

Where to find a good CTO for your startup? - babul

What do you think is the best way to find a good CTO for your startup? ...especially after you have been established for a little while?<p>A friend recently asked me this question. Usually my response is to search through the people you know or have worked with and respect. Failing that to search through your extended network and base the decision upon the recommendations people get and, provided the person is able to and willing, on a trial-run period with whoever you decide to take on.<p>Otherwise I suggest using a specialised/alternate recruitment method to explore the niches as this works well e.g. posting an ad on your blog or an ad using SnapTalent or registering a need on YouNoodle generates excellent leads compared to the more traditional agency methods.<p>However, her startup is fairly established and is having problems finding suitable people. I have included text from her blog below which provides an overview with what she is looking for (from http://www.birthofastartup.com/).<p>Any comments, suggestions, and feedback on the experiences and thoughts of the others here is most welcome.<p>Thanks.<p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<p>"Skimbit now has a good size team (Joe the amazing Marketing Director and Matthieu the incredible Operations Manager), but what we really need now is a CTO.<p>We have a team of developers offshore, but we would like someone to really champion Skimbit from a technical perspective, with experience in scaling web applications, and in building innovative services. As we are a small team, the CTO would also have to be a lead developer (so experience with Javascript, AJAX libraries and PHP essential), and probably be involved in some front end development work too. But aaah, isn’t that the joy of working for a start-up, you can be a jack-of-all-trades, and be truly an integral part of building something special.<p>Let me know if you or anyone you know would be appropriate. The candidate doesn’t need to have been a CTO before, but is ready (and experienced enough) to be one now, at least."
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prakash
I think what your friend's startup _really needs_ is a VP of engineering/
Chief Architect.

Once that is taken care of you can figure out what _type_ of CTO you would
like to hire. Based on a paper I read, there are 4 types of CTO's between
which to choose from:

1\. CTO as “Infrastructure Manager”

2\. CTO as “Big Thinker”

3\. CTO as “Technology Visionary and Operations Manager”

4\. CTO as “External-facing Technologist”

Here's a link to that paper: [pdf]

[http://www.brixtonspa.com/Career/The_Role_of_the_CTO_4Models...](http://www.brixtonspa.com/Career/The_Role_of_the_CTO_4Models.pdf)

Have you searched linkedin for current VP's, Dir. & Engineering managers? Or
do you know highly technical people in other companies that can introduce you
to such people?

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phomer
CTO's come in a couple of different favors, generally ranging from being very
technical to be very 'executive'. At worst they're just an extra layer of
management, at best they're the visionaries behind the products. Some code,
some just talk. The cost for a good one is usually 'equity'.

~~~
babul
This is why I advocate, where possible, try-before-you-buy. It is an important
decision and very costly to correctly.

With regard to people in technically expert roles (CTO\CIO\etc\etc) they
really _must_ be able to walk and talk. The hardest part is getting super-
talented people on board, and equity or performance related incentives in such
cases is a neccessity.

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tptacek
"CTO" is a pure vanity title. It's a little silly to go looking for "the right
CTO". Your friends want an evangelist product marketing manager, not a "CTO".

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babul
I have yet to meet a marketing manager that builds/codes his product(s).

Maybe I should meet more marketing managers?

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tptacek
Lots of CTO's don't build products, either.

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osipov
Don't hire into a CxO position the way you hire a technical staff member.
Imagine you are a shareholder and ask yourself where do want your company to
be in x years. Then find a person who has experience in generating that sort
of change for an organization

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tpimental
CIO.com has a pretty cheap ($300) job posting section. I don't think it gets
much more targeted than that.

<http://www.cio.com/solutions/careers/wanted/1>

~~~
tptacek
CIO != CTO. CIO's actually do stuff.

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subwindow
Hire a lead developer. If they have the chops, promote them to CTO.

For a startup, there really isn't any other way unless you or your investors
know somebody.

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trevelyan
you need to define offshore. start-ups are all about execution and
disconnection between those road-mapping and those executing is a major issue.
if this is China i can help you get in touch with people who can help. contact
info at the bottom of this page:

<http://adsotrans.com/readme.html>

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bigtoga
Did they raise money? Angels/VCs would be my first choice for referrals since
networking is so powerful.

~~~
babul
Yes. But there are many dangers to this (many a horror story of VC self-
interests in appointments) and in my experience it is better to search your
closest circle first before moving to the next degree of seperation.

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andr
Get a hacker who didn't get in YC.

~~~
run4yourlives
As a CTO?

Most won't be interested, they rest won't be any good. :-)

