

Ask HN: Should a CEO be able to code? - tdfx

I've worked in places where the CEO is basically the technical co-founder and also in places where the CEO barely had a fleeting grasp of common HTML tags (both were web-oriented companies, both were small startups).  The biggest guys like Google, Facebook, etc. seem to put people with CS/engineering backgrounds at the helm... I've even read that Zuckerberg occasionally commits some production code himself.<p>Obviously that's far from the core responsibilities of a CEO.  My question is oriented towards whether a CEO being able to grasp the technical concepts on a deeper level actually makes a difference to the success of the company.<p>Interestingly enough, the company I worked for with the non-technical CEO actually made a lot more money and is AFAIK much more successful than the other I mentioned.  I'm just curious about other peoples' experiences with this.
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YuriNiyazov
"web oriented" doesn't give nearly enough detail to answer the question. The
CEO must understand, in excruciating detail, how his company earns a living.
If the differentiating factor is that the company earns a living because their
technology is superior (see pg's many early writings on this topic) then the
CEO better be technical.

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kls
I think a CTO should, but I personally would feel more comfortable with a
business development or sales oriented CEO depending on the nature of the
business. A person can embody both, but If I had to chose, I would want a
business focused CEO that does no mettle in the technical decision of the
CIO/CTO office.

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ashleyreddy
For a startup the CEO has to add a lot of value. Usually in startup mode this
means creating something i.e. code. If the CEO isn't coding he better be
selling.

