Startup on CTOMultiplier

Systems Thinking

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 18:11:56 +0000

Occasionally I work with clients who have a major problem in delivering on time and to the agreed quality. When I start to investigate the causes I find that when I talk to the product team they say the problem is that engineering is not fast enough and/or they produce too many defects, and when I talk to engineering they tell me that they get incomplete specifications from product, which means they have to spend more time developing, and sometimes they have to undo changes because they were not what the customer wanted. It is common for these organisations to see themselves as a set of silos, and to believe that the solution lies in “fixing” one of these silos (e.g. engineering). But this is a reductionist view of the problem, and rarely helps to solve it. To address the root of the problem, we need to rethink how we understand the organisation, and this is where systems thinking can help. As Einstein said: “We cannot solve problems by thinking in the same way as when we create them”.

The impact of culture on performance

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 17:44:00 +0000

This week I want to talk about a podcast from techlead journal (link at the end), in which they interview the author of the book Wrong fit, right fit. In the podcast, the author (André Martin) talks about company culture as a determining factor for the performance and happiness of an employee. Quote a Gallup report that says $8.8 trillion is lost due to employees’ lack of engagement with their companies. André will equate working in a company with which you don’t have a cultural fit to writing with your left hand (or right if you are left-handed). You can do it, and you will produce…but the quality will be much worse and you will feel unfulfilled.

What does a Fractional CTO do?

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 15:01:31 +0000

A Fractional CTO is a professional who has worked as a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in technology companies or startups and now offers this expertise as a freelance or consulting service. This model allows companies to flexibly bring in an experienced CTO to help with their technology and product strategy. There are many reasons why a company might consider hiring a Fractional CTO, such as filling the CTO role in an early-stage startup, mentoring and supporting a manager in their promotion to CTO, conducting due diligence, or strengthening the management team on a specific project.

Startup Mistakes: Hiring a full-stack developer as CTO

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 13:36:42 +0000

Some startups hire a full-stack developer for the CTO position, because they do not have the budget for an experienced CTO. There is a belief that in the early stages a developer can take over the CTO position, and learn as they go along. There are several reasons for this. On the one hand, many startups start with very little money, which makes it impossible to pay the salary of an experienced CTO. On the other hand, there is a lack of knowledge about the responsibilities and value of a CTO.

Startup Strategy 101: 10 Tech and Product Errors to Avoid

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 13:15:38 +0000

When you start a startup you have a blank sheet of paper: the possibilities are endless and while it is true that there is no 100% effective manual on how to get started, there are recommendations about what usually works and what doesn’t. In this post I want to talk from my experience working in several startups, about common mistakes I have observed when defining the technology and product strategy. Of course, it is not a complete list, and you can surely find exceptions for most of the points, but I think these are decisions that in many cases can be considered as wrong or at least not optimal. In the startup world, mistakes are often referred to as learning, but stumbling twice on the same stone is no longer learning…