Jeff Zigman, “The Business Engineer”

Instead of software, imagine you had the goal of building a house.
But what if you DIDN'T have a Blueprint?
How MISERABLE is your next 6-12 months going to be?

What kind of monstrosity are you going to end up with?
Bad foundation?
Wrong number of bathrooms? Bedrooms?
Kitchen in the wrong place?

The THOUGHT of doing that is crazy to anyone.

But in software, people do it all the time. 
It's no wonder people spend MONTHS or years without a live/working product.

I've built software in 2 weeks that companies failed to build for $500,000.
I built a niche industry MVP in 3 weeks that 19 software companies tried over 15 years, and all said was impossible to do. (My Legal Tech TRUEclaims below)

What was so hard about building TRUEclaims? (people ask that a lot)
I had to figure out solutions to about 10-15 "problems" that no one in the world had solved.
Then I had to get those "solutions" to work in tandem with each other.

I've built 17 business-level softwares/MVPs solo.
I've designed/led over 300 softwares.

Without AI, the rough "time compression" is that it takes me ~1 week to build what would typically take a team 6-8 months.

This means that if you've spent the last 6-8 working with a software development agency to push out an MVP, there's a STRONG chance that I'd be able to release a Live, functional, working version in about 1 week.

What's the "BIG SECRET" of how I do this? (people ask that a lot)

There's no "secret"...

Yes, I spent more than a decade designing databases.
I spent more than a decade designing User Experiences.
More than a decade designing software systems.
Almost 2 decades testing software.
I understand Business and have done plenty of Sales.

But the BIG THING the makes the BIGGEST difference...

I know how to ask the right questions AT THE BEGINNING, to nail down the Requirements at step 1, to have a clear idea of what needs to be built.

And then how to translate that - without "Broken Telephone" - into a clear Technical Blueprint of what to build.

Some of the key Businesses/Projects I've built:
- TRUEclaims.io: Legal Tech MVP in 3 weeks, now serves 150+ law firms.
- Jewish Anti-Semitism Fighting Network: 1.5 weeks, 100+ lawyers, 120+ matches.
- Amazon Deal Identifier: 2 weeks, succeeded after $1M in failed attempts by others.
- Others: ReeferLTL.net, PartnerRally.com, LeadBridge.app, more at theenterprisemvp.com.

Background:
- 12y CTO/Entrepreneur
- 14y Business Analyst
- 14y UX Optimization
- 18y Software Testing
- 12y Database Design
- 14y Project Management
- 23y Martial Arts

See more about me here: theenterprisemvp.com

CEO, Founder

The only immersive online Active Shooter Prepardness Training made for Enterprise scale rollouts and schools alike.

Customizable to the floor plans, shelter options, rally points, and unique instructions of every unique location.

Interactive, gamified, and trackable by management.

Requires no scheduling, no coordination, and can be rolled out to 10,000 people in days.

Created in conjunction with Alex Killie (former Department of Homeland Security ~5,000 people trained).

Video Testimonial by Joy McIntosh, Assistant Head of School (watch below)
"I would purchase SKILL BUILDER['s Active Shooter training] again without any hesitation.

I really found that this course… really made you THINK… I’ve been in other courses where it’s in person… and the time to really think ‘what would I personally do’ really isn’t possible when you’re all together in one space… because you’re not even in your own space… [this really makes it] what’s true FOR YOU…

A lot of the same messaging was included in the in-person trainings [we’ve done], however… this course makes you think about your specific situation… it’s much more PERSONAL and that’s what I’d say is the biggest difference…

Jeff is fantastic! You send him an email, you get an answer! And if he doesn’t have the answer, he says ‘hang on, I’ll get the answer’… It’s been amazing… the turnaround with any question has been nearly instantaneous, if not right then within that minute, then it’s as soon as he can possibly get the answer to the question.

it was like a One-Stop-Shop, which was really excellent… 

I actually put all of our policies and procedures into the course, so as they were going through the overall course, so they could see as they were going through the course that Yes, we have these in place and here they are in writing… it was Incredible… it made it really useful to our particular school… and it was EASY… it was easy to use, it was easy to fill in… it was seamless… it was… it was excellent."

Jeff Zigman, “The Business CTO”

Engineering Management Expert • Fractional CTO • Remote • 🇮🇱

I woke up one day and realised I was managing a feature factory — a very efficient and well-managed feature factory, with solid engineering practices and modern development methodologies.

But this did not stop the other execs viewing the department as a cost centre.

To be honest, I can't blame them. Our velocity was through the roof, but we were going nowhere in particular, at least not deliberately. So much potential was not being realised as tangible results on the company's bottom line. 

I needed to stop being the tech guy and start acting as a business executive. 

Through trial and error, at a series of companies, I refined my approach and techniques for achieving this.

If you've felt something similar, know that it is possible to escape from the feature factory mindset, and to free your company from this limiting mindset too.

You'll need to do these 3 things in order to break out of the conundrum:
1. Ensure that your department works on THE RIGHT THINGS.
2. Focus on BUSINESS OUTCOMES, rather than tech outputs.
3. Become a key player in formulating the company's business strategies.

I created the CTO Grandmasters programme to help other CTOs break the glass ceiling between tech and business, and acquire enough executive influence to successfully leverage technology to visibly and consistently drive tangible business outcomes.

DM me OUTCOMES if you're a CTO or Engineering VP, and you're ready to break out of the corner you've been boxed into.

taplio

The Battle

Jeff Zigman, “The Business CTO”

Itzchak Sabo

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