article thumbnail

Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do?

Startup Lessons Learned

So I initially gravitated to the CTO title, and not VP of Engineering. Instead, they find options and can communicate them to everyone in the company. Find the 80/20 - this was my favorite part of the job. I mean, have you seen other people? They might do anything ! But along the way, something strange happened.

CTO 168
article thumbnail

The Secret History of Minnesota Part 1: Engineering Research Associates

Steve Blank

The Navy’s was called CSAW ( Communications Supplemental Activity Washington ) also known as OPS-20-G. Dual-Use Technology As the war was winding down, the leadership of the Navy Computing Machine Lab in OPS-20-G was thinking about how they could permanently link commercial, academic and military computing science and innovation to the Navy.

Minnesota 288
article thumbnail

Lessons Learned: The hacker's lament

Startup Lessons Learned

Its common to find a hacker at the heart of almost any successful technology company. And we cant hire new engineers any faster, because you cant be interviewing and debugging and fixing all at the same time! Even with the highest standards imaginable, theres no way to hire just genius hackers. Just change it.