Yeah, if you aren't skipping levels you are sitting still. Takes balls and the ability to handle when it goes sideways. It is often a gamble at first. Most peop

Yeah, if you aren't skipping levels you are sitting still. Takes balls and the ability to handle when it goes sideways. It is often a gamble at first. Most people don't want to bring on this type of stress/uncertainty--but when it works, it works. I went from "lucky to get hired" application support engineer peon to being groomed for CTO by stepping out of my lane. My supervisor had a sign on his wall: "Stay in your lane." I did not (he ended up sacked by the CFO). I found that even pissing off some key executives (CEO/CFO) a few times just helped my profile. I got lucky but it was all deliberate. One of the executives I inflamed (CFO) had to sign off on two record setting raises/promotions for me. All brought before the board of directors/investors by the then/current CTO. To be fair, I was also super productive/knowledgeable and a high-performer. Everyone else was used to working at big companies, I had been sitting at home the previous ten years playing on my computer and gardening.