article thumbnail

Startup CTO or Developer

SoCal CTO

I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. That’s why Roger Smith puts the focus of the CTO on programming for the earliest stage.

CTO 225
article thumbnail

Startup CTO Speaking

SoCal CTO

So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Most notably, he was the original CTO for eHarmony for its first four years making him partly responsible for more than 4% of the marriages every year. What does it cost to acquire a new customer? Tony has a Ph.D.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

10 Attributes Of The Perfect Partner For Your Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

The challenge is to recognize and recruit that ideal partner match early with minimal cost and risk. The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales.

Partner 385
article thumbnail

What is a CTO?

Austin Startup

As a CTO, I can definitely say without a doubt that few people understand what a CTO does. When I tell someone I’m a CTO, I’m often met with a blank stare. Even when someone is aware of what a CTO does, they often have limited context due to the wide variety of CTO roles.

article thumbnail

Generative AI – The End of Empty Textboxes

TechEmpower

That blurb, and the following examples, were all generated from GPT in only a few seconds, at a cost of less than one penny. To get to what’s right for you, you need a tech partner with a deep understanding of your business needs, software development experience, data engineering skills and AI expertise.

article thumbnail

Startup Software Developers

SoCal CTO

There’s quite a bit of truth to what Mark is saying about startup software developers, but my guess is that there’s another reason that it seems harder to find developers in this context. So, likely quite a few of the people who were seeking startup developers were looking to find people for very low dollars.