Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2023

Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. The only real alternative is to find a cofounder who can build and lead the team, while you focus on the product. Otherwise, in my experience, the startup will fail.

Leadership 318

Leadership Technical Review Technical Cofounder Development Team Review 318

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2023

In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often find founders who have such conviction and passion for their new idea, that they can’t believe anyone could challenge it. They bristle quickly when investors or even potential customers raise issues with real value, competition, risk, and sustainability. It’s been done before.

Technical Cofounder 341

Technical Cofounder Founder Cofounder Mobile 341

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2013

What's Going to Go Wrong A lot of founders don't really understand Lean Startup principles. Have you conducted Problem, Solution and Feature Interviews with customers? Do you have a Technical Advisors: Every Web/Mobile Startup Must Have One ? What's going to go wrong?

Technical Cofounder 219

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Developers Software Development 219

rob.by

MARCH 8, 2012

Finding Technical Cofounders Is Hard. Yesterday, Michael Pope posted an article titled Technical Cofounders Are a Myth. He argued that software engineers don’t finish what they start, and that you’re better off paying a technical person than partnering with one. Tuesday, August 17, 2010.

Technical Cofounder 42

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Engineering Fractional CTO 42

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

Hiring seems to be the preferred use of seed funds (by investors and founders), whereas I'd prefer a focus on customer acquisition. And that should be the focus of the founders -- to find the special fit that will make your company take off. The startup founder is definitely not ready to hire a CTO.

CTO Hire 205

CTO Hire Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO Los Angeles 205

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

A startup is not just about the idea, it’s about testing and then implementing the idea. I was driving home from the BIO conference in San Diego last month and had lots of time for a phone call with Dave, an ex student and now a founder who wanted to update me on his Customer Discovery progress. Customer Discovery.

Cofounder 336

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Coder 336

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

www.virtuosimedia.com

MARCH 8, 2012

Startup Advice. Custom Programming. Home ▶ Businesses ▶ Startup Business Advice ▶ Current Page How To Find A Technical Cofounder For Your Online Business Idea. This article should also serve as a starting guide for programmers who are approached about becoming technical co-founders.

Technical Cofounder 41

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Technical Review NDA 41

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often find founders who have such conviction and passion for their new idea, that they can’t believe anyone could challenge it. They bristle quickly when investors or even potential customers raise issues with real value, competition, risk, and sustainability. It’s been done before.

Technical Cofounder 315

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Mobile Differentiation 315

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2019

In my experience as a business advisor, that’s probably the biggest hurdle to success encountered by every new business owner. Your biggest challenge may be members of your own family, some of your best customers, or a key business partner or investor. Always be civil and diplomatic, and don’t allow emotions to cloud the situation.

Technical Cofounder 244

Technical Cofounder Technical Review Cofounder Cloud 244

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 13, 2020

You’re spending much of your time selling: the vision to employees, the opportunity to investors, the story to the press, the offering to the customers, the relationship to partners. Can your lack of interest or skill in “selling” be counter-balanced by a cofounder or team that’s great at it? Yes and No. Notes and More.

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Startup Matching 144

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

I suggest the following sequence of startup preparation steps: Create a business entity early to isolate business efforts. Co-mingling personal and business funds and accounts creates legal risk and tax liability, and makes your efforts look like a hobby. Advisors and investors need to see your whole story in as few as ten slides.

Technical Cofounder 184

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Silicon Valley LLC 184

www.kernelmag.com

MARCH 8, 2012

The Scene Developers Nailing that elusive technical co-founder. The upshot of all of this is that today’s startups can concentrate maximum time and resources addressing the problems they set out to solve. Are there any ‘Founders Dating’ events coming up?”. New technology for enquiring minds. Andy Young.

Cofounder 43

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Founder Coder 43

NZ Entrepreneur

JUNE 19, 2023

A new batch of enterprising New Zealanders are being given the opportunity to fast track their ventures from idea through to startup, thanks to an online education initiative backed by Callaghan Innovation and entrepreneur education platform Startup NZ.

New Zealand 104

New Zealand Technical Cofounder Early Stage Entrepreneur 104

Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2015

My guests on Bay Area Ventures on Wharton Business Radio on Sirius XM Channel 111 were: Eric Ries , entrepreneur and author of the New York Times bestseller, The Lean Startup. Eric was the very first practitioner of my Customer Development methodology which became the core of the the Lean methodology. Origins of the Lean Startup.

Lean 120

Lean Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder Channel 120

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 9, 2013

I pointed out that the “data” you gather in 10 weeks (talking to 100+ customers, partners, payers, etc.,) Now that you’ve gotten to know your potential channel and customers, regardless of how much money you’re going to make, will you enjoy working with these customers for the next 3 or 4 years? see 0:30 in the video below).

Cofounder 329

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Liquidity Event Lean 329

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2019

by Everett Harper, CEO and cofounder of Truss. It’s not uncommon for startups that are laser-focused on fundraising to deprioritize certain challenges. Startups tend to put a premium on being “agile,” but that doesn’t always work – and certainly won’t replace the effective collaboration a business needs to grow.

Technical Cofounder 113

Technical Cofounder Burn Rate Seed Stage Cofounder 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

One of my favorite events last year was attending Startup Grind where I got to interview Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma. And of course we talked about many of my views of building startups. You didn’t join startups then. You joined a startup if you couldn’t get a real job.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Startup San Diego 337

techcrunch.com

MARCH 8, 2012

The Trouble With Non-tech Cofounders. This is a guest post by Scott Allison, CEO and founder of Teamly.com. This is a guest post by Scott Allison, CEO and founder of Teamly.com. So, should people who can’t write code do a startup? Enterprise. CrunchBase. Hot topics. Editor’s Picks. Disrupt NYC. guest author.

Technical Cofounder 49

Technical Cofounder Cofounder San Antonio Europe 49

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Here are some recent great posts that I’ve come across that generally fall in the intersection of startups and CTOs. Of course, one of the best ideas around this is to have Negative Customer Acquisition Costs. Of course, one of the best ideas around this is to have Negative Customer Acquisition Costs. Great stuff.

Acquisition 150

Acquisition Cofounder Technical Cofounder Cost 150

YoungUpstarts

MAY 29, 2011

This week Blackbox , founded by entrepreneurs Bjoern Lasse Herrmann and Max Marmer, released its first Startup Genome Report — a 67-page in depth analysis on what makes Silicon Valley startups successful based on profiling over 650 startups. Founders that learn are more successful. Solo founders take 3.6x

Silicon Valley 230

Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Cofounder Startup 230

viniciusvacanti.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

Home About Contact Me How To Make It as a First-Time Entrepreneur Vinicius Vacanti Guide to Finding a Technical Co-Founder September 7, 2010 | View Comments Steve Job's Technical Co-Founder “I’ve got this HUGE idea. I just need to find a technical co-founder.&#

Cofounder 43

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Founder Ruby 43

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2017

This movement, coupled with free websites and apps, makes it possible for almost any technical person to start a business. In my view as an advisor to new ventures, the Maker Movement is an integral part of a new age of the entrepreneur. Provides networking with cofounders and strategic partners.

Technical Cofounder 153

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Wiki Cofounder 153

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2012

Do I need a co-founder? These are some of the most frequent questions about co-founders that I have heard from entrepreneurs over the years. Do I need a co-founder? How many co-founders should I have? I have seen many successful companies with as few as 2 and as many of 11 co-founders.

Cofounder 90

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Accredited Investor Equity 90

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 23, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Friday, February 23, 2007 Events and Networking in Los Angeles One of the issues I discussed in Innovation and Geography was that the geography and traffic in Los Angeles generally makes it more difficult for networking. Startup Co-Founders: If You Cant Recruit Em, Should You Join Em?

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Technical Cofounder Southern California Networking 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2019

What is not so obvious is how to create and roll out solutions that can directly impact customer trust or financial well-being. AI assistants in homes are great (Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa) – but to children, they might easily be considered co-parents or teachers. Human employees and customers still need roles.

Artificial Inteligence 243

Artificial Inteligence Technical Cofounder Cofounder Security 243

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

by Alejandro Cremades , cofounder of Panthera Advisors and author of “ The Art of Startup Fundraising: Pitching Investors, Negotiating the Deal, and Everything Else Entrepreneurs Need to Know “ Why should entrepreneurs intentionally be generous when negotiating with investors? Generosity is nowhere on their radar.

Technical Cofounder 127

Technical Cofounder Entrepreneur Cofounder Post-Money Valuation 127

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Thursday, March 1, 2007 Entreprenuer Network Great post by Ben Kuo - The Importance of the “Network&# to Entrepreneurs - the informal connections between people in the technology industry here who have a vested interest in helping entrepreneurs take their companies to the next level.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Networking Southern California Los Angeles 150

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2011

The email continued, &# The problem I’m working on is that many founders are either making uninformed decisions or inefficiently learning the new skills they need. The solution I’m exploring is a just in time learning methodology that accelerates founders’ learning curve by aggregating relevant content, peers and mentors.&#.

Technical Cofounder 334

Technical Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 334

Up and Running

JULY 28, 2022

Innovation can be a product, design, or a process of doing things to solve a technical problem. Develop a founders agreement. A founders’ agreement is a legal contract defining and governing the relationship between cofounders. The whole point is to avoid business disputes that may come up between the founders.

Small Business 167

Small Business Intellectual Property Cofounder Software Review 167

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 27, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 27, 2007 Stanford Podcasts - eHarmony - Greg Waldorf I was just pointed to a set of great podcasts done by Stanford B-School and particularly, I just listed to the podcast by eHarmonys Greg Waldorf. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2018

In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often find founders who have such conviction and passion for their new idea, that they can’t believe anyone could challenge it. They bristle quickly when investors or even potential customers raise issues with real value, competition, risk, and sustainability. It’s been done before.

Technical Cofounder 168

Technical Cofounder Founder Cofounder Mobile 168

Austin Startup

MARCH 1, 2019

New Age Meats cofounders Brian Spears and Andra Necula The Forrest Four-Cast: March 1, 2019 Fifty diverse startups will aim to impress a panel of judges and a live audience with their skills, creativity and innovation at SXSW Pitch Presented by Cyndx. Brian Spears , Cofounder and CEO, spoke about his San Francisco-based company.

Technical Cofounder 48

Technical Cofounder San Francisco Cofounder Startup 48

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Innovation and Geography I ran across a post in Read/Write Web - Does Location Matter in Web Innovation? eHarmongy) as an acting CTO. My only other complaint is that right now its very hard to find good technical people at all levels.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

Tony Karrer is CEO/CTO of TechEmpower , a Los Angeles Web Development firm, and is considered one of the top technologists in e-Learning. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? .

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 9, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Friday, March 9, 2007 Map of VC Investments Found this Map of 2006 VC Investments post. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? .

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 Finding Good Developers in Los Angeles? Im part of a CTO group that meets once a month to discuss various topics. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Technical Cofounder Southern California CTO Hire 150