SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

" One was an enterprise software product. " Today I had two conversations with early stage startups (see Free CTO Consulting ). In both cases, I was the mentor telling the person that the idea, as I understood it was "not great." The other was a consumer play with possible viral growth. Neither felt like a slam dunk.

Customer 227

Customer Fractional CTO Viral Lean 227

SoCal CTO

JUNE 26, 2012

They didn't feel they had visibility into timelines and costs for development of their software. In three of the cases, the founder was finding that the software teams (1 in-house, 2 outsourced) were delivering relatively well in the short-run. They couldn't plan their business. My belief is that you shouldn't sign that contract.

Software Developers 254

Software Developers Software Development Agile Fractional CTO 254

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've talked about that in lots of other posts, so you can visit some of these to help determine what you specifically need: Startup CTO or Developer Startup Software Development – Do Your Homework Before You Develop Anything Key ingredients in the equation are: How complex is the system? Go to user groups. Refine your elevator pitch.

Technical Cofounder 211

Technical Cofounder Cofounder CTO Hire Los Angeles 211

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

I provided a whole set of questions that I go through with founders before Startup Software Development – Do Your Homework Before You Develop Anything. Given likely market changes, how will we design and build so that the systems can respond to marketplace changes? These questions are critical background for any developer at any level.

CTO 225

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 225

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Unfortunately, we are web, mobile, software, database guys. We can help across a wide variety of types of systems, but once you get into hard core sciences (designing a new compound, bioengineering, etc.) See Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers for more on this. I need a life-sciences CTO, can you help?

Fractional CTO 264

Fractional CTO CTO Hire NDA Technical Review 264

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Unfortunately, we are web, mobile, software, database guys. We can help across a wide variety of types of systems, but once you get into hard core sciences (designing a new compound, bioengineering, etc.) See Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers for more on this. I need a life-sciences CTO, can you help?

Fractional CTO 259

Fractional CTO CTO Hire NDA Technical Review 259

SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

I also read - The Difference Between Apple and Microsoft Marketing that tells us: Apples marketing is designed for Time Poor buyers, while Microsofts is designed for Time Rich buyers. I would agree that Apples product design would suggest that it aims at Time Poor buyers. Its certainly something to keep in mind.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

SoCal CTO

MAY 15, 2009

In 2005, Majid coauthored "Data Strategy" a book designed to help streamline information management within organizations. A creator and producer of social media, Michael’s responsibilities include leadership for the design team, concept creation and strategic consulting for highly engaging interactive experiences.

Social Network 150

Social Network Networking Los Angeles Fractional CTO 150

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 15, 2009

Steve Gilison worked as a market researcher and product manager at a startup where my company, TechEmpower , did the software / web development. Most people think they can do product design. It was great to hear from a long, lost colleague the other day. Remind me about your background Steve? Getting new projects is tough.

Los Angeles 179

Los Angeles Southern California Management Product 179

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. You could just outspend. You could use brute force to get the word out. Now, thanks to social media, you don't have to outspend.

Fractional CTO 248

Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 16, 2009

There must have been some heated discussions around the design of this feature. Just like building anything as installed software is questioned today, designing anything based on folders should be questioned.

Design 150

Design Software 150

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

I’m a long way into development and I’m 90% done and we are having issues getting it completed See Symptoms of a Weak Development Team and Poor Software Developers - Pull the Plug Early. Other Topics Covered I also covered topics that are covered more thoroughly in the following posts: Document Your MVP for a Developer.

Technical Cofounder 280

Technical Cofounder Developer Fractional CTO CTO Hire 280

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

Given likely market changes, how will we design and build so that the systems can respond to marketplace changes? What existing systems will we leverage, what programming languages, software development methodologies, web application frameworks, revision control systems, etc.? What options do we have? How do we balance those options?

CTO Hire 231

CTO Hire Technical Review Developer Software Review 231

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

Five Reasons You Haven’t Launched - Software By Rob , November 10, 2010 Photo by stevendepolo. It’s Easy to Be Great…It’s Hard to Be Consistent - Software By Rob , November 4, 2010 No link from TechCrunch, write-up on Mashable, mention by Leo Laporte, or Tweet by Ashton Kucher is going to make your business. This post is an accusation.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

He blogs to 10,000 web entrepreneurs at Software by Rob and co-hosts the podcast Startups for the Rest of Us. Paul Graham on trends for the future - Business of Software Blog , August 25, 2010 Paul Graham spoke at last year's Business of Software conference. August 20, 2010 They say people won't pay for content.

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

SoCal CTO

JUNE 14, 2008

Finally we get to: Peter Coffee , Director of Platform Research, Salesforce.com His premise is that we should be beyond having to buy servers, software, or any other infrastructure. Must design your application differently to live on top of the platform. Wow, long introductions - 25 minutes - get to the speakers already.

Internet 150

Internet EC2 Java API 150

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

", they are aimed at convincing companies to use open source software. Why You’re Going to Hire the Wrong Designer - Tony Wright dot com , September 14, 2010 “We are not UI experts but do know when we see a good design.&#. The challenge, of course, partially lies in the definition of “good design&#.

Technology 191

Technology Product San Francisco CTO Hire 191

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Don Norman at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , June 21, 2010 Imagine you’re on the first slide of your powerpoint presentation and want to move to the next slide. Why you have to design products for how your customers are , and not how you want them to be. Your remote control has two buttons.

Cofounder 175

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. - First Principles.

Silicon Valley 378

Silicon Valley Startup Term Sheet Venture Capital 378

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

SaaS 101: 7 Simple Lessons From Inside HubSpot - OnStartups , July 19, 2010 It’s been a little over 4 years since I officially launched my internet marketing software company , HubSpot. VC asked me to have lunch with the CEO of a startup building cloud-based enterprise software. and tips for buyers looking for logo design.

Software Review 217

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Technical Review 217