FreelanceCTO » Technology http://www.FreelanceCTO.com builds technology companies and products Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:55:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Three Tips to Design for Any Technology http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2012/01/04/three-tips-to-design-for-any-technology/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2012/01/04/three-tips-to-design-for-any-technology/#comments Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:00:21 +0000 John Shiple http://FreelanceCTO.com/?p=1264

Before you build your business or product, be sure to describe it clearly and concisely in the following manner:

Diagram with only boxes & arrows Use generic terms Avoid using brand names

Speak in business terms with your tech team using the diagrams that you create and significantly improve communication and transparency in your [...]]]>

Before you build your business or product, be sure to describe it clearly and concisely in the following manner:

  • Diagram with only boxes & arrows
  • Use generic terms
  • Avoid using brand names

Speak in business terms with your tech team using the diagrams that you create and significantly improve communication and transparency in your business building efforts.

Thank you docstoc TV for the opportunity to get this message out.

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2012/01/04/three-tips-to-design-for-any-technology/feed/ 0 Three Types of Technology Teams http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/12/28/three-types-of-technology-teams/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/12/28/three-types-of-technology-teams/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:00:19 +0000 John Shiple http://FreelanceCTO.com/?p=1263

Every company or product can be built using one of these three team configurations:

Internal: best, but difficult to build External team: cheapest, basic tech needs Hybrid team: for mid-range tech needs

Thank you docstoc TV for the opportunity to get this message out.

]]>

Every company or product can be built using one of these three team configurations:

  • Internal: best, but difficult to build
  • External team: cheapest, basic tech needs
  • Hybrid team: for mid-range tech needs

Thank you docstoc TV for the opportunity to get this message out.

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/12/28/three-types-of-technology-teams/feed/ 0 Three Insights for Evaluating Your Tech Team’s Performance and Behavior http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/12/21/three-insights-for-evaluating-your-tech-teams-performance-and-behavior/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/12/21/three-insights-for-evaluating-your-tech-teams-performance-and-behavior/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:00:17 +0000 John Shiple http://FreelanceCTO.com/?p=1262

It’s simple! Seed, Feed, and Weed!

Thank you docstoc TV for the opportunity to get this message out.

]]>

It’s simple! Seed, Feed, and Weed!

Thank you docstoc TV for the opportunity to get this message out.

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/12/21/three-insights-for-evaluating-your-tech-teams-performance-and-behavior/feed/ 0 Tips for Hiring Technical People http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/11/09/tips-for-hiring-technical-people/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/11/09/tips-for-hiring-technical-people/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:00:22 +0000 John Shiple http://FreelanceCTO.com/?p=1256

Both business and technical people must interview candidates for skills, smarts, and culture. You just go about it a different way, depending on your background. Here are my tips for hiring technical people:

Hiring practices differ from business & tech standpoints Tech standpoint: culture, smarts, skill Business standpoint: skill, smarts, culture Seek help if [...]]]>

Both business and technical people must interview candidates for skills, smarts, and culture. You just go about it a different way, depending on your background. Here are my tips for hiring technical people:

  • Hiring practices differ from business & tech standpoints
  • Tech standpoint: culture, smarts, skill
  • Business standpoint: skill, smarts, culture
  • Seek help if you’re unable to evaluate skill

Thank you docstoc TV for the opportunity to get this message out.

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/11/09/tips-for-hiring-technical-people/feed/ 1 How do you use Job Boards to hire technology people? http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/03/22/how-do-you-use-job-boards-to-hire-technology-people-2/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/03/22/how-do-you-use-job-boards-to-hire-technology-people-2/#comments Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:46:24 +0000 John Shiple http://FreelanceCTO.com/?p=845 My friend, Rich Rygg of HipGeo (and co-inventor of the Pop-Up Ad), asked me which are the best job boards to use when hiring people in Los Angeles and Southern California. That’s not quite the right question, as hiring is more of a process than anything else. To address his question, I put together an outline [...]]]> My friend, Rich Rygg of HipGeo (and co-inventor of the Pop-Up Ad), asked me which are the best job boards to use when hiring people in Los Angeles and Southern California. That’s not quite the right question, as hiring is more of a process than anything else. To address his question, I put together an outline of my hiring process, which does factor in job boards, and more closely targets the specific roles that you are aiming for. I don’t address using recruiters here, which is also a viable option for most companies.

Before I “hit the circuit” and post a job (or two), I will first do the following:

  1. Ask friends in companies with similar tech stacks (if they aren’t looking, they might help me)
  2. Ask relevant private networking groups that I am a part of (eg Digerati LA, LA CTO Forum). Note: private groups aren’t for any and every job. They need to be targeted appropriately (as do your friends, really).

Here’s the “job board” strategy that I employ. I wrote it with a LAMP-based technology stack in mind. Feel free to substitute in the relevant Android, iPhone, or Rails groups that you deem appropriate:

  1. Find, join, and post on the relevant meetup and networking sites (LAPHP Meetup, LAMPsig, LA Tech Meetup, LA Web Application Developers Meetup, LA Billions Meetup, OCPHP(?)). For special positions requiring highly skilled, senior, or scalability related help, look at groups like High Scalability Meetup and LA Cloud Computing, too.
  2. Post on local LA job boards (NoodleYard.com, LAMPJobsLA.com (new))
  3. Post on Craigslist (costs a lot in time)
  4. Post on DICE (costs a lot in time and $)
  5. Post on Monster (costs a lot in time and $)

This is roughly prioritized by my level of desperation in finding talent. More important (and relevant) targets are first, which happen to be cheapest monetarily, too. Regardless, it takes a bunch of time to hire – so I prefer the more face to face options of word-of-mouth and networking groups versus wading through tons of resumes as you do with Craigslist, DICE, and Monster. I documented just about every Los Angeles-based technical networking group that I could find to help get you started.

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/03/22/how-do-you-use-job-boards-to-hire-technology-people-2/feed/ 0 Intro to Cloud Computing (EC2), Feb 19th http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/02/03/intro-to-cloud-computing-ec2-feb-19th/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/02/03/intro-to-cloud-computing-ec2-feb-19th/#comments Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:44:12 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=222 Florian Drescher is hosting another cloud training session. I did this before and think he’s a great teacher. I would go again, but I am going to Startup Weekend LA (same weekend). The cost is $20. Q Connects is in the Howard Hughes complex.

Introduction to Cloud Computing with Amazon EC2

This course [...]]]> Florian Drescher is hosting another cloud training session. I did this before and think he’s a great teacher. I would go again, but I am going to Startup Weekend LA (same weekend). The cost is $20. Q Connects is in the Howard Hughes complex.

Introduction to Cloud Computing with Amazon EC2

This course is the fast track to learn how to use Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) and to run your own applications in the Cloud. During the course of this training, participants will begin by learning how to create their own Server-Instances with step-by-step examples, install and configure software on them, and secure them. As a next step, participants will learn how to add persistent storage (with EBS) to an Instance and how to backup and restore data. Throughout the training, participants will be given practical tips and applicable tools.

Course Content

  • EC2 Overview: Technology, Security, Performance and Costs
  • Overview of the other Amazon Web Service Products
  • EC2 - Elastic Compute Cloud introduction
    • Technology Overview
    • Managing EC2 with GUI and Command-Line Tools
    • Finding the right Server Templates to start with
    • Connection to Linux Server Instances with SSH and to Windows Server Instances with RDP
  • EC2 Configuration
    • Configuration of the EC2 Firewall: Security Groups
    • Availability Zones: Run server in different Locations, Load Balancing and Failover Concepts
    • Using the Amazon Web Service APIs: REST API, Query API, SOAP API and the Command-Line Tools
  • EBS – Elastic Block Storage
    • Create and mount EBS Volumes
    • Best Practices for Linux File System Configuration
    • Backup and Restore: Creation of EBS Snapshots, Best Practices for Linux
  • Instance Naming
    • Management and Configuration of Elastic IP Addresses (EIP)
    • Best Practices: Internal Naming with Dynamic DNS Provider, D-DNS Provider Integration into EC2
  • EBS bootable EC2 Instances
    • Persistent vs. Transient Storage
    • Livecycle of EBS backed Instances
  • Creation of Server Templates
    • Customize and bundle AMIs (Amazon Machine Images)
    • S3 vs. EBS backed AMIs
  • Cloud Automation & Configuration Management
    • Overview of existing Commercial and Open Source Solutions
    • Demo: Opscode Chef based Multi-Server Deployment

Student Prerequisites

Length

1 Day (9am – 6pm)

Location

hosted by: Q Connects
6080 Center Drive
6th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90045

Tickets

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/02/03/intro-to-cloud-computing-ec2-feb-19th/feed/ 0 Wearable computing: Keyboard input via a glove http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/02/03/wearable-computing-keyboard-input-via-a-glove/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/02/03/wearable-computing-keyboard-input-via-a-glove/#comments Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:41:01 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=204 Wearable computing: Keyboard input via a glove – awesome!

]]> Wearable computing: Keyboard input via a glove – awesome!

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/02/03/wearable-computing-keyboard-input-via-a-glove/feed/ 0 STARTUPS: Want "FREE" Developers to build your product? http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/02/01/startups-want-free-developers-to-build-your-product-2/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/02/01/startups-want-free-developers-to-build-your-product-2/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:43:32 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=211 I meet a lot of startups that are looking for that perfect developer who will buy into their vision (aka “drink the KoolAid”) and work for equity (i.e. “for free”). Well, that’s not going to happen. I mean it can…but that’s like winning the lottery or getting struck by lightning – you can’t plan for it.
Yet…there is good news! There are a lot of low cost alternatives (in Los Angeles) that may be of interest to you: Internships, Incubators, Contests, and Outsourcing.
Internships
Students4Startups (S4S) might work for you. For a lot of startups, though, I’m not sure if it is a good fit. Your company needs to be able to strongly manage a junior technical resource. S4S also shies away from companies interested in “free work” as it’s the wrong type of message and is not a strong foundation for internships or first-time jobs (and I seriously question the cultural DNA that you are creating with this attitude). If you do have the capability to manage a technical intern, then it is possible  for a startup to get a for-credit (aka “free”) intern, but you must satisfy these criteria:

From http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm:

  1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
  2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
  3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
  4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
  5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
  6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.
For the record, I have *never* found a Computer Science (CS) student who will work for school credit. All of them want to be paid. And if it’s an internship, by law, you must pay at least minimum wage (~$12/hour). So, the cost of a CS intern is really $12 to $20/hour (or more, but I haven’t seen interns go above $20/hour yet). S4S has more info on internships.
If you are a graduate from USC, UCLA, or Caltech, I *strongly* recommend that you connect with the CS student groups and begin attending their events. That’s the best way to meet students – in person and informally. That’s how you can meet a technical peer to join you as a partner.
Outsourcing, Incubators, and Contests
Here are several more low cost methods for building your product or company. Some are free…most are not (by having a money, opportunity, or time-related cost):
  • Partner with a local outsourcing firm. There are several local outsourcing shops that have a track record in working with startups. They may do work for less fees that can be made up in deferred compensation or equity. Not sure how they’ll react to a zero budget, but they may be able to work with that. Your mileage may vary, but if you have a good idea, and a track record, you may get a local outsourcing shop to build your prototype. Contact me for recommendations.
  • Enter the idea in the StartupWeekend LA contest and win (or any startup building contest). You can get funded out of participating or winning a contest like this. Also, lots of “free” labor to build your company! It’s not quite like that, but these are typically great events and worth considering.
  • Enter the idea in a Twiistup, Spotlight: LA Tech or Fast Pitch event (there are many of these) that has an actual cash or funding reward. TCVN Survivor 6 is a good example of this…Joey Flores, of earbits.com, won TCVN 6 and get $50k in services and a big PR and Marketing boost.
  • Join an incubator like IdeaLab or Y Combinator. I have an awesome Y Combinator story that I can’t tell anybody about yet (hopefully in the next 4 weeks).
  • Start hanging out at the CoLoft 2 days a week. Great startup environment. Lots of techies come by, too. Lots of meetups. Good way to be about as close to the heart of the startup storm as you can be, in LA.
This is more than enough to get you started on low- to no- cost options. I love talking about this stuff, so don’t hesitate to kick-off a conversation with me about it.
(FYI: This is written with the SoCal region in mind but may apply anywhere).
]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/02/01/startups-want-free-developers-to-build-your-product-2/feed/ 0 How Facebook Ships Code http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/01/19/how-facebook-ships-code/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/01/19/how-facebook-ships-code/#comments Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:59:25 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=201 I came an interesting article about Facebook’s internal development operations. It’s a great read.

]]> I came an interesting article about Facebook’s internal development operations. It’s a great read.

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2011/01/19/how-facebook-ships-code/feed/ 0 Technical Networking Groups and Meetups in Los Angeles http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/12/18/technical-networking-groups-and-meetups-in-los-angeles/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/12/18/technical-networking-groups-and-meetups-in-los-angeles/#comments Sat, 18 Dec 2010 20:32:31 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=182 Check out this long list of groups and meetups in Los Angeles! We kick ass! There is sooooo much to do in this town now!

Here’s what I’ve found so far:

Cloud Camp LA CoLoft DevOps Digerati LA Dorkbot Founders Space High Scalability LA Cloud Computing LA CTO Forum LA Flash Users Group LA Hadoop [...]]]> Check out this long list of groups and meetups in Los Angeles! We kick ass! There is sooooo much to do in this town now!

Here’s what I’ve found so far:

  • Cloud Camp LA
  • CoLoft
  • DevOps
  • Digerati LA
  • Dorkbot
  • Founders Space
  • High Scalability
  • LA Cloud Computing
  • LA CTO Forum
  • LA Flash Users Group
  • LA Hadoop Meetup
  • LA JUG
  • LA LOPSA
  • LA Machine Learning
  • LA Startup Nights
  • LA Tech
  • LA Web Application Developers
  • LA Web/Mobile Software Entrepreneurs
  • LA.RB
  • labillions
  • LAMPsig
  • LAVA
  • Lean LA/Lean Startup Circle
  • Los Angeles PHP Developers
  • OCTANe/FIRSTY
  • R users group
  • SoCalTech
  • Spotlight LA: Tech
  • Startup Digest
  • Startup Weekend LA
  • Students4Startups
  • Technology Council of Southern California
  • TechZulu
  • Twiistup
  • UUASC-OC

What have I forgotten? And yeah, I know 1 or 2 are duplicates (LA Hadoop Meetup = High Scalability, methinks).

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/12/18/technical-networking-groups-and-meetups-in-los-angeles/feed/ 2 Process to Make Architecture Diagrams http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/12/17/process-to-make-architecture-diagrams/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/12/17/process-to-make-architecture-diagrams/#comments Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:20:00 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=173 Here is my process for creating top-down architecture diagrams:

Draw hand diagram if it’s a new or big concept (I can show you some scans – i have multiple colors and stencils – they look really neat) Make arch summary slide (usually 3 boxes, arrows to the right Make top-level arch slides (for core components) Make [...]]]> Here is my process for creating top-down architecture diagrams:

  1. Draw hand diagram if it’s a new or big concept (I can show you some scans – i have multiple colors and stencils – they look really neat)
  2. Make arch summary slide (usually 3 boxes, arrows to the right :)
  3. Make top-level arch slides (for core components)
  4. Make 1 or more drill-down diagrams as needed (to clarify concept for team, document scope for vendor, enforce a structure on a larger team)
  5. Make network diagram (this is where you finally put brand names in like MySQL and RabbitMQ and RoR). you may actually make two: 1) for where we are today and 2) where we should be if this architecture existed
  6. Scan hand drawn, output PDF of diagrams, and upload PPT, PDF, and scans to your instituionalized knowledge base

I have been answering this question a lot lately, so I figured that I would write it down.

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/12/17/process-to-make-architecture-diagrams/feed/ 0 Technology Networking in the Greater Los Angeles area http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/03/26/technology-networking-in-the-greater-los-angeles-area/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/03/26/technology-networking-in-the-greater-los-angeles-area/#comments Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:54:21 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=124 Greetings,

Tony Karrer and I have been discussing ways in which we can get the community more engaged with the rest of Los Angeles. As part of that effort, I have put together a list of suggested networking events and why they might be of interest to you. This list is by no [...]]]> Greetings,

Tony Karrer and I have been discussing ways in which we can get the community more engaged with the rest of Los Angeles. As part of that effort, I have put together a list of suggested networking events and why they might be of interest to you. This list is by no means complete, and has a definite Los Angeles slant to it, so please point out any interesting events that we may have missed

Here is the list of interesting technology-related events in Los Angeles for the month of April:

Digital LA – Digital Drinks @ La Vida – 4/6/2010 (Tuesday)
7-10pm Hollywood
If you are into video and entertainment, this could be good. Digital LA has a rep for being more marketing oriented, so be prepared.

LA Tech April Meetup – 4/6/2010 (1st Tuesday of month)
7pm Location TBD
It’s like a miniature, regular TechCrunch50 or Twiistup.

http://newtech.meetup.com/25/calendar/12765900/

Thursday Lunch on the Promenade – 4/8/2010
12-1:30pm Santa Monica
This is a fantastic meetup. Informal gathering of some super smart people. Highly recommended.

OCTANe/FIRSTY – OC Networking Event – 4/8/2010 (Thursday)
5:30 – 7:30pm Aliso Viejo
OC members, don’t miss it! Though I’ve never been…this event sounds great…especially as this is the big kick-off for the merger of 2 big OC networking groups.

http://www.octaneoc.org/calendar/view_event.asp?CalendarID=659

DigitalLA – Digital Music Panel: Artists Go Social – 4/12/2010 (Monday)
7-10pm Beverly Center
If you or your company are into music and social media, this looks to be good.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=377946387339

Los Angeles High Scalability Group April Meetup – 4/13/2010 (Tuesday)
7pm in Santa Monica
Also known as “the hadoop meetup”. High signal to noise ratio. Highly recommended.

http://www.meetup.com/scalela/

Los Angeles PHP Developers – 4/13/2010
7pm @ CoLoft in Santa Monica
Check out the new co-working space at CoLoft. I haven’t been, but Oleg is a new member to the group, and I have heard good things. Recommended.

Social Media Club LA – 4/14/2010 (Wednesday)
Left, Right and Twitter: Social Media and Its Impact on Politics
7-9pm Santa Monica
Network with the Social Media crowd. Be warned: saying you are a technologist is like throwing chum in shark infested waters. I like this event, have gotten work out of it, but you have to have some good people filters to make it a good use of time.

http://www.socialmediaclub.la/

Copyrights and Design Patents – Filling the Gaps in Your IP Strategy – 4/13/2010 (Tuesday)
7:30-9:30am San Diego
Purely educational.

http://www.commnexus.org/programs/special-interest-groups/event_20100315.php

Mindshare – 4/15/2010 (Thursday)
7pm+
Where art meets science. I still haven’t been…but this is #1 on my list of new events to attend.

http://www.mindshare.la/

CalTech/MIT Enterprise Forum – 4/17/2010 (Friday)
8am – noon Pasadena
The Business of Social Attraction and Aggregation – How Do Fast Growth and Fads Become Successful Ventures?
Still haven’t been yet (Pasadena, eh?), but the CalTech/MIT forum is great.

http://www.entforum.caltech.edu/

LAMPsig – 4/17/2010 (Saturday)
1-3pm mid-Wilshire
Haven’t been. Any feedback from the group?

http://lampsig.org/new/

LA C# – 4/20/2010 (Tuesday)
7-9pm Manhattan Beach
Haven’t been. Any feedback from the group?

http://lacsharp.org/

Los Angeles Web Application Developers – 4/20/2010 (Tuesday)
7pm Location TBD
Will Jessup’s meetup. Very popular. Haven’t been yet, but will check it out soon. Any feedback from the group?

http://web.meetup.com/34/

From CTO to CEO – 4/22/2010 (Tuesday)
Irvine
Self-explanatory!

http://www.tcvn.org

StartUp Venture Summit – 4/22/2010 (Thursday)
9-5pm Los Angeles
For Entrepreneurs and Investors to Grow a Successful Venture. Tech Supper Club/Tech Cost Angels – $195

http://techsupperclub.com/Startup_Venture_Home.html

LA Flash Users Group – 4/22/2010 (Tuesday)
7-9pm
Haven’t been. Any feedback from the group?

http://laflash.org

LA Games Conference – 4/29/2010 (Thursday)
9-5pm Hollywood
A conference on gaming…pretty obvious choice for gaming companies and technologists. I may be there.

http://www.lagamesconference.com/

LA CTO Forum – 4/9/2010 (Friday)
8-10am Santa Monica
Content Categorization

http://lactoforum.org/

The Israel Conference – 6/3/2010 (Thursday)
9-5pm Los Angeles
This is a couple months away, but I went last year and it was a great event. Currently $180, soon to $210 ($295 at door)

http://www.theisraelconference.org/

Here are a couple other events with no confirmed dates for April or May. These are fantastic events that I look forward to going back to.

Startups Uncensored – http://www.jasonnazar.com/
Dorkbot – http://dorkbot.org/
LA Web/Mobile Software Entrepreneurs – http://lawebmo.com

Happy networking!

-=John

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/03/26/technology-networking-in-the-greater-los-angeles-area/feed/ 2 BSP: My Panel at Social Media Club LA: "Going Going Goo Goo Over Google Analytics – What We Learned" http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/03/05/bsp-my-panel-at-social-media-club-la-going-going-goo-goo-over-google-analytics-%e2%80%93-what-we-learned-2/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/03/05/bsp-my-panel-at-social-media-club-la-going-going-goo-goo-over-google-analytics-%e2%80%93-what-we-learned-2/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:56:36 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=117 The Social Media Club panel on Google Analytics event that I participated in is now online. I had a great time speaking with Erica Fourette and the other panelists. I hope that everybody who attended (both offline and online) got at least one or two good bits of knowledge or science out of [...]]]> The Social Media Club panel on Google Analytics event that I participated in is now online. I had a great time speaking with Erica Fourette and the other panelists. I hope that everybody who attended (both offline and online) got at least one or two good bits of knowledge or science out of the discussion. 150+ people were in attendance at Mahalo. SMCLA also had a very large online viewing turnout, too. At one point before the event, I realized that I was trying to do 3 things at the same time: a) talking to Efren (TechZulu) about how he broadcasts the event b) setting up pizza and beverages and c) meeting my fellow panelists (I only knew the moderator) before panelizing together. I went with c), but I made sure to buy (later that week) the same Canopus encoder that Efren has for our own efforts and grab a slice and a soda on my way to the panelists meetup. The whole event was a most enjoyable – well done, SMCLA!

Here is TechZulu’s recording of the event:

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/03/05/bsp-my-panel-at-social-media-club-la-going-going-goo-goo-over-google-analytics-%e2%80%93-what-we-learned-2/feed/ 0 Start a company in Los Angeles…now!!! http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/03/03/start-a-company-in-los-angeles-now/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/03/03/start-a-company-in-los-angeles-now/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:01:14 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=112 Fast Company has a great article on why you should start a company in Los Angeles.

Since 1994, I have spent about half of my time in the Bay Area and the other half in Los Angeles. LA beats the Bay for a lot of reasons, but the biggest reason is that Los [...]]]> Fast Company has a great article on why you should start a company in Los Angeles.

Since 1994, I have spent about half of my time in the Bay Area and the other half in Los Angeles. LA beats the Bay for a lot of reasons, but the biggest reason is that Los Angeles focuses on building viable businesses, whereas the Bay Area largely focuses solely on technology…for the sake of technology. Los Angeles has a lot more opportunities in a number of very large-scale verticals, which means a wider variety of work and types of work for tech workers than the Bay Area. Speaking of industry verticals – Entertainment, Advertising, Automotive, and Lead Generation (to name a mere few) are all based in the Southern California area. And of course, there is the weather!

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/03/03/start-a-company-in-los-angeles-now/feed/ 0 the future of HTML5, flash, mobile apps, video, and more http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/02/24/the-future-of-html5-flash-mobile-apps-video-and-more/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/02/24/the-future-of-html5-flash-mobile-apps-video-and-more/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:55:13 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=106 Jeremy Allaire has a great article about the future of new technologies like HTML5 and it’s impact on the current ecosystem of delivery vehicles for content and applications.

]]> Jeremy Allaire has a great article about the future of new technologies like HTML5 and it’s impact on the current ecosystem of delivery vehicles for content and applications.

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/02/24/the-future-of-html5-flash-mobile-apps-video-and-more/feed/ 0 LA CTO Forum – Metrics Discussion http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/02/15/la-cto-forum-metrics-discussion/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/02/15/la-cto-forum-metrics-discussion/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:22:44 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=103 Last Friday, the LA CTO Forum hosted a discussion on the various metrics used to measure ourselves and our companies. I was asked to participate, and eagerly dug into my archives. I found a bunch of old examples, sanitized them, and was struck by how much metrics evolve over the lifecycle of a company. I [...]]]> Last Friday, the LA CTO Forum hosted a discussion on the various metrics used to measure ourselves and our companies. I was asked to participate, and eagerly dug into my archives. I found a bunch of old examples, sanitized them, and was struck by how much metrics evolve over the lifecycle of a company. I was inspired enough to put together a diagram that describes how the metrics for a product or startup company evolve over time. My files are here:

Here is a basic description of the contents of each report:

  • Definitions – definitions of metrics
  • Dashboard – dashboard view of key metrics
  • Executive Summary – summary of key metrics
  • BizDev Funnel Lite – early stage business development funnel
  • BizDev Funnel – later stage business development funnel
  • Marketing Funnel – early costs/revenue numbers
  • Member Funnel – tracking and monetizing users
  • Customer Satisfaction – customer satisfaction by product
  • Customer Support Triage – large product defects, customer support in triage mode
  • Customer Support Daily Recap – daily metric for support
  • Customer Support Steady – later stage monitoring of support
  • Operations – some simple operational metrics
  • Engineering Triage – crisis-based tracking of engineering errors
  • Human Resources – some basic hiring metrics
  • Revenue – an early set of of metrics for revenue

You may have a different interpretation of how to measure things, so please feel free to change the parameters to suit your needs. Let me know what you think.

-=John

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/02/15/la-cto-forum-metrics-discussion/feed/ 0 Thursday Lunch – a great techie event! http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/01/21/thursday-lunch-a-great-techie-event/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/01/21/thursday-lunch-a-great-techie-event/#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:37:04 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=76 I just met up with Eric Hammond, Ken Weiner, and more for Thursday Lunch on the Third Street Promenade. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend it. I’m not sure how the crowd normally is, but it was pretty tech/developer heavy this time – and I loved it!

]]> I just met up with Eric Hammond, Ken Weiner, and more for Thursday Lunch on the Third Street Promenade. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend it. I’m not sure how the crowd normally is, but it was pretty tech/developer heavy this time – and I loved it!

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/01/21/thursday-lunch-a-great-techie-event/feed/ 0 Authenticating with Multiple Authorities http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/01/20/authenticating-with-multiple-authorities/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/01/20/authenticating-with-multiple-authorities/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:46:52 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=68 Tony Karrer has a great article on When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication. If you have any questions about which companies to connect your authentication system to or how to choose which ones to work with, this is a must read.

When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication. If you have any questions about which companies to connect your authentication system to or how to choose which ones to work with, this is a must read.

When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication?

One

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/01/20/authenticating-with-multiple-authorities/feed/ 0 Amazon EC2 Disk Performance and Why RAID 10 is bad for EBS http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/01/19/amazon-ec2-disk-performance-and-why-raid-10-is-bad-for-ebs/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/01/19/amazon-ec2-disk-performance-and-why-raid-10-is-bad-for-ebs/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:03:23 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=65 I came across some more articles on cloud-based performance. Today, I am looking at the performance of EBS on Amazon and the use of RAID 10 for disk writes. If you have a lot of writes to disk, then seriously consider something other than RAID 10. Generally though, EBS on Amazon [...]]]> I came across some more articles on cloud-based performance. Today, I am looking at the performance of EBS on Amazon and the use of RAID 10 for disk writes. If you have a lot of writes to disk, then seriously consider something other than RAID 10. Generally though, EBS on Amazon performs pretty well.

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2010/01/19/amazon-ec2-disk-performance-and-why-raid-10-is-bad-for-ebs/feed/ 0 Redundant Array of Inexpensive Datacenters (R.A.I.D.) http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2009/12/17/redundant-array-of-inexpensive-datacenters-r-a-i-d/ http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2009/12/17/redundant-array-of-inexpensive-datacenters-r-a-i-d/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:32:16 +0000 John Shiple http://freelancecto.com/?p=46 I’m so excited. We have an awesome speaker for January’s LA CTO Forum: Rick Parker of Fetch Technologies. Check it out:

Building Your Own Private Cloud

Rick Parker will present his experience and perspective in building a private cloud infrastructure from the bottom up for Fetch Technologies. Over the past three years, Rick has leveraged [...]]]> I’m so excited. We have an awesome speaker for January’s LA CTO Forum: Rick Parker of Fetch Technologies. Check it out:

Building Your Own Private Cloud

Rick Parker will present his experience and perspective in building a private cloud infrastructure from the bottom up for Fetch Technologies. Over the past three years, Rick has leveraged his experience in building cloud-based platforms to dramatically reduce operational costs by a factor of 4 or more. Rick will discuss analyzing, tracking, and sourcing different types of technologies and vendors in order to stay current with rapidly changing technologies. Rick also plans to address issues with the hardware infrastructure and software management systems as they relate to vendors, models, and services. Fault tolerance, monitoring, reporting, scalability, and deployment will be key components of his his presentation. Finally, Rick’ss assessment of the benefits and costs of developing a private cloud infrastructure should provide a substantial source of topics and ideas for a lively discussion.

Rick Parker (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rick-parker/3/71b/aa5) has over 24 Years of IT experience. At Vendare Media, Rick built the company from an initial desktop environment to 7 datacenters with over 500 servers in them. After that, he went on to found Bedouin Networks, one of the first Cloud Service Providers in 2006. Currently, Rick is an IT Manager for Fetch Technologies, a company that offers cloud-based resources and services to enable organizations to extract, aggregate and use information from sites across the Internet.

]]> http://www.FreelanceCTO.com/2009/12/17/redundant-array-of-inexpensive-datacenters-r-a-i-d/feed/ 0