Tech Leaders

Using artificial intelligence to sharpen human intelligence

Co-founder, CEO

Serve2Perform

Fractional CTO

Ad Vital

Advisor

Jinderman & Partners

Sales & Software

Startup studio and technical business strategy firm specializing in zero-to-one MVPs and proofs-of-concept.

Founder, CEO

Invajo

Senior Advisor

Walmart Global Tech

Led engineering teams collaborating across multiple business units for a JV with Greendot.

Fin Tech Engineering Leader

Digit

Hands-on technical lead and Engineering Manager of 2 teams totaling 10 people, focused on Payment Platforms and Customer Growth. 

I wore every hat over the years with my days consisting of coding, hiring, project management, mentorship, product ideation, and technical leadership.

Engineering Manager

Experience leading projects including:

- Monetization and customer growth
- ACH and Payment Infrastructure
- Automated subscription revenue
- Bank Data Integrations
- Affiliate programs
- In-house SMS notifications
- In-house A/B/N test framework
- Build and deployment systems

Founding Software Engineer

Remote Branch, LLC

Custom hardware, software and consulting services.

Founder

Groupon

Part of the team building the Node.js e-commerce platform to replace the original monolithic Ruby on Rails app. I led development of an internal service used by an internationalized site that drove millions of dollars in revenue. I helped define best practices and remotely guided other engineers around the world on implementations.

Senior Software Engineer

- A/B tests on the 2011 Groupon.com redesign
- Member of the Gift product team
- Contributions to the Performance team

Senior Front End Software Engineer

Fractional CTO • Cofounder of Tech Leaders • Dad👨‍👧Drummer 🥁MTBer 🚲

Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways we can help you accelerate your career growth for more impact, influence and income without burning out:

1. Join the Tech Leaders Community for complimentary support and networking. Inside, we host workshops and trainings to help you build momentum towards your goals. Join here: https://www.skool.com/tech-leaders

2. Get a Clarity Call. If you want some 1:1 help getting unblocked on your career path or if you’re not 100% sure what role to aim for next, we can jump on Zoom for a quick call to strategize your best next steps. Book here: https://www.technical-leaders.com/call

3. Join the Career Accelerator Program and become a Case Study. We’re putting together a new case study cohort this month. If you'd like to work with us on getting your ideal role faster... Enroll here: https://www.technical-leaders.com/individuals

Before I became a Fractional CTO…

I was the founding engineer at one of the first neobanks, Digit.

As the first employee, I was expected by the founders to both build AND grow the product.

Every week, we each had a quota of onboarding 5 new people to our financial health platform, even though my “job” was to write code.

But in the early days, everyone has to wear multiple hats.

It was outside of my comfort zone to market and sell to my network to get our early adopters, but it was one of the most valuable skills I’ve ever learned.

This was our first home page circa 2012 🥺

Todd Larsen

If I had to start my tech career from scratch tomorrow, here’s the path I’d take:


- Learn Front End

- Learn Python and Data Engineering for AI+ML

- Leverage AI tools for productivity

- Get experience at an agency to learn how best practices to ship quickly

- Get experience at a big company to learn best practices to scale

- Learn non-technical skills like leadership and business

- Get experience at an early stage startup for more responsibility to make more impact

- Combine experiences into starting my own venture


What path would you take?

The best way to avoid burnout and reset your inspiration?

Turn off the inflow of information, distractions, and expectations for a bit.

Every year around April, we take a camping trip to the middle of nowhere to go off the grid.

It’s like a digital detox because there’s no service for mobile phones and distractions are impossible.

The challenge with this?

We’re usually right in the middle of a busy schedule full of momentum that feels hard to step away from (even just temporarily).

And when I see green lights I like to step on the gas…

But it’s important to consistently “trust the process” in the pursuit of productivity.

A big part of the process of high performance is taking intentional time to rest and recharge.

Last weekend, we had an amazing time in the Texas sun (*cue the Leon Bridges song)

How do you like to recharge? Let me know in the comments

Wondering what it takes to become a Fractional CTO/consultant?

I caught up with one of our founding members of the Tech Leaders program — Brian Childress — to hear more about his background and how he came to be a Fractional CTO.

Watch here ⬇️

I love finding Easter eggs.

In movies, games, backyards, etc.

Happy Easter! 🥚🐰🎉

I took a few days off to recharge, but it happens that my birthday is coming up on Monday. I could not help myself and look back on how I had spent the previous year.

It has been quite a year. I joined Tech Leaders to advance my career and took the coaching course, which impacted me beyond expectations.
I began working with Post Op, and after a short while, I took the helm as a CTO, rebuilt the product, and doubled the team. 
On the side, I also proved that I can support my kids in homeschooling as a parent. 
I got great results in powerlifting and won a few medals in world championships. I was appointed to a vice president position in the local sports powerlifting association. 
I entered the boxing ring after an intense 12 weeks of training and fought in a charity gala event.
I'm supporting couples in learning about their fertility. In that area, I was appointed as a vice president of the local fertility teachers NGO, and I printed my own version of the notebook, which got a great reaction from the community. I sold all the copies I had with me for presentation purposes the first day I introduced it. 

Why did all that happen? I have people who support me, challenge me, and expect great things from me. Thank you! Thank you for all the help and encouragement I received! It has been a great year. I plan to put even greater things here next year.

I’m looking for 9 testers, developers, engineers, and architects who are ready to unblock their next career phase and stand out in the market with the Tech Leaders program.

So if you:

📍 Want to land your ideal next role faster without burning out (and feel a bit stuck/stalled out)

📍 Know you have something unique and impactful to offer (but need help positioning yourself)

📍 Are coachable and want to accelerate growth in a psychologically safe environment (even if you’ve never had a coach before)

Drop a like or comment and I’ll give you the details.

Good developers keep their code DRY.

Great developers repeat themselves to reinforce the standards and expectations of their team.

Good engineers build for scale.

Great engineers build for business impact. 

Good architects create the idealistic future based on today.

Great architects create optionality for evolving business strategies.

~

✍️ What's your take?
♻️ Reshare if this is helpful.

The best way to grow your career faster?

It’s simple.

Surround yourself with other people who are at the top of their game and further down the path than you are.

Get curious, be open minded, and ask good questions.

You can flatten your learning curve through osmosis, role modeling, and mentorship.

Do this… and 12 months from now you’ll be thinking and acting at a completely different level.

#careergrowth #gethired #professionaldevelopment

The One Big Thing all this AI hype is missing?

The tech industry needs a new way of working for cross-functional teams to deliver business impact with AI (not just expensive shiny objects).

Watch this Tech Leaders interview with Nick Talwar:

How to conceive, pitch, deliver, and measure impactful projects with an AI Proof-of-Concept Workspace

#ai #tech #leadership #management

🚨Q1 Win Alert from one of our veteran Tech Leaders members

What's going on in the world of AI+ML right now? 

Join my discussion with Nick Talwar

If you’re job hunting, rethink your application process.


How do you stand out in a super competitive job market?


Don’t just spam apply to any job that catches your attention.


Get clear on your ideal next role and strategically approach your goal.


If you want help with this, just send me a DM.

Me and some devs/tech leads/engineering managers are doing a Tech Leaders career roadmapping workshop hosted by our head coach Stephen Bates 

Topic: how to unblock your own career and stand out in the market

Want to join us?

If you’re trying to unblock your own career and stand out in this super competitive job market…

What’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make?

Keith Cunningham says “few things are worse than running in the wrong direction enthusiastically”.

So what should you do instead?

Get super clear on your direction so you can move forward faster.

Watch this clip from today's workshop to see how Tech Leaders members focus and plan their career roadmaps each quarter with our Sprint Setter tool 🏃‍♀️

If you’re wondering what it’s like in the Tech Leaders community…

Here’s what happened last week:

Even when it’s crunch time…

Make sure to build in time to relax and recover so you can consistently and sustainably perform at a high level.

Why every AI strategy needs these 5 steps to be successful with Nick Talwar

We just hosted a workshop with tools for you to unblock your own career and stand out in the market.

Would you like me to send you the link?

Why I love mountain biking in Northwest Arkansas

Taplio

Todd Larsen's Linkedin Analytics

Todd Larsen

What is Todd talking about?

Todd Larsen's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Taplio

.css-1jgreyo{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39,43,72,1) 0%, rgba(33,47,183,1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Todd Larsen's Linkedin Analytics

Todd Larsen

What is Todd talking about?

Todd Larsen's Best Posts .css-qqfgvy{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);}(last 30 days)

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Todd Larsen's Linkedin Analytics

Todd Larsen's Best Posts (last 30 days)