John Shiple of FreelanceCTO with host Rockfield Labs meetup in Irvine, CA talk at FastStart.studio. How to vet a CTO or technical cofounder.

1. HOW TO FIND AND VET
A TECHNICAL
COFOUNDER
FreelanceCTO – FastStartStudios – November
2012

2. How to Find and Vet a
Technical CoFounder
Agenda
 Introduction and Quick Survey
 What are we talking about?
 Who am I?
 Who are you?
 Presentation
 Questions and Wrap-Up

3. FreelanceCTO is a
Technical CoFounder
 Founding Engineer for first commercial Internet
company: HotWired/Wired Digital
 Founder Status at 10+ companies over 20+ years
 40+ companies and products over 20+ years
 Company stages include Bootstrap, Seed, Angel,
VC (Series A,B, C), Fortune 500
 Funding ranges from 0 to $60M+ over multiple
rounds
 Team sizes range from under 5 to over 150
 Acquisitions range from $10M to $4B+

4. Questions for Audience
About You:
 First-time founder? First-time technology
founder?
 Business background? Technology
background?
 Launching a new product?
 Overhauling an existing product?
 How many of you are having problems?

5. The Talent Landscape
 All techies are working.
 If not, it is their choice to not work.
 The economy is in bad shape. Technology is
not!
 It takes too long to find talent.
 Above 30 (or after 2 or 3 startups), techies
build their own companies
 Local colleges started targeting startups 1 or 2
years ago

6. You…in the Eyes of a Techie
 Techies have heard it all before
 Hype: world-changing, but “I can’t tell you what it
is”
 Terminology: “revolutionary” terminology =
unfunded
 All techies have been burned
 Techies are the “belle of the ball” at practically
every tech event. It can overwhelm them
 You have an unrealistic budget (time, money,
or both)

7. CoFounder Goals
 Determine the following:
 Do you need full-time technical leadership?
 Is CoSourcing an option?:
 Meet as many techies as you can
 Get expert help
A little help: Technical Adviser (free)
 Some help: Technical Adviser (paid)
 A lot of help: CTO (paid)
 Build trust over time with the techies you meet

8. Where to Find Your
CoFounder?
 Your personal network
 Technology Meetups
 Meetup verticals with bad reputations with
techies:
 Entertainment
 Business Development, Marketing, and Sales
 Ask an expert which ones you should go to
 Hackathons
 Bring your own team or join lots of teams
 Local Universities(?)

9. Interviewing Your CoFounder
If you are a techie: If you are not a techie:
 Smarts  Skills
 Culture  Smarts
 Skills  Culture
Ask your potential CoFounder to draw your
business:
• Diagram with only boxes & arrows 1 in 10
Only
• Use generic terms techies can do
it!!
• Avoid using brand names

10. After Hiring Your CoFounder
 Seed, Feed, and Weed
 Fire Fast!!!!
 Learn how to interpret and listen to your gut
instincts

11. Questions?

12. FreelanceCTO LLC
 John Shiple, CEO
 John@FreelanceCTO.com
 www.FreelanceCTO.com
 310.893.3687
 @FreelanceCTO
 Active in local community:
 LA CTO Forum
 SoCal Code Camp
 Silicon Beach Fest
 Hackathons, Hackathons, Hackathons!