Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

How do you figure out what’s the right mix of skills for the co-founders of your startup? I was having breakfast with Radhika, an ex-grad student of mine who wanted to share her Customer Discovery progress for her consumer hardware startup. Trying to figure out what the right set of co-founders isn’t so clear.

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. Things will cost more than you expect. They understand startup realities. You will make mistakes.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

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. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. SEO for Startups )? What are your key Startup Metrics ?

Developer 396

Developer Founder Viral Oauth 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. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. SEO for Startups )? What are your key Startup Metrics ?

Developer 384

Developer Founder Viral Oauth 384

SoCal CTO

MAY 27, 2010

I was just interviewed by Frank Peters - Tony Karrer and the Founder-Developer Gap. And I always recommend it to people involved in early stage startups. I received a follow-up question from an early-stage startup about the Founder Developer Gap that I’ve described before and that was part of the interview with Frank.

CTO Hire 170

CTO Hire Developer Founder Startup 170

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

The cost of entry has never been lower. In the early days (20 years ago), most new e-commerce sites cost a million dollars to set up. The cost for the domain name is maybe $10/year, and the hosting starts around $50/year. This costs nothing, and allows you to safely collect money from customers all around the world.

Cost 220

Cost Startup Hosting Bootstrapping 220

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. Things will cost more than you expect. They understand startup realities. You will make mistakes.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. Things will cost more than you expect. They understand startup realities. You will make mistakes.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

ReadWriteStart

MAY 24, 2023

Some of the newest software startups first launch on ProductHunt before anywhere else. Rating for an app: 10/10 Rating for software: 10/10 Rating for technology other than app or software: 8/10 #2: KillerStartups KillerStartups aims to help them both by reviewing up-and-coming internet startups right on the spot, right at their birth.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Software Review Startup Artificial Inteligence 126

TechEmpower

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

This isn’t just our opinion - our startup metrics prove it! That blurb, and the following examples, were all generated from GPT in only a few seconds, at a cost of less than one penny. Happy customers mean happy CEOs and founders - and that’s what makes us happy. Are you a founder or CEO or head of product?

Generative AI 295

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence Houston America 295

TechEmpower

AUGUST 21, 2023

Many CEOs of software-enabled businesses call us with a similar concern: Are we getting the right results from our software team? We hear them explain that their current software development is expensive, deliveries are rarely on time, and random bugs appear. It can also lead to a software team that looks ill-equipped.

Technical Review 260

Technical Review Development Team Review Software Review Architecture 260

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

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. Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe.

Intellectual Property 238

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Software Review Offshore 238

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

. … and if you’re like most of today’s startups — you need to get an app in the hands of customers. And that costs more money than most people have in savings (minimum $100-500K). Can all of this lead to a truly successful startup? But, you need to build that first product right. Can a shop work for just equity?

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Developer 60

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2014

The cost of entry has never been lower. In the early days (20 years ago), most new e-commerce sites, for example, cost a million dollars to set up. The cost for the domain name is maybe $10/year, and the hosting starts around $50/year. Then there are full-featured software sites like Facebook. Start simple.

Startup 252

Startup eCommerce Hosting Bootstrapping 252

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Cash is the fuel of every startup. It continually amazes me how two startups, seemingly comparable in stage and objective, can be so far apart in their burn rate. Here are some recommendations on how to keep the rate low, and help your startup to prosper at the same time: Measure it and manage it. Which would you bet on?

Burn Rate 232

Burn Rate Startup Salary Equity 232

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 3, 2019

From your team’s familiarity with the language, to development costs and available resources, there are many factors to consider when choosing a programming language. This is one of the many challenges that you’ll have to take head-on as the founder of a tech startup. Running a startup can be tough.

Programming 89

Programming Ruby Java Open Source 89

View from Seed

APRIL 21, 2015

On the heels of our research on HBS entrepreneurs , NextView’s Dimitri Dadiomov (HBS ’15) interviewed several top founders on the early stages of their companies. Matt Prince , Co-Founder and CEO, CloudFlare (Web performance and security to protect and accelerate websites; $72.1 On Launching and Finding Early Traction.

Founder 120

Founder Las Vegas Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2012

So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Select Startup CTO Speaking Topics Ten Lessons from Working on 30+ Startups Over the Past 15 Years Tony looks back over his experience working with startups and extracts elements that have led to success or failure.

Fractional CTO 175

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Startup Social Network 175

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

However, I’ve now begun questioning how and what an early-stage / startup CTO should be. Most often at the earliest point in the life of a startup, the dominant need is certainly to produce product to get something in the market, get funding, etc. I’ll address the specifics of what this Founder Developer Gap looks like below.

CTO 225

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 225

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 1, 2019

by Gaurav Gupta , Founder of Square Boat. Startups are all the rage these days with innovative minds coming up with novel ideas and transforming them into reality. If you’re running a startup and looking for some handy tools, picking the right ones might be somewhat of a challenge. But that’s where we come in!

Software Review 113

Software Review Startup Azure SEO 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2012

Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. Cost factors. The net may be less cost reduction than you thought.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Non-Compete Vietnam 222

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2011

Cash is the fuel of every startup. It continually amazes me how two startups, seemingly comparable in stage and objective, can be so far apart in their burn rate. Here are some principles on how to do that, and help your startup to prosper and live another day: Measure it and manage it. Which would you bet on? Great strategy.

Burn Rate 231

Burn Rate Startup Salary Equity 231

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2011

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ Ten Steps in Choosing the Right Startup Partner ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales.

Partner 240

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 240

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

Isaac Cambron is co-founder and CTO of Zensight.co , whose pre-launch product enables sales reps to find and use their best content to close more deals. Below, he answers questions about developing products from scratch, as well as the difficult technology choices and tradeoffs CTOs must make. We did that for a lot of reasons.

Technology 334

Technology Ruby Startup Engineer 334

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. business entrepreneur partner startup traits' Level of integrity.

Partner 269

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 269

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2011

Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. Cost factors. The net may be less cost reduction than you thought.

Intellectual Property 225

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Non-Compete Vietnam 225

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2016

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. Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Software Review Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. Things will cost more than you expect. They understand startup realities. You will make mistakes.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

The challenge is to recognize and recruit that ideal partner match early with minimal cost and risk. In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO.

Partner 140

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 140

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One.” The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Similar values and goals. Level of integrity. Complementary skills.

Partner 258

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Equity 258

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

You can deal directly with full-time or freelance/contracted employees, or you can outsource using local or offshore development firms. Cost The most talented technical candidates do demand higher hourly rates, but as indicated already, their expertise reduces risk and the number of required project hours.

Software Developers 79

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Software 79

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

The cost of entry has never been lower. In the early days (20 years ago), most new e-commerce sites cost a million dollars to set up. The cost for the domain name is maybe $10/year, and the hosting starts around $50/year. This costs nothing, and allows you to safely collect money from customers all around the world.

Hosting 248

Hosting Bootstrapping .Net Social Network 248

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 11, 2010

This is Part 5 of the 5-part series: 5 lessons from 150 startup pitches. Ask a technical founder about his startup, and he'll proudly describe his stunning software — simple, compelling, useful, fun. Four uncomfortable seconds later, a smile breaks across the founder's face. Cue sound of cicadas buzzing. (Or

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

by Andriy Skoropad, co-founder & CEO at Perfectial. Others narrow down its meaning to just startups that aim to disrupt incumbent financial systems. Currently, people understand it as application of modern software for financial services. But have you a clear understanding of what exactly does this word stand for?

Ruby 210

Ruby Cofounder Finance Campaign 210

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 10, 2012

Code Collaborator is tool which helps software developers review each other’s work, just like an editor of a book. So the economics are obvious: If two developers would each normally spend an average of 30 minutes on a code review, once a day, that’s 20 hours of total time in a business-month. And we did.

Software Review 256

Software Review Product Software Developers Software Development 256

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2010

If you’re a Web-based startup, for example, show me how many unique visitors you think you can get in the beginning, and what you’re using for an estimated conversion rate (buyers to browsers). Show me how much each unique visitor is going to cost you in search engine optimization and pay-per-click search engine expense.

Metrics 159

Metrics Startup Retention Software Developers 159