I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Of course, I provide part-time CTO services. In talking with a colleague who also does Acting CTO work, he said that he also does this kind of free consulting sessions and offered to help me if I didn't have enough time - which sometimes happens. MORE >>

So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Most notably, he was the original CTO for eHarmony for its first four years making him partly responsible for more than 4% of the marriages every year. Tony has a Ph.D. He is a frequent speaker at trade and industry events. MORE >>

Todd Gitlin of Safire Partners was nice enough to compile some data on CTO Equity and Compensation at Venture Backed Companies for the LA CTO Forum and present last year. The data is a bit tough to deal with via a post, so I've shared it two ways: You can find a PDF with some analysis at: CTO Equity Compensation PDF. MORE >>

I generally am working as an acting CTO for about 3-4 start-ups or other companies at any one time. also found this interesting graphic of the changing needs around the CTO role in different size/type companies that somewhat echoes my experience. During Stabilization, often the focus is transitioning to a full-time CTO. MORE >>

seem to encounter a lot of people who want to attach a CTO label to me as I'm the only programmer on the founding team of three. 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. Accounting? MORE >>