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Edmond Lau
CTO-as-a-Service, Tech Leader, Advisor, Mentor, Scale Startups to 🚢 things | ex-Amex, ex-Turner
Edmond Lau is a software engineer and technology leader with extensive experience in the tech industry. He is currently serving as the Fractional CTO at Diminish (formerly Loot), where he manages 50 software engineers and offers team extension services.4 Lau has over 10 years of experience in software development and the startup ecosystem.4
Prior to his current role, Lau has held several notable positions:
- Co-Founder of Awakened Partnership (March 2023 - Present)1
- Co-Founder of Co Leadership (January 2018 - Present)1
- Engineer, Architect, and Leadership Coach at Quip (May 2014 - January 2018)1
- Engineering Lead for User Growth at Quora (August 2010 - June 2013)1
- Staff Software Engineer and Analytics & Monetization Tech Lead at Ooyala (June 2008 - August 2010)1
- Software Engineer at Google (August 2006 - June 2008)1
Lau is also an author and speaker, having written "The Effective Engineer," a book that has become required reading for many engineering teams.2 He has given talks at various tech companies, including Google, sharing insights on how engineers can maximize their impact and make meaningful differences in their careers.3
Edmond Lau's mission is to empower engineers and technical leaders with the tools and mindsets they need to perform at their highest levels.2 He shares his knowledge through his newsletter, workshops, and speaking engagements.23
Highlights
Ex-Google CEO says successful AI startups can steal IP and hire lawyers to ‘clean up the mess’
Last week, after seeing the numerous startup swag t-shirts I wear, my colleague asked how many of those t-shirts belong to failed startups. My answer was that only 5% of those logos failed.
It is probably true that only 1 in 10 (or 1 in 50) startups will survive to be acquired or IPO in their lifetime. However, as a CTO, I use a few other factors to measure a startup's success, at least while I work there.
Positive User Experience and Feedback: Did users like the user experience and have positive feedback? Does the software or tool solve a particular problem and make life easier for users?
Commemoration: Did you have a team that worked well together? Were people's opinions heard and respected? Did the people have a healthy debate about ways to solve problems and execute a common plan together? How often do managers or CEO not override data-driven recommendations from the team?
Commercial Success: Even when users love the product, are they paying enough to cover costs and expenses? Is the book near or in the black? It doesn't have to be making a lot of money, but at least people are not spending lots of salaries like the ZIRP era.
Of all the startup t-shirts I have/had, only 5% did not meet two of the three criteria here. IMHO, not everything is about valuation.
Thoughts? What other criteria would you use to determine if a startup is successful?
#startuplive #tech
