4 ms·

> frankly are not in technical people's forte Amusing to see this attitude on HN in the 21st century. Have not the last 20 years of startup successes having ve

by Jach 5y ago

> frankly are not in technical people's forte Amusing to see this attitude on HN in the 21st century. Have not the last 20 years of startup successes having very technical founders successfully transition to more managerial roles more than demonstrated otherwise?

jwagenet 5y ago
It would seem to me founders, technical or not, would be well suited to management positions with a lot of control/freedom since that is likely not so different from starting a business, except scaled up.
- Jach 5y ago
  Is your suggestion that they wouldn't do well in more constrained middle management roles? Perhaps (I don't really agree), but then does coming from the other side with the whole idea of "technical managers" and ICs "retiring into management" (many later ending up as high as any level you want to pick with various domains of focus -- some even go get MBAs!) matter to you? I find it laughable to create a technical/non-technical dichotomy as it relates to predictive managerial suitability (programmers deal with absurd complexities in software, but somehow aren't suitable to organize a Christmas party?) and even fundamental preferences. The father of quality management (Deming, whom more people in software should read, especially managers) was himself quite technical.
deanCommie 5y ago
Maybe you're right. My overarching point to OP who was doubting what managers-of-managers do, is that this a big part of the job, and it takes time, and effort. There is also a big difference between doing these things as the CEO of a 100-person startup, where every choice you make is a reflection of you, a reflection of the culture you're setting up, and contribute to the legacy that YOUR company will have, vs as the Sr. Manger of a 100-person org in a huge company, where ultimately it's not your company.
Fiahil 5y ago
No, absolutely not. Going from a beeing an expert into a new management role is almost a different career, and there’s no predisposition for « technical people » to succeed at it.
- Jach 5y ago
  There's no predisposition for them to not succeed at it either on account of them being technical. That's my point, drawing a technical/non-technical dichotomy for who is best suited a priori for management (let alone organizing Christmas parties) is silly, and extremely old fashioned given the broad successes of technical people switching to management at every level from front line to CEO over the last decades.

by Jach 5y ago

jwagenet 5y ago

It would seem to me founders, technical or not, would be well suited to management positions with a lot of control/freedom since that is likely not so different from starting a business, except scaled up.

Jach 5y ago
Is your suggestion that they wouldn't do well in more constrained middle management roles? Perhaps (I don't really agree), but then does coming from the other side with the whole idea of "technical managers" and ICs "retiring into management" (many later ending up as high as any level you want to pick with various domains of focus -- some even go get MBAs!) matter to you? I find it laughable to create a technical/non-technical dichotomy as it relates to predictive managerial suitability (programmers deal with absurd complexities in software, but somehow aren't suitable to organize a Christmas party?) and even fundamental preferences. The father of quality management (Deming, whom more people in software should read, especially managers) was himself quite technical.

deanCommie 5y ago

Maybe you're right. My overarching point to OP who was doubting what managers-of-managers do, is that this a big part of the job, and it takes time, and effort. There is also a big difference between doing these things as the CEO of a 100-person startup, where every choice you make is a reflection of you, a reflection of the culture you're setting up, and contribute to the legacy that YOUR company will have, vs as the Sr. Manger of a 100-person org in a huge company, where ultimately it's not your company.

Fiahil 5y ago

No, absolutely not. Going from a beeing an expert into a new management role is almost a different career, and there’s no predisposition for « technical people » to succeed at it.

Jach 5y ago
There's no predisposition for them to not succeed at it either on account of them being technical. That's my point, drawing a technical/non-technical dichotomy for who is best suited a priori for management (let alone organizing Christmas parties) is silly, and extremely old fashioned given the broad successes of technical people switching to management at every level from front line to CEO over the last decades.