YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

The right advisor can have a greater impact on the success of your small business than any other hire you ever make. Have a CTO Advisor Provide Their Guidance & Due Diligence Suggestions on a Large Upcoming Technology Expenditure. It’s time small businesses started hiring more advisors.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Small Business Hiring 100

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've recently received several emails from people looking for a technical cofounder for their startup. Make sure you go through the 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot to Ask a Startup Founder. You should definitely hit up the Startup Weekend events as well. And look at StartupDigest.com for lots of startup oriented events.

Technical Cofounder 211

Technical Cofounder Cofounder CTO Hire Los Angeles 211

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

This is not only sad but incredibly frustrating, because it is so easy to see how a great technology can be developed and commercialized if only - if only the CTO hadn't been impulsive and insecure and brought on a business partner too early in the game. … And it’s not just inexperienced CTOs. Lack of confidence? Camaraderie?

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Cofounder CTO Hire Founder 150

SoCal CTO

MAY 13, 2014

A large part of this conversation is what kinds of advisors startups should be looking for. A little while ago, I suggested that Every Web/Mobile Startup Should Have a Technical Advisor. We both felt that most startups are not taking a very systematic approach to defining with they need in terms of advisors.

Advisory Board 241

Advisory Board Fractional CTO CTO Hire Startup 241

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 19, 2024

Despite not going to university, Ash became a serial tech founder and the first marketing director of a unicorn startup – Just Eat). Hasan built a successful startup from his bedroom with nothing more than an online course and a yearning to escape the ‘rat race’. Click here to listen to the episode.

Fractional CTO 74

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review Marketing 74

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2013

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. VCs and Angel investors like to see a startup that is running lean and mean, with no more than three or four of the conventional C-level or VP titles. Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales).

CTO Hire 244

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Angel Investor 244

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

One of the vivid memories I have from being a startup CEO is the feeling that most people in your company have a look in their eyes that like they can do your job as well as you. Eventually you need a VP of Product to handle your product roadmap, a CTO for engineering leadership and VPs of sales, marketing & biz dev.

CTO Hire 385

CTO Hire Entrepreneur Technical Review Leadership 385

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales.

Partner 269

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 269

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

We all like to think of startups as “non hierarchic&# organizations and to some extent that should be true. As your organization grows and you hire senior staff where you are no longer managing every employee directly the issue of how to manage people that are not your “direct&# reports arises.

CTO Hire 308

CTO Hire Management Technical Review Part-Time VPE 308

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. VCs and Angel investors like to see a startup that is running lean and mean, with no more than three or four of the conventional C-level or VP titles. Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales).

CTO Hire 252

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Angel Investor Public Relations 252

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2011

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ Ten Steps in Choosing the Right Startup Partner ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales.

Partner 240

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 240

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

A week or so ago, we launched the Key Hire Wire at First Round. If you know of senior level business and technical professionals looking for exciting startup opportunities, they can sign up here. If you know of senior level business and technical professionals looking for exciting startup opportunities, they can sign up here.

Part-Time VPE 92

Part-Time VPE CTO Hire Engineer Sales 92

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 13, 2022

For example, if you’re a sales oriented founder that gets backed pre-launch, then an investor isn’t going to assume that founder has any product design skills. VCs aren’t experts at every aspect of a startup at the same level across the board. What I see as your expertise is X and I trust your feedback in that area implicitly.

Founder 166

Founder Fiji CTO Hire Term Sheet 166

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2010

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. VCs and angel investors like to see a startup that is running lean and mean, with no more than three or four of the conventional C-level or VP titles. Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales).

CTO Hire 227

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Angel Investor 227

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. 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 140

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 140

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One.” The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales.

Partner 258

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Equity 258

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Startups are hard. You’ve heard that a million times. The truth is you really don’t know how your teammates or your bosses will perform in good times and bad. The truth is you really don’t know how your teammates or your bosses will perform in good times and bad. You hire people who look good on paper.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Cofounder San Francisco Silicon Valley 320

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Fred Wilson also wrote on a similar topic in his usual more succinct manner , with a great quote being: “One thing I know for sure is that those who advise and invest in startups cannot and should not meddle in the day to day decision making. It’s harmful and hurtful to the startup and those that lead it. I did this.

Startup 150

Startup CTO Hire Sales Leadership 150

www.bothsidesofthetable.com

MAY 13, 2012

Sales & Marketing. Want to Know Difference Between a CTO and a VP of Engineering? I recently did a post for startups on understanding sales people. A few people asked me to try and define the perfect startup organization chart. But I do have more insight into understanding your startup team.

Fractional VPE 89

Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE Fractional CTO CTO Hire 89

blog.chrisomeara.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Chris OMeara Main | Probing Code Quality » 01/31/2010 Startup CTO: Could It Work? A CEO friend of mine recently asked my opinion about Tony Karrers Startup CTO or Developer article. I think the part time CTO could work. Many of us have done freelance work in the past, often for startups.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Startup Cofounder 40

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

I recently wrote a post about why I didn’t think early-stage startups should have COOs. What a luxury in a startup to have the number one person in the business get to focus on just strategy? One great solution I see is to hire an outstanding CFO who runs both. I expected it to be controversial and it was.

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

Gust

APRIL 20, 2014

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. VCs and Angel investors like to see a startup that is running lean and mean, with no more than three or four of the conventional C-level or VP titles. Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales).

CTO Hire 171

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Angel Investor Public Relations 171

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

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

I think I’ve read Paul Graham’s post on “ Startup = Growth ” three or four times now. “The growth of a successful startup usually has three phases: There’s an initial period of slow or no growth while the startup tries to figure out what it’s doing. So I like that bit, too.

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 14, 2012

So many tech startups begin the same way: One founder, one dream and a plan to make it happen. But to succeed, most startups need a much broader set of skills and experience. So what does it actually take to build a kickass startup team? She sold her first tech startup econfidant.com to a larger technology company.

Technical Review 159

Technical Review CTO Hire Software Review Startup 159

Gust

APRIL 13, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales.

Partner 179

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 179

Hunter Walker

JUNE 7, 2014

Most of the startups we’ve backed at Homebrew don’t rush to announce their funding. Contrast this to just a few years ago when it seemed every startup was jumping up and down to shout about their initial raise. Hiring Has Changed: Before the press was a way of generating interest for hiring.

Technical Review 117

Technical Review CTO Hire Finance Stealth 117

ConversionXL

JUNE 16, 2022

Consistency is equally critical for startups. In this article, we’ll explain how to create a marketing playbook to align your teams and boost your sales opportunities. If a social media follower clicks through a casual post to see a formal sales piece, their experience changes, as does their impression of Visme as a brand.

Campaign 149

Campaign CTO Marketing Social Media 149

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 16, 2018

As I mentioned at the beginning of this series/ebook, over the years I’ve noticed that I tend to frequently share certain Lucky7 posts with entrepreneurs we’ve backed , team members at data.world, or other startup investors I know. It is all about how you hire the best and the amazing impact doing so will have on your culture.

Part-Time VPE 48

Part-Time VPE CTO Hire Hiring Austin 48

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2010

A week ago I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ How to Select an Ideal Startup Co-Founder ”. 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 230

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 230

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 20, 2014

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference Eleven months in the making, the full schedule for The Lean Startup Conference is at last complete, and we can’t wait to show you around! For first-time attendees, this conference offers a complete introduction to Lean Startup.

Lean 156

Lean Programming San Francisco CTO Hire 156

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 1, 2014

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference The Lean Startup Conference is next week--and now that we can step back and see all the speakers and mentors, we have to say: Wow. Ben Horowitz ’s book The Hard Thing About Hard Things is driving the conversation around startup management this year.

Lean 165

Lean Fractional CTO Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE 165

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? As Chris Dixon says in Why you shouldn’t keep your startup idea secret. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch.

NDA 211

NDA Stealth Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement 211

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ). Startup Lessons'

Founder 309

Founder CTO Hire Silicon Valley Leadership 309

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? As Chris Dixon says in Why you shouldn’t keep your startup idea secret. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch.

NDA 198

NDA Stealth Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement 198

View from Seed

MARCH 29, 2016

Ask a founder of a growing startup what they need most, and you’ll often get an answer along the lines of, “We need great people, and we need them fast.”. But even well-prepared startups that have laid out strategies for scaling can find themselves scrambling in the face of a fast-growing customer base.

Metrics 120

Metrics Founder CTO Hire Technical Review 120

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 23, 2016

Along with Ben Rogmans – Saleduck’s CTO and co-founder, the two have spearheaded the movement towards expanding Saleduck in five countries within Southeast Asia and are now looking towards furthering the platform’s presence in more countries within the region. Looking for talent in the wrong places. Being too direct during meetings.

Asia 100

Asia Thailand Malaysia CTO Hire 100