Of the top-tier best CTOs and Product Visionaries I've worked with, exactly NONE of them are competent coders. They know enough about coding to discuss impleme

Of the top-tier best CTOs and Product Visionaries I've worked with, exactly NONE of them are competent coders. They know enough about coding to discuss implementation architecture, but actually writing code is not something they do, nor should they, since that requires keeping up with a zillion fiddly things they left behind to be able to see and properly guide the "big picture" product vision. Someone who ties themselves to that level of detail thinking and keeps their expertise current (nearly a full time job in itself, these days!) can never develop truly great chops at product vision/conception, design, and the ability to build and inspire those teams to think in a way that leads to "insanely great" products. They are very different skillsets - there's a difference between a coder and a developer, and a developer and a product visionary and tech team inspirer. BTW, as a 6-12 time (depending on how you count) CTO myself (including two venture backed with acquisition exits), coding interviews are a complete WOMBAT: Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time. I care about HOW you think about the problem and its relationship to the real world, since THAT is what makes simple, fast, "just works" software that people love to use.