Having been a CTO (and not wanting to be one ever again): it is incredibly difficult to stay connected to technical details when being a CTO. To really feel and

Having been a CTO (and not wanting to be one ever again): it is incredibly difficult to stay connected to technical details when being a CTO. To really feel and understand technical issues you need to write code. Not all code, but at least some, on a regular basis, encountering issues yourself. Fitting that into the schedule of a CTO is very difficult, as you will be expected to be on "management time", e.g. available at any time for any kind of meeting, chat, road trip, or phone/conference call. You can't set time aside for concentrated work. And believe me, to be a good CTO, you do need to be connected to technical details and understand the tradeoffs. Just talking to other people who code is no substitute. In my case, I decided I will never again want to be in a management position where I cannot spend a significant amount of time coding.