I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. I recently read a post that called this a Consulting CTO and suggested: Founders of startups use a consulting CTO when they have business vision but limited knowledge of the technology needed to launch their company. That same post said that finding part-time, consulting CTOs is fairly hard. In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up . I used an image from Roger Smith

Los Angeles-based Everbridge , which develops incident notification and mass calling systems, said Thursday that it has named Scott Sullivan as the firm's Chief Technology Officer. Sullivan was most recently Chief Technology Officer, Interactive, for the Tribune Company and the Los Angeles Times. Overture Services, where he was SVP Technology Operations and Engineering. Sullivan has also served at Edmunds.com, where he was CIO, and Yahoo!/Overture READ MORE>> ...Tags:

Calabasas-based DTS , a developer of surround sound technology, said today that it has named Dr. Frederick Kitson as the firm's EVP and Chief Technology Officer. Kitson joins from Motorola, where he was Corporate VP and head of Research and Development of the firm's Applied Research Center. Kitson has also served at Hewlett Packard.

At the Verizon Wireless Town Hall you'll hear from Anthony Melone, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Verizon Wireless about what's just around the corner at Verizon. Monday, May 18, 2009 -- CommNexus presents: Verizon Wireless Town Hall. This event will offer plenty of time for audience QandA, so bring your questions!

San Diego-based Skinit , a developer of personalized "skins" for electronic items, reports today that it has hired on Stanford Au, former SVP of technology at Shutterfly, as its Chief Technology Officer. Au was behind Shutterfly's Photobook line of products, and also held the position of VP of Products at WebEx. The firm said that Au has also previously served as an executive at Virage, inc.,

San Diego-based DivX said late Wednesday that the firm's Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Markus Moenig, has resigned from the firm. DivX is a developer of codec technology used for encoding digital vide According to DivX, Moenig, who joined the firm when it acquired MainConcept in November of 2007, is returning overseas to "explore new entrepreneurial opportunities." DivX said that Jim Reesman, the firm's Vice President of Engineering, will now lead its global engineering organization.

Redondo Beach-based iCONECT Development , a developer of litigation support software, said this morning that it has hired on former X1 Technologies Vice President Howard G. Silver as its Chief Technology Officer. Silver has previously served at ZANTAZ, Veritas, General Automation, AST Research, and Forward Technology, among other firms. According to iCONECT, Silver will spearhead new product development for the firm, which is used by corporations, law firms, and others for electronic discovery. iCONECT will open a Los Angeles office with Silver's hire. ...Tags:

Los Angeles-based MyLife , the online people search firm backed by Oak Investment Partners, announced today that it has named Paul Onnen as its Chief Technology Officer. Onnen joins the firm from Expedia, where he was EVP of Technology, where he managed technology and IT operations for Expedia.com, Hotels.com, NewTrade, eLong, and Hotwire. Onnen has also served at Cisco, WebMD, and Nordstrom.com. MyLife is headed by Jeffrey Tinsley, and is the result of the merger of Reunion.com and Wink.

Irvine-based Sage North America, the software division of The Sage Group plc, said Tuesday that it has appointed a new Chief Technology Officer, Motasim Najeeb. Sage said Najeeb will provide technology leadership for the firm. Sage said that Najeeb joins the firm from TradeBeam, where he was CTO and EVP of Engineering and operations. Najeeb has also served at Oracle, and was a founding memmember of WebMD.

San Diego-based Verimatrix has snagged a Motorola vet as its new Chief Technology Officer, the firm said today. The firm said it has named Petr Peterka, formerly a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff in the CTO's office at Motorola's Home and Networks Mobility Team to the position. Peterka is active in the DECE, DLNA CPS, ATIS, SMPTE, Coral, DVB, ITU-T and other standards organizations, specifically working on digital rights management (DRM0 systems. Verimatrix is a developer of DRM software used in set top boxes and IPTV.