Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Ben Huh, the founder/CEO who I adore and love working with, send out a powerful email about how he’s approaching Cheezburger’s next stage of growth, and how he’s thinking about building the business operating system. I’m kicking off the process of building the business Operating System for Cheezburger.

Operations 157

Operations Technical Review Metrics Email 157

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

For lessons from Matt and his Return Path management team, many of who are now execs at Bolster, you want to read Startup CXO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Company’s Critical Functions and Teams. I’ve worked with Matt for over 20 years and have experienced many ups and downs.

Fractional CTO 195

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 195

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

For lessons from Matt and his Return Path management team, many of who are now execs at Bolster, you want to read Startup CXO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Company’s Critical Functions and Teams. I’ve worked with Matt for over 20 years and have experienced many ups and downs.

Fractional CTO 70

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 70

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 9, 2013

I’ve written before about hiring for cultural fit, and about the importance of prioritizing cultural fit over competence when hiring at startups. I started thinking about it again when I saw this Dilbert comic , because it pokes fun at the culture of startups and their propensity only to hire people who fit into them.

Part-Time VPE 153

Part-Time VPE Hiring Engineer Portfolio 153

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

This second kind of seed financing can be a double-edged sword for the entrepreneur and company if not very carefully managed. They close on the $750k, hire a buddy or two, buy some Macs, and get to work. At month six, one of the early hires leaves, a developer who turns out wasn’t a good fit. There is $350k left in the bank.

Burn Rate 152

Burn Rate Equity Software Review Early Stage 152

Feld Thoughts

MAY 5, 2011

Jud is an extremely experienced CTO / technical product manager and developer, but had never been a CEO. Oh, and they are hiring as fast as they can find great people ; across the spectrum (business, sales, & engineering). At this point, the other co-founder, Jud Valeski, stepped up to be the CEO.

CTO Hire 131

CTO Hire Cofounder Architecture Product Development 131

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

Note that raw empirical data is hard to come by either way by nature of how the patent system operates, but the lack of positive evidence is telling. When I talked to a headhunter recently, in the midst of the worst market for legal jobs ever, she told me that the one employer who was always hiring people with experience in patents was IV.

.Net 135

.Net New York Software Texas 135