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This is hilarious because I recently had a junior dev come to me to discuss issues they were having with their (incompetent) software manager. She said "I don'

This is hilarious because I recently had a junior dev come to me to discuss issues they were having with their (incompetent) software manager. She said "I don't understand why he doesn't understand the technical aspects. It must be me...I must be bad at communicating because [the manager] was a CTO at a startup!" I literally laughed out loud. Her communication skills were fantastic, but she was so new and naive to think that titles from a startup have literally any worth.

ianbutler 5y ago
Depends on the startup to be fair.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
jollybean 5y ago
While it might have been a young CTO at a small startup, the field of technology is vast, it's not the job of the CTO to understand all aspects of it. Similarly, when I started in Engineering, I didn't understand quite how much complexity existed in all the other areas of running a company, I've since learned much about them and have much more respect for CEO's who have to manage all of those issues.
nsonha 5y ago
more naive to even badmouth your manager in an interview. She could be in the right but that's a very risky move.
- valbaca 5y ago
  It wasn't an interview. I never said that so not sure where you got that. It was in a 1:1 where she was specifically seeking out advice on how to deal with this manager
reincarnate0x14 5y ago
"CTO" in particular is almost a running gag in the consulting arena as nearly everyone over 40 seems to be a former CTO somewhere.
Too 5y ago
Haha. “CTO in small startup” can easily mean 3 friends got together and tried to make an app in moms basement, while giving each other fancy roles. Never look at titles alone. Their scope vary wildly across companies. Even in big corporations they can be used by friends patting each other on the back or to make employees feel important as an alternative to giving an actual raise.
- tarsinge 5y ago
  I understand the problem of ridiculously inflated titles (like “VP Alliance and Strategic Partnerships World…” for the first employee doing sales) but on the other hand I don’t really see an alternative for CEO and CTO, what would be more appropriate titles for co founders for small startups?

ianbutler 5y ago

Depends on the startup to be fair.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

jollybean 5y ago

While it might have been a young CTO at a small startup, the field of technology is vast, it's not the job of the CTO to understand all aspects of it. Similarly, when I started in Engineering, I didn't understand quite how much complexity existed in all the other areas of running a company, I've since learned much about them and have much more respect for CEO's who have to manage all of those issues.

nsonha 5y ago

more naive to even badmouth your manager in an interview. She could be in the right but that's a very risky move.

valbaca 5y ago
It wasn't an interview. I never said that so not sure where you got that. It was in a 1:1 where she was specifically seeking out advice on how to deal with this manager

reincarnate0x14 5y ago

"CTO" in particular is almost a running gag in the consulting arena as nearly everyone over 40 seems to be a former CTO somewhere.

Too 5y ago

Haha. “CTO in small startup” can easily mean 3 friends got together and tried to make an app in moms basement, while giving each other fancy roles. Never look at titles alone. Their scope vary wildly across companies. Even in big corporations they can be used by friends patting each other on the back or to make employees feel important as an alternative to giving an actual raise.

tarsinge 5y ago
I understand the problem of ridiculously inflated titles (like “VP Alliance and Strategic Partnerships World…” for the first employee doing sales) but on the other hand I don’t really see an alternative for CEO and CTO, what would be more appropriate titles for co founders for small startups?