Steve Blank
JUNE 20, 2022
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? But this is the first time he was the CTO of a company this size.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 1, 2023
I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a cofounder or two. Giving a cofounder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Each cofounder should get equity for value, based on these key variables: Lived a key role in a previous startup.
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Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 5, 2023
Even if they realize that they need real technical strength at the top, they are not sure how to attract and select the talent and expertise they really need. That means every entrepreneur needs to learn how to attract, hire, and manage technical people for their team. Don’t fall for a technical pitch you can’t fathom.
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. The problem is you don't yet have product/market fit, and until you do, you don't really know what to build. When product vision is truly clear, then it makes sense to execute it, and hiring follows.
Steve Blank
JANUARY 17, 2023
Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. He had a track record of taking small teams and growing them into successful product lines.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 9, 2020
Value factors include your related product breadth and depth, relationships with thought leaders, key vendors, and large potential customers. Building the product may be the easy part of your startup challenge. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder. Key to required patents or trade secrets.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 19, 2023
Entrepreneurs need to be effective team leaders, since no one can transform an idea into a product and a business without some help. Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. If your team has trouble finding you, you won’t make productive connections.
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