Gust

APRIL 13, 2014

The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” You may be too independent to be partner material. Does not need to be managed.

Partner 179

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 179

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. You may be too independent to be partner material. Compatible work styles.

Partner 240

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 240

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2019

Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. The challenge is to recognize and recruit that ideal partner match early with minimal cost and risk. Some people are too independent to be partner material.

Cofounder 221

Cofounder Software Review CTO Hire Founder 221

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2010

The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal business partner. In this article, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” You may be too independent to be partner material. Does not need to be managed.

Partner 230

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 230

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

"I'm looking for a partner / cofounder who can not only head the technical aspects and build a working model of the site, but someone with the connections to put a great development team together when we need it. I've recently received several emails from people looking for a technical cofounder for their startup.

Technical Cofounder 211

Technical Cofounder Cofounder CTO Hire Los Angeles 211

www.bothsidesofthetable.com

MAY 13, 2012

Sales & Marketing. Want to Know Difference Between a CTO and a VP of Engineering? I recently did a post for startups on understanding sales people. Because more technology people probably read startup blogs I’m guessing this post will come under more scrutiny. I’ve heard both arguments from CTO’s.

Fractional VPE 89

Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE Fractional CTO CTO Hire 89

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

VP of Sales, Monetate - Philadelphia, PA A finger hovers above a mouse button. Using Monetate Real-time Marketer, companies are boosting sales while slashing costs and time-to-market. The company is not just looking for a VP of Sales, but for a champion for all things sales throughout the organization. It wants to click.

Part-Time VPE 92

Part-Time VPE CTO Hire Engineer Sales 92

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

You race back to the office to tell everybody how well it went and you wait for the follow-up call to have a partners’ meeting or talk about term sheets or at least dip into due diligence. Last time we met I didn’t have my CTO with me. Would it be alright if I brought her by your offices for a super quick coffee?” (In

Software Review 381

Software Review Churn Rate Due Diligence New York 381

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

” Who cut you in on their bonus because even though you’re “just an sales engineer” they know you really deserved more credit for this deal. My other partner, Steven Dietz, was on the board of my second company. We brought Ryan Lissack down from San Francisco to become Maker’s CTO and the rest is history.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Cofounder San Francisco Silicon Valley 320

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on. An obvious example would be in sales. You’re also learning directly about the skills of your sales staff by observing them in action.

CTO Hire 308

CTO Hire Management Technical Review Part-Time VPE 308

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. The most common ones I see and salute are CEO, CFO, and CTO. A few other credible ones would include Chairman of the Board (COB), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

CTO Hire 252

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Angel Investor Public Relations 252

Steve Blank

JUNE 19, 2014

We assumed that for commercial hypotheses (clinical utility, who the customer is, data and quality of data, how reimbursement works, what parts of the product are valuable, roles of partners, etc.) clinical utility, customer, quality of data, reimbursement, what parts of the product are valuable, roles of CRO’s , and partners, etc.,)

Lean 269

Lean SBIR Intellectual Property Customer Development 269

devver.wordpress.com

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Boulder CTO December Lunch with Tim Wolters with 5 comments The Boulder CTO Lunch meets once a month with a guest speaker and covers topics and questions that startup CTOs should find interesting. The Role As a CTO, you paint a landscape of the product and market. There are two kinds of CTOs: tactical and visionary.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Part-Time VPE Architecture Ruby 40

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

On sales I often talk about “ Why Buy Anything, Why Buy Now, Why Buy Me ” as a tool to think about a sales process. On teams I have a framework for tech teams “ CTO vs. VP Eng ” or on sales I have “ Journeymen, Mavericks & Superstars ” 5. Take more advice. Stir them around.

Framework 407

Framework Startup Retention Sales 407

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

We help founders through difficult moments, we help coach, we act as sparring partners, we help them resolve conflicts when they’re fighting with co-founders and we help them deal with adversity as well as successes. That’s why I often say The role of VC is “chief psychologist.” The role of VC is sparring partner.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2013

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. The most common ones I see and salute are CEO, CFO, and CTO. A few other credible ones would include Chairman of the Board (COB), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

CTO Hire 244

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Angel Investor 244

SoCal CTO

MAY 15, 2009

Paul Ollinger, West Coast Vice President of Sales of Facebook Paul Ollinger is the West Coast Vice President of Sales for Facebook. He has also been a Regional Sales Director and National Account Director for Facebook. Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer & Strategic Creative at USA GROUP, INC.,

Social Network 150

Social Network Networking Los Angeles Fractional CTO 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

But I firmly believed the company needed to have a large presence in the US given our major data partners were all here and the biggest companies looking to buy our products were also based here. So Nick drove strategy & tech from the UK and remained an active board member and CTO of the company. Shaping an industry.

Founder 309

Founder CTO Hire Silicon Valley Leadership 309

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 21, 2022

The concept of a Chief Marketing Officer comes from large enterprises, but it is a role that has grown exponentially in the last couple of years. A fractional CMO is basically a part-time version of this position. What is the difference between a marketing agency, a marketing coach, a consultant, and a Fractional CMO?

Fractional CTO 63

Fractional CTO Small Business Metrics Revenue 63

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

In practice it can be a fine line between sparring partner / coach and stepping over the line to brute-force persuasion. At times I wanted the engineering team to produce features to support our sales efforts to I occasionally leaned on them a bit. Another area we CEOs often meddle is in sales. I did this.

Startup 150

Startup CTO Hire Sales Leadership 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. That role as sparring partner can be useful if for nothing else than to test your resolve. What Rob wrote in his post is right.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Gust

APRIL 20, 2014

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. The most common ones I see and salute are CEO, CFO, and CTO. A few other credible ones would include Chairman of the Board (COB), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

CTO Hire 171

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Angel Investor Public Relations 171

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2010

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. The most common ones I see and salute are CEO, CFO, and CTO. A few other credible ones would include Chairman of the Board (COB), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

CTO Hire 227

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Angel Investor 227

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

Your CTO and leading technology visionary has just announced he’s quitting. Here’s my advice: Don’t reveal your “skeletons&# in the first meeting but you need to tell your sponsoring partner before the full partner meeting. You’re not happy with your existing investors.

Technical Review 311

Technical Review Venture Capital Due Diligence Partner 311

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. Through advertising or direct sales, these sites harvest intent. Tech support is sales.

Fractional CTO 248

Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

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 refine your sales and investor pitch. Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks?

NDA 211

NDA Stealth Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement 211

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

Our partners have invested in more than dozen companies that became worth more than a billion dollars and that has disproportionately drive returns. In revenue terms our first two years of sales were $2.1 Ryan Lissack is the CTO of Maker Studios. In a pool of 25-30 investments in a VC fund the goal is to have 2-3 huge outliers.

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. I had really positive experiences such as working with Greg Gretsch at Sigma Partners where he championed us to a partners’ meeting where we sort of got crucified.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

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 refine your sales and investor pitch. Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks?

NDA 198

NDA Stealth Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement 198

Steve Blank

JUNE 6, 2016

Evangelos Simoudis’ is the founder and managing director of Synapse Partners. His investing career started 15 years ago at Apax Partners and continued with Trident Capital. I presented them to our chief product officer and our CTO. If you can’t hear the clip, click here. He was the CEO of two startups.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Fractional CTO Analytics 120

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

They often make great team members such as head of products, CTO, head of sales, CFO, etc. He and his partner told me about this new idea over the course of nearly a year. Partners in VC funds only wanted to fund entrepreneurs who had a certain percentage of their net worth tied up in their venture. It was May.

Entrepreneur 293

Entrepreneur CTO Hire South America Salary 293

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 23, 2019

Opening Night Happy Hour and Keynote with Scott Kupor: Secrets of Sandhill Road | Fundraising Track Joshua Baer , Founder and CEO at Capital Factory, delved into the transforming realm of venture capital with Scott Kupor , Managing Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. The unit cost fell and this idea of pay as you go.

Fractional VPE 49

Fractional VPE Austin Artificial Inteligence Fractional CTO 49

OnlyOnce

OCTOBER 21, 2021

I also have a whole series of posts related to each function on the executive team — CFO, CMO, CTO, etc. The same thing applies to operating metrics — the size of our database, our headcount, our sales commission rate, and so on. So each post is part of two series. So today’s topic is How I engage with the CFO. Do they add up?

Metrics 62

Metrics Database Operations Leadership 62

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Marketing Sales & Marketing Home Marketing Basics Sales Online Marketing Finding Customers Social Media Branding Social Media Does Your Companys Social Personality Need a Makeover? Market value doesn't equal the sum of sweat equity invested by you and your partners. Financing Some Jobs Act Proposals Make Headway.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 1, 2012

Since joining the program, he has seen an increase in ad sales and also received new investment capital. Anthony Favazza, CEO of DiningCircle has hired a CTO that will be overseeing a rebuild of our product in early 2012. "We Current customers have helped to improve our analytics. Each year, U.S.

St. Louis 118

St. Louis CTO Hire Fractional CTO Entrepreneur 118

Rob Go

DECEMBER 11, 2013

Partners are prone to bad behavior too, but because they are the “decision makers”, founders are more likely to just shrug their shoulders and move on (although everyone has their limits). Pre-wire the entrepreneur and your partners. Be careful about mirroring your partners too much. But some are.

CTO Hire 68

CTO Hire Partner Software Developers Software Development 68

BeyondVC

JANUARY 3, 2019

We had another solid year filled with learning, growth, laughter, and new projects and partners. Thanks to all of the amazing founders, advisors, co-investors, corporate partners, and others that helped make 2018 an amazing year. Welcome to our annual boldstart recap and enterprise predictions letter. First check to Series B?—?congrats

Stealth 79

Stealth Advisory Board Cloud Virginia 79