

How to land your first CTO role? - bigtunacan

Aside from founding your own company, how does a highly experienced software developer go about landing their first role as CTO with an already somewhat established startup who is seeking to fill this type of role? (CTO&#x2F;VP of Engineering)
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cpayne
For us, CTO has less of a Developer focus, and more of an Operations focus.

Not that a software developer couldn't be a CTO, its just that they have less
of a focus on: \- Costs. Infrastructure (hosting etc.) \- Disaster Recovery -
if a plan isn't in place, getting one done! Then periodically testing the DR
plan \- Managing the Service Desk (issue raised / closed / turn around time)

(I may be reading too much into your question) but I think you are missing a
step. Something along the lines of Team Lead / Developer Manager / Project
Management / Software Architect.

Any developer WITHOUT several years experience in this type of role first is
just kidding themselves of a CTO role.

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bigtunacan
Definitely not kidding myself. I'm trying to develop a plan of how I should
get from here to there. I'm currently a highly technical developer, recently
started on my MBA, and I want to understand what are the best steps to take to
get from here to there. I understand that it could take some time; hopefully
something I could accomplish within the next 5 to 10 years, but I want to know
how best to go about getting on this path.

~~~
cscharenberg
I am on this route, perhaps 2 years further along. I just finished a 2-year
Executive MBA. It definitely changed my career path (which was the point). The
credentials gave me some extra confidence and firepower in negotiating into a
team lead position. but as cpayne says below, the real value is the knowledge
and new way of thinking the MBA carries that affects your career. It's like
having a whole new set of analytical tools available to act in a situation.

It has made me a better software team leader than I would have been, and
definitely set me on a path to reach the next levels of management in a
company, which is my particular interest and skill set.

I vote for starting some reading of business IT. There are lots of good
articles to start your reading list and which will point you towards other
readings.

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quizotic
I became VP of Engineering in a pivot/refinancing. Later became CTO in another
pivot/refinancing. Subsequently was offered both positions several times,
mostly when things were not going well, occasionally when just starting out.

The CTO position is usually more outward-facing, with some limited ability to
affect change internally. As CTO, it's useful to blog, speak-out, meet
prospects, acting as a thought leader and technical evangelist. Some % of time
can be devoted to future product concepts. As CTO, you would be expected to be
familiar with your technology ecosystem and have a good sense of its tectonic
forces and near term direction. If tea leaves need reading, your opinion would
count heavily.

The CTO role can be tricky to navigate. The easiest path internally is to be a
resource to engineering, marketing and sales, offering to help each function,
and communicating frequently. Dangers include being perceived as (1) sending
messages not coordinated with marketing (2) stealing engineering resources (3)
setting product/company directions independently.

Good luck. It's a fun position ... if you don't mind not having control.

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JSeymourATL
> Hot to go about landing a first role as CTO with an already somewhat
> established startup...

Basic premise, people buy from people they know. This is largely a sales
process.

Research early stage companies in the specific market/space you're interested
in. Reach out to the principals involved (including investors) on a
professional networking basis. Get to know them. Offer to help in a short-
term/contract capacity. Incidentally, yes the MBA is still a solid credential
to have. More important in your career long-run will be the buds and contacts
from your program. Suggest reading Alan Weiss on acquiring clients.

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cscharenberg
You need to learn about business operations for one. A CTO (unless at a small
company where CTO means head engineer) has to worry about risk of chosen
solutions, governance of IT, setting strategy for how technology fits into
your company's operations, emergency plans. There are a lot of good case
studies and papers in Harvard Business Review that can start you thinking
about these topics.

I'm not sure on landing the job, but a CTO needs to think on that level, which
is quite different from software development. Being familiar with the topics
and able to sell yourself as a person who understands these topics will help
you.

