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If you're looking for a chief problem-solver, I'd start by making your problems clear and compelling. Make it worth their time (intellectually) to engage with y

If you're looking for a chief problem-solver, I'd start by making your problems clear and compelling. Make it worth their time (intellectually) to engage with you. You've got a website, you've got sales, etc... where would the CTO come in? Exactly what kind of technical problems are you trying to solve? What kind of scale are you trying to accommodate? What has failed? What's your dream stack, etc? Pick a place on your site to state these clearly, (a Careers page for example), and link it prominently in the footer or elsewhere... So that someone who's already a fan/customer of yours but also happens to be technically-adept might stumble upon it. (If you have a careers page now, I wasn't able to find it). This ideal person might get interested in the problems you're trying to solve, and offer to pitch in; or they'll send the link to their friend, colleague, etc. I think that's the most organic way of sourcing the right person.

morlokman 12y ago
This is a great suggestion. Finding someone who is already a Baron Fig user would be fantastic. I like your idea regarding a Jobs page, however, I'm having trouble figuring out what we'd put on there. It makes sense to list the basics, but I'm hesitant to put project details in there if its public. The things we'd be working on are 1–2 years out, and likely not something we'd like to discuss with the public (or competitors!) until we're ready. What would you do in this case?
- MalcolmDiggs 12y ago
  That's an interesting point. I think the fact that an eCommerce retailer is working on technical problems that may take 1-2 years to solve would surprise a lot of people. In eCommerce you're going to be fighting against the preconception that all a CTO would be doing is trying to up-the-conversion-rate and adding new products to the lineup (snooze-fest). The fact you're tackling academically rigorous problems is an asset, so anything you can share about it will help you recruit. A lot of people have hot-buttons for the topics that interest them, so pushing them, even in a general way could catalyze interest. If, for example, you were working on a speed/latency/performance problem that might attract a certain kind of person, whereas a big-data or analytics problem might attract someone else.
  - morlokman 12y ago
    Interesting perspective. Internally we don't consider ourselves an eCommerce company, we just happen to have our eComm capabilities up first. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Knowing our path, it seems like a no brainer to us, but as you said to the outsider there's quite a different picture. This is the first time we've had to elucidate our intentions, it helps to have a new perspective on it.

morlokman 12y ago

This is a great suggestion. Finding someone who is already a Baron Fig user would be fantastic. I like your idea regarding a Jobs page, however, I'm having trouble figuring out what we'd put on there. It makes sense to list the basics, but I'm hesitant to put project details in there if its public. The things we'd be working on are 1–2 years out, and likely not something we'd like to discuss with the public (or competitors!) until we're ready. What would you do in this case?

MalcolmDiggs 12y ago
That's an interesting point. I think the fact that an eCommerce retailer is working on technical problems that may take 1-2 years to solve would surprise a lot of people. In eCommerce you're going to be fighting against the preconception that all a CTO would be doing is trying to up-the-conversion-rate and adding new products to the lineup (snooze-fest). The fact you're tackling academically rigorous problems is an asset, so anything you can share about it will help you recruit. A lot of people have hot-buttons for the topics that interest them, so pushing them, even in a general way could catalyze interest. If, for example, you were working on a speed/latency/performance problem that might attract a certain kind of person, whereas a big-data or analytics problem might attract someone else.
- morlokman 12y ago
  Interesting perspective. Internally we don't consider ourselves an eCommerce company, we just happen to have our eComm capabilities up first. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Knowing our path, it seems like a no brainer to us, but as you said to the outsider there's quite a different picture. This is the first time we've had to elucidate our intentions, it helps to have a new perspective on it.