The flip side is that one will be a much better senior engineer after having been a CEO (or even a manager, or just had a diversity of roles). Most managers say

The flip side is that one will be a much better senior engineer after having been a CEO (or even a manager, or just had a diversity of roles). Most managers say they care more about soft skills than hard skills, and that's actually how you build those soft skills. Most engineers like tech, but have little exposure to how they interact with the larger organizational structure and design, with customers, with fundraising, and with a slew of other things. Stepping through a few roles gives that visibility. That makes for a better engineer. I'll start and end my career in a tech role, but I do periodically do dives into other sorts of roles in the meantime.