3 ms·

Only a partial answer to your question (there's plenty of good ones), but it reminds me of the time I reached out to the CTO of a small startup looking to hire

Only a partial answer to your question (there's plenty of good ones), but it reminds me of the time I reached out to the CTO of a small startup looking to hire a director of data science. I've lead a few teams before and have a decade+ plus of experience at a range of companies so I had a pretty reasonable idea about what's out there, and I figured it was a small startup so I might be a good fit. I got a pretty blunt response that they were looking for someone that had managed teams for over 5 years, preferably at a single org. Not unreasonable but when I looked at the CTO's linked in they had only ever managed their current startup and only for 3 years at the time of the discussion. I just found it curious that they felt the job of CTO could be learned pretty much as you go, but anyone without their target experience wasn't even worth talking to. It looks like they had major layoffs a year ago, and aren't making much of a dent in their space so it's quite possible that "survivorship bias" is a big part of it as well.

myownpetard 4y ago
It makes sense in another light though. You should try to hire people that will bolster your weak areas. In this case a lack of experience managing larger teams.
iamflimflam1 4y ago
It's interesting as it's often the CTO (or early technical lead) who will get pushed out as a company grows - particularly true for non founders. My impression has always been that there's an assumption the CEO can grow, but the technical person can't.
- patkai 4y ago
  > it's often the CTO This is interesting. Do others have the same experience? (I don't have a large enough sample to tell.)
  - iamflimflam1 4y ago
    To be fair, sometimes it's not unreasonable. There is a huge difference between being in an often tiny team smashing out code to get a product out the door and leading multiple teams specialising in multiple different disciplines. There's also a huge difference between being able to architect a piece of software and being able to work out a 5 year technology roadmap, manage budgets, analyse the competitive landscape, manage multiple stakeholders etc... For some people that difference is the difference between having an enjoyable job and absolutely hating going to work...

myownpetard 4y ago

It makes sense in another light though. You should try to hire people that will bolster your weak areas. In this case a lack of experience managing larger teams.

iamflimflam1 4y ago

It's interesting as it's often the CTO (or early technical lead) who will get pushed out as a company grows - particularly true for non founders. My impression has always been that there's an assumption the CEO can grow, but the technical person can't.

patkai 4y ago
> it's often the CTO This is interesting. Do others have the same experience? (I don't have a large enough sample to tell.)
- iamflimflam1 4y ago
  To be fair, sometimes it's not unreasonable. There is a huge difference between being in an often tiny team smashing out code to get a product out the door and leading multiple teams specialising in multiple different disciplines. There's also a huge difference between being able to architect a piece of software and being able to work out a 5 year technology roadmap, manage budgets, analyse the competitive landscape, manage multiple stakeholders etc... For some people that difference is the difference between having an enjoyable job and absolutely hating going to work...