I generally am working as an acting CTO for about 3-4 start-ups or other companies at any one time. I also found this interesting graphic of the changing needs around the CTO role in different size/type companies that somewhat echoes my experience. ( Roger Smith ) This helps explain where I normally play. During Stabilization, often the focus is transitioning to a full-time CTO. I was just talking with someone who asked me to define how that could work and what they meant. Great question.

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 . I used an image from Roger Smith that describes the varying roles of a CTO as the company matures. However, I’ve now begun questioning how and what an early-stage / startup CTO should be. Most often at the earliest point in the life of a startup, the dominant need is certainly to produce product to get something in the market, get funding, etc.

Based on my posts Startup CTO or Developer and Acting CTO , Chris O’Meara wrote an interesting post Startup CTO: Could It Work? Chris starts with a description of the person that pretty much every startup is looking for: Their primary characteristics are deep technical skills and a hacker mentality. They tend to know where to find good help in terms of employees and consultants. I love blog conversations. They tend to have the knack for architecture.

I just got done reading a post by Roger Ehrenberg Advice for CTO Founders: Don't Let Business Kill the Business where he suggests that CTO Founders should not move too early in finding a business cofounder: Too often, however, I have found CTO / Founders paired with business people who not only don't add value, but frequently detract from the value of the business. 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

Mark is a CTO, see, and his company, PortBlue , was recently acquired (congrats, Mark!). LA CTO Forum – This is a private community of CTOs in the southern California area. Mark, I hope this helps. Tags: Technology Web Startup Advice CTO internet startup los angeles marketing networking My friend Mark Long recently asked me about networking in Los Angeles. After transitioning to the new team, Mark was left to wonder, what now?

Vaultive « Are Derivatives the Real Problem? | Main February 23, 2010 Advice for CTO Founders: Dont Let Business Kill the Business Founding a technology company is an amazing thing. Too often, however, I have found CTO / Founders paired with business people who not only don't add value, but frequently detract from the value of the business. Home About Press IA Capital Partners Archives After 17 years in M&A, Derivatives and Trading, Im spending my time with young entrepreneurs in and around financial technology and digital media....

Social networking sites and microblogs are used not only to build company brands, but to foster productivity; social media tools help build communities around the question, "What are you working on?" Tony Karrer, CEO/CTO of TechEmpower Speaker Bios: Jason Oberfest, Senior Vice President, Business Development of MySpace Jason Oberfest is Senior Vice President, Business Development at MySpace, as well as SVP and GM, MySpace Open Platform. Just a quick note that I'll be moderating a Technology Council Event : Social Networking as a Business Strategy May 19, 2009 - Culver City Social networking media are used on a daily basis to grow businesses and expand career opportunities.

Why listen: Marcus teaches you how to get your customers to help you build your business. Why listen: Seth teaches you how to build a tribe of passionate supporters who will help you grow your business 12.     Mark Jeffrey - CTO, Mahalo Why Why listen: Karen, 1.     Rosalind Resnick - Founder of NetCreations Why Why listen: Rosalind bootstrapped a company that she eventually took public.

Santa Barbara-based Make It Work , the in-home computer and electronics help firm headed by Eric David Greenspan, reports that the firm is seeing its business grow, and has been hiring additional technicians at the company. The firm attributed a portion of the positive results to new customers it has been gaining from its Tech News radio show on KNX, which features Make It Work's co-founder and CTO, Jeremy Anticouni. Greenspan said that the privately company is expecting profitable, topline growth this quarter, and saw another EBITDA positive month in July, plus an increase in its bank balance for the first time this year.

I want to take you through a bit of what brought me here, because I think it will help explain what I mean by visible networking. Networking Events – Questionable Return on Your Time Last week I posted about Networking Events in Los Angeles and Southern California and received back some interesting comments, some of the best from a LinkedIn Group. I've not found any great groups either. There were some suggestions in the LinkedIn group, but nothing that made me think … wow, that would be great. To top this off, at the LA CTO Forum we had Mark Suster as the presenter.