7 ms·

What should a 25 year old do to get hired as a CTO in 10-15 years?

3 points by FahadUddin92 9y ago

What can young talent do to become technically strong and capable enough to be a CTO of large/mid size company in next 10-15 years?

olivierduval 9y ago
Working hard, being curious, have a lot of different experiences... and always trying to understand how a technology fit to a business or organisational need or constraint Some technologies are best to move fast, other to recrut cheap, and so on... In general, all CxO jobs require a good/deep understanding of 1) the field (technology, finance...) 2) how people work together in an organisation... and how to make them work to get some specific result under constraints (timing, finance..) 3) how the business work and why the company is successful.. or not: strength, weakness,
rubyfan 9y ago
Very much depends on the company but here’s what I think helps, perhaps in this order... 1. Be really good at Powerpoint 2. Be really good at explaining technology to non-technical people 3. Conversely be really good at understanding the business domain you work in 4a. Spend 15 years either at a big four consultancy 4b. Spend 15 years at the company you intend to be CTO at and be good at corporate politics 5. Have a super technical wingman who is loyal (and doesn’t want the CTO job)
dig247 9y ago
I see two basic paths, Corporate/Enterprise or Startup. One requires insane amounts of ladder climbing and political posturing but may have better(more stable) base pay. The startup path may be a bit more risky but could get you there faster. You can start a company that you believe has a good chance of being acquired (I suggest something that falls in the 500k-5 million range) That could drastically reduce the timeline. I think you would learn more about the actual job vs getting caught up in all the politics associated with mid to large sized companies as you move towards your goal.
sharemywin 9y ago
At a larger company: - you obviously need to move to management. - usually requires(do most of the managers have mbas?) an mba at a larger company. - could transition into project management then into resource management - be really good at what you do and out work everyone hours wise. - make sure your contributions are noticed up the chain.
sharemywin 9y ago
Traditional: 1. Progressively get better and better roles at similar size companies(or same company) Possibly Faster: 2. Get better roles at smaller company get to CTO(probably much faster) and then move to bigger and bigger companies.
eshlomo 9y ago
Start with becoming small startup CTO tommorow. If it succeed then mission acomplished and if not, re-evalute again inly.much smarter this time.

3 points by FahadUddin92 9y ago

What can young talent do to become technically strong and capable enough to be a CTO of large/mid size company in next 10-15 years?

olivierduval 9y ago

Working hard, being curious, have a lot of different experiences... and always trying to understand how a technology fit to a business or organisational need or constraint Some technologies are best to move fast, other to recrut cheap, and so on... In general, all CxO jobs require a good/deep understanding of 1) the field (technology, finance...) 2) how people work together in an organisation... and how to make them work to get some specific result under constraints (timing, finance..) 3) how the business work and why the company is successful.. or not: strength, weakness,

rubyfan 9y ago

Very much depends on the company but here’s what I think helps, perhaps in this order... 1. Be really good at Powerpoint 2. Be really good at explaining technology to non-technical people 3. Conversely be really good at understanding the business domain you work in 4a. Spend 15 years either at a big four consultancy 4b. Spend 15 years at the company you intend to be CTO at and be good at corporate politics 5. Have a super technical wingman who is loyal (and doesn’t want the CTO job)

dig247 9y ago

I see two basic paths, Corporate/Enterprise or Startup. One requires insane amounts of ladder climbing and political posturing but may have better(more stable) base pay. The startup path may be a bit more risky but could get you there faster. You can start a company that you believe has a good chance of being acquired (I suggest something that falls in the 500k-5 million range) That could drastically reduce the timeline. I think you would learn more about the actual job vs getting caught up in all the politics associated with mid to large sized companies as you move towards your goal.

sharemywin 9y ago

At a larger company: - you obviously need to move to management. - usually requires(do most of the managers have mbas?) an mba at a larger company. - could transition into project management then into resource management - be really good at what you do and out work everyone hours wise. - make sure your contributions are noticed up the chain.

sharemywin 9y ago

Traditional: 1. Progressively get better and better roles at similar size companies(or same company) Possibly Faster: 2. Get better roles at smaller company get to CTO(probably much faster) and then move to bigger and bigger companies.

eshlomo 9y ago

Start with becoming small startup CTO tommorow. If it succeed then mission acomplished and if not, re-evalute again inly.much smarter this time.