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Finding and Growing the Islands of Innovation inside a large company – Action Plan for A New CTO

Steve Blank

How does a newly hired Chief Technology Officer (CTO) find and grow the islands of innovation inside a large company? How not to waste your first six months as a new CTO thinking you’re making progress when the status quo is working to keep you at bay? Instrument the process with metrics and diagnostics.

CTO 363
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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
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Lead Developer to CTO at a Startup

SoCal CTO

I seem to encounter a lot of people who want to attach a CTO label to me as I'm the only programmer on the founding team of three. While I do fill that role at the moment, I'm a little hesitant to refer to myself as a CTO as we still haven't launched a product, acquired a single user, or turned or a penny in profit. Who will do that?

CTO Hire 231
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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.

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Five Recruiting Metrics Every Founder Should Track

View from Seed

This desperate need for employees often leads to an equally desperate, ad-hoc approach to recruiting without any relevant recruiting metrics being tracked. Founders furiously work their networks, post open positions on every reasonable-looking job board, and hope to quickly start hiring. Candidate-company fit: Interview-to-hire.

Metrics 120
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Building Your MVP as a Non-Technical Founder

SoCal CTO

Once you build it, they will now ask you about the key metrics that they need proven in order to see if you really are a good investment. The real reason to build an MVP is to do early tests of key Startup Metrics for the business. " Once you have the metrics defined, it focuses your effort. To prove/disprove a hypothesis.

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How to Create a Marketing Playbook for Consistent Campaigns

ConversionXL

It should include primary and secondary KPIs and metrics related to marketing goals , as well as the platforms (e.g., When teams know what to track and how metrics relate to the overall objective, they can transform data into actionable insights to improve the play. Think about your playbook from the perspective of a new hire.

Campaign 149