Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Partner decisions are more important than hiring decisions. Then, as I suggested before, it’s time to establish a formal agreement or contract to cement the partnership.

Partner 258

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Equity 258

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone. Level of responsibility and time allocated.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

Business Plan Blog

AUGUST 20, 2013

In order to be a successful tech startup, the team must consist of a Chief Technical Officer (CTO) level member to help with the technology plan. This is generally achieved in one of the following ways: CTO Level Co-Founder (Equity). CTO Level Board Member or dedicated Adviser (Free or Equity). Wireframes.

CTO Hire 55

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Architecture Cofounder 55

blog.aparttimecto.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

A Part-Time CTO Technology. Flexibility - You won’t need to commit to something, either cash, equity or involving other people, upfront. Depending on the level of complexity and difficulty, it might not be the most efficient use of your time. Cons: Cost - Most development shops work on a cash basis.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Equity Vesting 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2014

The first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90 percent of the equity. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so there is no equity value in the idea alone. Level of responsibility and time allocated.

Cofounder 261

Cofounder Stock Founder Technical Cofounder 261

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Projecting from the seed stage, there are two types of team-building topics you want to address – key senior hires and org-level team building. As the company progresses through product market fit (PMF), you will want to highlight other key senior hires required to scale and round out the functional expertise of the exec team.

Part-Time VPE 195

Part-Time VPE Seed Stage CTO Hire Forecast 195

SoCal CTO

MAY 27, 2010

There are a bunch of questions in Startup Software Development – Do Your Homework Before You Develop Anything and in Startup CTO or Developer. This is somewhat the heart of what a CTO does. You have to determine in-house vs. outside development and what parts of the problem each person will do. Do not hire a CTO at this point.

CTO Hire 170

CTO Hire Developer Founder Startup 170

rapidrollout.wordpress.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Web Startup Lessons Advice from a CTO and Entrepreneur Home About Startup Advice: When to Use a Consulting CTO There are not many to be found. He or she might call himself a “consulting CTO,&# “freelance CTO,&# “on-demand CTO,&# “CTO on call,&# “CTO for hire,&# or just a “technology strategy advisor.&#

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE 40

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). These are things that can cost very little money, but go a long ways in convincing someone that you are making progress. Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Sweat Equity CTO Hire 281

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Franchises Franchises Home Franchise 500 Home-Based Low Cost Top New Fast Growing Top Global Biz Opportunities Franchises for Sale Franchises A Bright Forecast for a Solar Panel Installation Franchise. What is Sweat Equity Worth? Determining how to value sweat equity is key when negotiating with investors and employees.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). These are things that can cost very little money, but go a long ways in convincing someone that you are making progress. Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

They were referring to non-founder engineers, most commonly the first hire for technology businesses. Layer on the opportunity cost of choosing not to pursue lucrative alternatives offered elsewhere, and it’s easy to see how, if not under the right terms, the engineer #1 position is less than appealing.

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). These are things that can cost very little money, but go a long ways in convincing someone that you are making progress. Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

You’re sales person is getting blocked by the CTO who says she shouldn’t go above him but the CTO isn’t approving the deal. But “he didn’t have the budget to hire a developer until he had raised money!&#. Should she take a chance and potentially ruffle feathers? I said that was my point.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Fractional CTO Technical Review CTO Hire 414

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CIO) and a product lead (CTO). These are things that can cost very little money, but go a long ways in convincing someone that you are making progress. Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 14, 2009

First, early in the post, Mark mentions: The idea behind the meetup is to connect technology startups with prospective hires who may be interested to work for “alternative compensation”–e.g., reduced salary, partial equity, good experience, etc. I’ll give you equity in the company.” They haven’t.

Software Developers 150

Software Developers Software Development Software Developer 150

www.reincubate.com

FEBRUARY 1, 2010

Share this: chief technical officer chief technology officer cto interim cto job description start-up startup cto web cto Weve been swapping some thoughts with Daniel Kehoe , a consulting CTO acquaintance of ours from across the pond. Some companies look for a more strategic or a more hands-on CTO.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO Technical Review CTO Hire 40

sivers.org

JUNE 25, 2010

Derek Sivers about me blog books email list contact How to hire a programmer to make your ideas happen 2010-06-19 Do you have an idea for a website, online business, or application, but need a programmer to turn that idea into reality? Youll estimate time and cost better. Hire one from each. Thats cold enough.

CTO Hire 84

CTO Hire Hiring Software Review Technical Review 84

David Teten

JUNE 6, 2011

Previously CTO, Goldman Sachs. Adrian Kunzle, Head of Firmwide Engineering & Architecture (CTO), JP Morgan Chase. BROWN: Cost of managing a data store is negligible. y depreciated hydroelectric dams, to lower our electrical costs. Introductory remarks. Does R&D/biz dev services for company. 15 yrs at MS.

Fractional CTO 122

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire Azure 122

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Not surprisingly, the list above also is ranked from least to most equity stake in an investment for the investor, relative to the cash they invest. How would one set up such a startup to eventually raise capital from outside VCs, who will be wary of ‘dead equity’ (i.e., equity that belongs to departed cofounders)? The cliffs?

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

rapidrollout.wordpress.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Web Startup Lessons Advice from a CTO and Entrepreneur Home About Finding a Technical Partner for Your Startup Today I received an inquiry from a student at an Ivy League university who wants to launch a web startup. How can I go about looking for a (very) good programmer willing to do this as sweat equity? So you see my dilemma.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Fractional CTO Partner CTO Hire 40

www.quora.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Type to Add and Search Questions; Search Topics and People Startups Startup Compensation Entrepreneurship Compensation Stock Options Major Internet Companies Silicon Valley Why is there such a large founder to early employee equity drop-off? This ties into this Paul Graham article: [link] /equity. Login if you already have an account.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

If you do not break it down into small pieces, its hard to make progress with part-time resources, freelancers, etc. Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers Technology Roles in Startups Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? Third party products are used appropriately.

Technical Cofounder 338

Technical Cofounder Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 338

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Great lifestyle, great cost of living, motivated people and only the crap weather on the negative side. Your highest priority right now is hiring the 1 or 2 people that are going to join your company and make a difference. There’s you and your killer CTO co-founder. The ingredients are all here. We know it can be done.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

Here are some of the issues that were mentioned: I just want the cost, timeline and impact. Estimating Cost – it takes a lot of work to do a reasonable estimate of cost. Re-estimating – if estimating is something they don’t like, then having to re-estimate costs based on a constantly changing target is brutal.

Technical Cofounder 280

Technical Cofounder Developer Fractional CTO CTO Hire 280

www.reincubate.com

FEBRUARY 1, 2010

page, can -- despite the occasional new release from Adobe -- be considered a dead language, with all that this entails (difficulty finding and retaining good developers, vendor lock-in, horrendous cost, poor support, porting nightmares, infrastructure constraints). Why would one chose to develop with a particular framework over any other?

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO Technical Review CTO Hire 40

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 1, 2009

CompStudy publishes an annual report of equity and cash compensation that provides compensation data on top management positions and Boards of Directors at private companies in technology and life sciences. Participants who complete the survey will receive the full results at no cost. . Head of Technology/CTO 1.19%.

Stock Options 31

Stock Options CTO Hire Equity 31

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 1, 2010

Content companies, for example, should be able to amass traffic and sell advertising on a bootstrapped budget before they come close to seeking equity financing—because you can, and because that’s the market expectation and that’s what your competitors are already doing. > Are their annoying costs, like the cost to publish an LLC notice?

New York City 113

New York City New York Startup Burn Rate 113

www.metamorphblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Here’s how the pitch sounds from the engineer’s perspective: ‘For ten whole percent of equity, you will slave away to build a prototype out of my shitty idea, not have any say in the decision-making process…and oh yeah, you could be fired at any point.’ Date for a bit, then split the equity.

Founder 51

Founder Startup Cofounder Vesting 51

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 4, 2009

Startup companies consume resources intelligently, put people to work in efficient ways, and produce market driven products at lower costs. The application fee is $50, which only partially offsets costs associated with processing applications. Joe Betts-LaCroix – CTO, OQO. Hiring and Firing. What to outsource.

Founder 28

Founder Warrant San Francisco Intellectual Property 28

SoCal CTO

MARCH 4, 2010

Background This post partly really came about as a result of a great conversation yesterday with David Croslin a former CTO at HP who recently conducted an interesting experiment. This is actually fairly common and I think it’s a bit challenging in that the technology roles (from technology advisor to CTO) in a startup vary widely.

Technical Review 170

Technical Review Fractional CTO Technology CTO Hire 170

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

The negativity either impacted investment funding (venture capital fell off a cliff in 2009) or the customers they were targeted as was the case for Untitled Partners who were building a platform for fractional art ownership. Contributing to the high cost structure was the new culture of working 9-5 Monday through Friday.

Cofounder 89

Cofounder Startup Technical Cofounder CTO Hire 89

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. Call it facts for hire. It would be a bit like the hired gun in the old west, but more suited for today’s times. You got it.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

I have come to believe during my time as an operator, entrepreneur and investor that the balance of these skills is so important to the long-term health of a business that if balance is not achieved early then the impact later can be profound - sometimes terminal. Colin Hayhurst , CTO co-founder then CEO of start-up b.

Technical Review 51

Technical Review Startup CTO Hire Cofounder 51

blog.captainrecruiter.com

MARCH 8, 2012

Eventually I was able to scrape up a few bucks and hired Sarah to build me a website prototype. Eventually Ill hire a software geek of my own, but right now Im doing just fine without one. It's not a question of me being unwilling to work for equity -- I am. Also hire offshore devs to assist you in building your product.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Founder Software Engineering 40

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

The software was sold based on installation cost running on local servers for enterprises—which was very, very expensive. If you don’t yet have a team yet, list the roles you need to hire for. If you don’t yet have a team yet, list the roles you need to hire for. Estimating Realistic Startup Costs. The business model.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Inevitably, the excuses begin: I need to hire people to build the product. In later posts I’m going to get into more detail on specific topics like hiring, raising money, what types of ideas have the potential to get big, finding your founders, and the like. Like I said, forget everything else and just get your product out the door.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84