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MenuWhat is the best way to find a CTO for my start up?
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I'd take a look at the large, established companies in the technology space in which you want to operate. Somewhere at one of those companies is an astute, experienced person who might be ready to get out of the big company environment if you come along with the right idea. E.g. Cisco if you are doing networking, Salesforce if you are doing marketing automation, Intuit if you are doing financial apps. The trick is finding one who not only has the technical expertise and wants to get out, but is well suited financially and psychologically for a startup. I learned the hard way that co-founders who are not in the same boat financially can make for an unhappy parting.
It has to be someone you can trust and preferably someone you have worked with before. Because a Startup's main chance of success comes from how well the team functions and communicates with each other and trusts each other, a cto should be also someone who is very knowledgeable and has good networking relations. Every person in a startup is a sales or marketing person, so keep that in mind.
This roles takes me to answering your question: go network. Your CTO should be a networker and thus be found while networking. A lot of Startups are created by friends and positions assigned accordingly, but when is just you and your building your team networking is best & more direct solution. There are rules for networking properly, but that's a different topic.
Give me a call if you would like to go over networking tips and strstegies.
Best of luck!
Humberto Valle
Unthink Strategy
CTO can be an important leadership hire for a company. As it continues to grow CTO adds value to help scale the technology & platform, dev organization and leadership presence with investors/market.
Your networks are always a great source to find such talent - LinkedIn, Founder dating, Angel List and clarity are few forums I would recommend connecting with prospective tech leaders. In addition, depending on your geographical region there are always great startup and tech events to connect with your future CTO.
Finding a CTO is really an individual company cultural centric framework which is governed by technical competency for the area of operation you work it. I recently merged several tech companies into one for this reason, because each partner carries expertise in different verticals the main company operates in or does business. The expertise needed can very often for a startup be outsourced to minimize cost. I have several clients that I work with that have used this strategy to vet cultural fits and minimize cost on staff for a role which may only need have limited engagement or ramped project engagement with the main core business. This of course depends on your business and organizational design, after 25 years in Human Resources and several Tech Endeavors in my life. I have come to realize that fractional CFO, CTO or HR pros have loads of value and can often bring expertise, which can not be found in a direct hire. However this really depends on type of business and markets company works in. I am open to conversation on this as you would like some examples or ideas...
Kind regards,
Reuben
To find apt CTO for your start keep the following in your mind:
1. Be clear about your requirements
You must have a clear picture of your requirements. That could act as a filter to select the most appropriate candidates. In a perfect world, you need to discover somebody who will consider this to be as a bar up on the stepping stool in their profession, for example, a senior programming engineer or specialized group captain who is ravenous to take on the CTO job.
2. Go to places where you are likely to find good technical talent
It is always a good idea to go to cohorts where there are like-minded people as you and these places could be an answer to your question “How to Find a CTO?”. Hackathons, conferences, meetups, summits are all great opportunities to discover a potential CTO who would be a great asset for your company. Search for somebody who can get various innovations.
3. Look for developers at just below the CTO level at start-ups like yours
Jobs like VP or Engineering Lead where there is as of now a CTO at that start-up implies that they presumably have the experience required to be a CTO yet probably won't get the open door where they at currently are. You can scan for individuals like this through LinkedIn. Ensure they have at any rate had experience shipping a product if you need to give them the duty of building yours.
4. Utilise the power of the internet
The internet is a potent tool in today’s world. Make sure you make the best use of it and benefit from its huge pool of talented professionals.
5. Pitch for the position
You would realize that your start-up is the most energizing, imaginative, astonishing organisation to work for but remember that the candidates presumably do not have the foggiest idea about that yet. You must sell your start-up. Whatever novel characteristics your start-up has, sell them well.
6. Ensure that you have a technical advisor before a CTO
How do you differentiate a technical advisor from a CTO? A technical advisor keeps their regular job but works for you 2–4 hours out of every month and fills in as somebody who's not in the weeds with you, every day. On the off chance that you discover a technical advisor first, this individual can be immense aid in finding the CTO. Or maybe, you are requesting that they keep their current job and take on an advisory role that takes a couple of hours a week.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
Related Questions
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I've already applied for a "dream job". They are forward-thinking and advertise their culture and distributed team.
What can I do now to stand out?
You need to show them that you can solve their problems. The #1 mistake made by most applicants is that they keep talking about themselves: "here are my skills, here's what I've done, etc..." Instead of talking about yourself, talk about them: "You need someone who can jump right in; someone who can start working without making mistakes. You also don't have a lot of time for training. I can get started right away." This is going to require some research. Follow the founders / managers on Twitter. Read their blog posts. Scan their error logs (if they're public). Find out where you're *needed* and highlight that. Generally it's best to do this during the application process. If you've already sent in a cover letter and resume, it doesn't hurt to send a follow-up email that says: "I've been doing some research, and I think I've found some places I could be helpful."JJ
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Evaluating Co-Founders, How did you do it?
You have to be careful on selecting your co-founder. I know it's an already cliché to mention it, but selecting one is like selecting a spouse to marry. You need to know the person first, and even some investors and accelerators dismiss automatically startups because the founders didn't meet before working together in the startup. If you're doing a tech startup, the co-founder should have a technical background if you don't have it. That will save you a lot of money when you're bootstrapping as well as making sure you deploy a great product as soon as possible. Once you want to work with someone, my best advice is to hire them to do a project or a task inside the startup. More than words, you need to see them in action and that way you can evaluate your chemistry as a team. When you already worked the details and decided to create a startup together, you need to be smart about the plans. You need to sign a partnership agreement and put the equity in a vesting option. In Silicon Valley, the standard vesting period is 4 years with a one year cliff. After one year, the founders fully own of the 25% of their shares. That means if they leave the company before the first year, they will not have equity in the company. Having all that in mind, I think it will help you select the best co-founder possible and also be a better bet to investors if you ever decide to raise money. I hope it helps!RD
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Do some serial startup founders, solicit ideas (open to receive them even just by email) to start another venture?
I would suggest you search for and read out blogs. I can't think of any entrepreneurs who aren't also blogging. I have two blogs: brightideas.co and http://groovedigitalmarketing.comTD
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What are the pain points felt by external recruiters? How do they deal with these pain points?
since most get paid upon a candidates permanent offer most of the hastle comes from finding the right person. knowing how t filter helps a recruiter incrementally over time leading to repeat customers. feel free to call one of us to help you get going or guiding you through hurdles. :)HV
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Specific Tactics to find a co-founder, Do you have what it takes? (ONLY real Startup founders answer please)
Here's what you need to do to recruit any cofounder: 1) Prove or at least instill *high* confidence that you can fund the business or raise the funds required; 2) Demonstrate that you are someone worth following. What have you done previously that clearly shows to others that you have what it takes to succeed? 3) Credibly demonstrate that your idea can create massive success. An idea by itself, no matter how interesting is woefully insufficient. 4) Spend every day making outreach (cold emails, LinkedIn, dribbble, etc) to people, meeting at least 3 a week. You will "kiss many frogs." It's likely you have to meet at least 100 people to find the right person and that assumes you have 1-3. By the way, in order to actually *meet* 100 good people, you'll have to make outbound to at least 400 people. 5) Negotiate equity and compensation (pre and post funding) and ensure written alignment on how decisions are made between the two of you. Cofounder relationships are as intense as marriages. And just like getting married, it requires a lot of dating to build the trust. I'm *totally* unconvinced that two people can find a person they haven't known previously, and become effective cofounders. I think you're better off finding the money to hire someone than actually find a cofounder. The main reason? You probably won't find someone as passionate as you are about what you're building. And keep in mind, I have no idea who you are or what you're building so that's no judgement on you or the idea, just the reality I've observed over 20 years of startups.TW
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