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Technical Advisors: Every Startup Needs One

TechEmpower

The Strategic Technical Advisor looks at the business and determines what makes sense from a technology perspective in the short-term and longer-terms. Are developers following best practices in their code and life cycle? CTO Founder – Do they really still need a technical advisor? Is this person a CTO or a developer?

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Poor Software Developers - Pull the Plug Early

SoCal CTO

There's an old adage in software development that I refer to all the time: The first 90% of development takes 90% of the time. I used this when I taught software engineering. And I use it all the time now when I get the kind of message that I received: I'm looking for a web developer to continue work on my website.

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Technical Advisors: Every Web/Mobile Startup Must Have One

SoCal CTO

It was like having a bunch of mini- Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions all in one room. Structure development contracts appropriately or directing the in-house team appropriately. This is exactly the kind of thing I'm doing as a Part-Time CTO or Technical Advisor for startups. Is this person a CTO or a developer?

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Symptoms of a Weak Development Team

SoCal CTO

One of your better developers leaves. No questions being asked ( Startup Software Development – Do Your Homework Before You Develop Anything ) Rest of team says - “I’m not sure where we stand.” “I’m And the #1 reason I get calls relates to an old software engineering adage: The first 90% of a project takes half the time.

Developer 179
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The Top 20 Symptoms of a Weak Development Team

TechEmpower

Rapid turnover, especially of senior or “A” developers. Developers aren’t aware of the progress of the current dev cycle, or even what’s in it. And the #1 symptom relates to that old software engineering adage: The first 90% of a project takes half the time. Recovery is Extremely Hard Software development is challenging.

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Lead Developer to CTO at a Startup

SoCal CTO

I received a great question via LinkedIn: I'm the founding engineer and working hard to launch my startup. I 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. I've previously addressed the role of a CTO in early-stages in my post Startup CTO or Developer.

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Lessons Learned: About the author

Startup Lessons Learned

(Maybe youd like to start with The lean startup , How to listen to customers , or What does a startup CTO actually do? ) He previously co-founded and served as Chief Technology Officer of IMVU. While an undergraduate at Yale Unviersity, he co-founded Catalyst Recruiting. Your "startup-lessons-learned" are very valuable.