transactions, venture deals, and other business deals, said yesterday that it has launched a new, activity tracker, which helps its customers figure out who has viewed files and information in the service, filterable by date range and more.

Activity 178

Activity Software Review Software Examples 178

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

It is also a result of pent-up demand. So we loaded up on flat screen TVs, multiple generations of iPods and trips to Hawaii. When the market run started in March people were relieved that “the world wasn’t ending” so they started spending again. In the following post I argue that this increased pace may be temporary.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Even bigger is the desire to stick one’s middle finger up at all of the people who doubted you all along. Are we right in all of our assumptions and diligence? But I can tell you from my experience in due diligence that many who have actually seen the company’s plans have changed their minds and now believe.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

socalTECH

AUGUST 31, 2016

Santa Monica-based startup MindSpark announced on Tuesday that it is expanding its efforts to provide enterprise level, software testing, tapping into a workforce of employees who are specifically on the autism spectrum.

Software Review 133

Software Review Software Offshore Santa Monica 133

socalTECH

DECEMBER 3, 2012

NEOGOV , which has quietly built an enterprise software company supplying human resources software to the government and public sector. The firm recently showed up as one of the fastest growing companies in LA as part of the Deloitte Fast 500 rankings. How were you able to find success there as a startup?

Software Review 243

Software Review SaaS Startup Technical Review 243

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 264

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

socalTECH

JUNE 7, 2012

Los Angeles-based CapLinked , the online service which helps startups manage their fundraising process, announced this morning that it has linked with half a dozen startup accelerators to help those firms' companies help raise their funding rounds. CapLinked is headed by Eric Jackson and Christopher Grey.

Technical Review 224

Technical Review Software Review Los Angeles Startup 224

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. Review the code being built.

Technical Review 338

Technical Review CTO Hire CTO Coach Software Review 338

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

TechEmpower

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

If you're grappling with this issue, identifying the specific cause can be difficult, especially if you don’t have a software background. This is where a technical review can be useful!) Before we review the symptoms, though, please bear this in mind: If your team shows these signs, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re weak.

Development Team Review 260

Development Team Review Develop Development Software Review 260

socalTECH

AUGUST 1, 2012

Los Angeles-based CapLinked , which operates an online platform for managing fundraising by startups, has linked with the Startup America Partnership. According to CapLinked, it will make its premium capital raising and investor reporting tools available to the more than 8,500 startups enrolled with Startup America.

Technical Review 153

Technical Review Software Review Startup Yammer 153

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2013

State your most important ask up front. If there are multiple parts to the email try to break it up into sections. When emails get a bit longer due to background info I often break it up into sections (as I am doing in this post). The best way to do this is to set up the bulk of your email message as a general message.

Email 415

Email Writing Software Review Startup 415

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.

Startup 301

Startup Venture Capital Software Review Email 301

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 12, 2018

seems like an unlikely place to grow one of the next billion-dollar startups in the booming Los Angeles tech ecosystem. But it’s here in the (other) Valley’s southernmost edge that investors have found a startup they consider to be the next potential billion-dollar “unicorn” that will come out of Los Angeles.

Glendale 271

Glendale Los Angeles Startup Technical Review 271

SoCal CTO

APRIL 27, 2011

Several people have recently come to me to help them source and/or hire full-time CTOs for their startup having found me through my post that looks at: Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data. The first thing I do is suggest they explore if they really need to hire a full-time CTO for their startup and if so, what kind of CTO they need.

CTO Hire 282

CTO Hire CTO Coach Technical Review Startup 282

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. You still need the presentation to back that up. If you are outside internet software we are not going to invest. Brad on blogging.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2023

Over my many years of mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and business professionals, I often hear a desire to start a new business, with a big hesitation while waiting for that perfect idea and perfect alignment of the stars. Start today building a bigger network. Success requires a great amount of hard work.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur Software Review 149

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. The world has changed much since I started my first company in 1999. Tim started to change our processes. Tim encouraged us to set up a blog and start talking openly about what we were doing as a company and inviting comments. Back then it seemed foreign.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

I filled up with 20 people pretty quickly and realized this schedule was masochistic. The one that stuck with me the longest was my chat with TWTFelipe (Felipe Coimbria). TWTFelipe and I ended up speaking for nearly 30 minutes and we talked mostly about why his company was based in Canada and not the US. Felipe grew up in Brazil.

Technical Review 282

Technical Review Startup High Tech Software Review 282

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 29, 2011

The data consistently confirms that: (i) venture capitalists are typically not adventuresome, and (ii) most startups lack the three intoxicating factors which cause venture capitalists to pull out their checkbooks. This concentration is partly due to natural causes – successful startups spawn other successful startups.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Capital Funding Technical Review 233

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

2023 hasn't been an easy year to be a startup. In fact, according to Crunchbase more than 212 startups closed their shutters in the third fiscal quarter alone – the highest number recorded in the firm's history. Yet, while many early-stage startups crumbled under the pressure, diamonds also emerged.

Startup 194

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 194

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Reviewing financial & operational performance. As You Start to Mature.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

For today's interview, we spoke with Dat Do , the founder and CEO of Derivitas (www.derivatas.com), a new startup in Los Angeles looking to address some of the financial issues that CFOs of privately held firms have to deal with. Why did you decide to start your own company? Who would be purchasing the software? How to price it.

Software Review 193

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Software 193

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

popped up consistently in an informal (and highly non-scientific poll) of a number of readers, executive recruiters, and others in the Los Angeles area, who cited growth, brand, profitability, and other factors in their suggestions to us of the top companies. OpenX is profitable, and its ad serving software dominant among online publishers.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Company Companies Southern California 279

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community. There was no monetary reward for those who participated (and Startup Boost does not take fees or equity from the companies that we help). What was the biggest lesson you learned this year?

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157