When we think of startups we think of charismatic entrepreneurs plugging away on their passions. But what does it really take to form a startup? Our guest this week on CTO Connection is Bob Friday, CTO of Mist, a Juniper Company.

Bob is a veteran who has been through the startup process many times. He talked to Peter about the thought processes that go into crafting both teams and entire organizations. Bob also talks about the formula behind the process new ventures will go through and which positions are the most important to fill. Listen in for his strategy tips.

• [01:28] - The beginnings of Bob's technology career
• [04:16] - The ultimate team sport
• [05:30] - The blank sheet of paper
• [07:52] - CEO checkbox
• [09:00] - Market timing
• [10:20] - Bob's first big company adventure
• [16:05] - Mist Systems
• [20:10] - Returning to the startup world
• [21:43] - Taking on the incumbents
• [26:13] - Jumping off the cliff
• [28:40] - Getting the team together
• [30:47] - Going all-in on an enterprise AI play
• [33:57] - Creating an environment where data scientists enjoy being

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CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!

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Podcast episode production by Dante32.