2023 CTO Fellowship Kickoff
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The AWS CTO Fellowship is a community of over 3,000 and growing early-stage and venture-backed CTOs. The community is invite-only and designed to benefit all seed-stage startups, regardless of cloud preference, by providing with access to technical resources, guidance and networking. During a kick-off month of custom programming, fellows join the CTO Fellowship Slack workspace to connect with their cohort and the larger CTOF community where they will have lifelong access to community events like technical workshops, fireside chats, and socials.
Details
Date & Time
Event
Week 1
Welcome + Icebreakers
Meet Your Fellow CTOs
Week 2
Fireside Chat #1
Learn best practices from late-stage tech leaders – past speakers have included the CTOs of Reddit, Brex, Ada, Superhuman, Flatiron Health, and more.
Week 3
Topic times & dates vary
Small group sessions with AWS Solutions Architects to answer your top-of-mind technical questions – past topics have included Cost Optimization, Common Serverless Architectures, Security Fundamentals, and more.
Week 4
Fireside Chat #2
Gain insights from late-stage CTOs on topics that matter to early-stage tech teams – past sessions have included “Hiring & Managing”, “Prioritization & Goal Setting”, and more.
Typical Fellowship Schedule
CTO Fireside Chat #1
Learn best practices from late-stage tech leaders – past speakers have included the CTOs of Reddit, Brex, Ada, Superhuman, Flatiron Health, and more.
Small group sessions with AWS Solutions Architects to answer your top-of-mind technical questions – past topics have included Cost Optimization, Common Serverless Architectures, Security Fundamentals, and more.
Meet Your Fellow CTOs
Gain insights from late-stage CTOs on topics that matter to early-stage tech teams – past sessions have included “Hiring & Managing”, “Prioritization & Goal Setting”, and more.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Topic times and dates vary
Week 4
Group Technical Office Hours
Welcome + Icebreakers
Group Technical Office Hours
Fireside Chat #2
By registering, you agree to the AWS Event Terms and Conditions and the AWS Community Codes of Conduct.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is considered a seed-stage startup?
Typically, startups in the kickoff have raised a seed round of funding ($1M - $10M) and have under 20 employees. If the content of the program still looks relevant and you have raised more (or less) capital or have a larger team, you are welcome to sign up and we will let you know if you've been accepted.
2. What is the cost of the fellowship?
There is no cost, but a time commitment is required to participate in the fellowship kickoff. To get the most out of the experience, you will want to be able to commit to attending at least half of the sessions. Sessions are generally hosted at 9AM PST.
3. How many people can enroll per startup?
Only one person per startup can enroll and access is not transferable. We ask that only your CTO (or technical lead in the case that there is no CTO) enroll on behalf of your company.
4. Will the sessions be recorded in case I cannot attend one?
Yes, the fireside chats will be recorded for you to watch on your own time. However, we recommend joining in real-time so you can ask the panelists questions. The networking session and group technical office hours will not be recorded as they are smaller groups.
5. Will the entire program be virtual?
Yes, the program is entirely virtual and all large sessions take place over Zoom while small group office hours are hosted on Amazon Chime.
6. Is this program only for startups and CTOs based in the US and Canada?
You will have Industry-Specific CTO Fellowships on this page (i.e. AI/ML, Fintech, Healthcare and Life Sciences) are global programs and are open to CTOs located all over the world whereas the Industry-Agnostic CTO Fellowship has several geo-specific programs including North America (NAMER), Latin America (LATAM), Asia/Pacific/Japan (APJ), and Europe and the Middle East (EMEA). This particular program and page is focused on the NAMER offering and events are scheduled to NAMER-friendly timezones and include a cohort of primarily NAMER-based companies and CTOs. Since CTOs and companies are sometimes located in different geographies, we recommend signing up for the Industry-Agnostic program on this page and including your home country in the sign up form and the AWS team will be in touch to confirm if another geo-program is a better fit for your schedule and connections with other CTOs in your region.
7. What happens after the four-week kickoff?
You will have lifelong access to the Slack workspace of ~3,000 and growing CTOs globally. You will also have access to continued programming (fireside chats, networking opportunities, technical workshops, and more).
Join our next kickoff ⤵
We are thrilled to invite you to join our community of CTOs. Fellows are accepted to the community on a quarterly basis to participate in a four-week kickoff track designed to provide early-stage CTOs with a taste of what the community offers. All fellows are at a similar stage - most have raised a seed round of funding, typically under $10M. For teams that do not have a CTO, a technical lead may join, but please only one person per startup! Since space is limited, we are not able to extend additional invitations to other technical team members at this time.
Start dates for the Fellowship vary depending on your industry. Sessions are typically held on Wednesdays or Thursdays from 9:00AM PT - 10:00AM PT (unless noted otherwise in each program’s schedule).
- Industry-agnostic (all industries welcome): Begins April 26
- Fintech (open globally): Begins April 20
A sample of past speakers
Typical Fellowship
Schedule
Cos Nicolaescu
CTO, Brex
Vrushali Paunikar
CPO, Carta
Conrad Irwin
CTO, Superhuman
Sha Ma
VP of Engineering, Catalyst
2023 CTO Fellowship Kickoff
The AWS CTO Fellowship is a community of over 3,000 and growing early-stage and venture-backed CTOs. The community is invite-only and designed to benefit all seed-stage startups, regardless of cloud preference, by providing with access to technical resources, guidance and networking. During a kick-off month of custom programming, fellows join the CTO Fellowship Slack workspace to connect with their cohort and the larger CTOF community where they will have lifelong access to community events like technical workshops, fireside chats, and socials.