I've been lucky to find companies where I could honestly say, "look, I have managed (up to CTO level) and I don't like it, I know myself well enough to know tha

I've been lucky to find companies where I could honestly say, "look, I have managed (up to CTO level) and I don't like it, I know myself well enough to know that I will just try to find excuses to write code. I want to be a technical leader, not a manager." I think most sane managers can understand that. If they can't... NEXT! I live in NYC and in the startup scene here (in my experience) young superstars get (demand!) a lot of attention but hiring managers are always stoked to find someone with some seasoning who is not averse to working in a startup environment. I try to be very upfront that I place a high priority on my family and I will not be spending 60-hour weeks in the office. As long as expectations are set properly nobody has had a problem with that.