Steve's primary experience is in creating complex, large-scale software systems and the companies that deliver them.  He has broad and deep experience in nearly all  types of software systems, from enterprise to consumer, from security to communications, from accounting to embedded.  Mixing strong business and technical perspectives, he also has marketing, product management and enterprise sales experience.  In addition, he holds several patents in Internet and automated data delivery systems (see his biography for more information).

Steve's services for software companies include the following:

• Interim-CTO - For early and middle-stage companies, Steve is often called upon to hold an interim executive position to get things going or turn then around.  This often involves building the engineering team, defining or updating the product, writing specs, meeting with customers and investors, and going on sales calls, and actually building the products.  He also often works with existing technology management to provide guidance and help fill in where needed.
  
  
• Investor-Side Advisory Work - Steve works with leading Venture firms in the investment and due diligence process. This includes meeting with prospective investments, researching technologies, doing due diligence, and examining the competition.  He also works with with many existing portfolio companies in the other roles listed here.
  
  
• Interim-CIO - For larger companies, Steve fills this role to restructure or focus global IT structure and operations to better support the business.  In this role, Steve applies his unique combination of experiences in business and technology management along with detailed technical knowledge to insure alignment across the IT organization.  His particular large company interests include strategy, staffing, global operations, security, financial systems, ERP, manufacturing, forecasting, R&D, and infrastructure.
  
  
• System Architecture / Operations - Steve does a lot of hard core technical work in a wide variety of areas, including large-scale systems, J2EE, operating systems, B2B interfaces, wireless, security, databases, networking, performance, and operations.  This often includes designing new systems or reviewing existing architectures or plans.
  
  
• Matching Technology to Markets - Steve works with customers and engineering teams to define and design products that match the market's needs. This can include writing specifications, working with customers, and building prototypes.
  
  
• Technical Advisor - Steve works with others to advise the company on technical and management issues. In particular, he helps ensure that the company builds the proper products and a world-class development, QA, and support infrastructure.
  

Some of Steve's areas of expertise include:

Also, Steve has written a new resource on Developing Software, the Startup's Guide to Doing it Right, in the Resources Section.  Additional technical resources are under development.