Well you can circumvent the "recruiting" process by getting to know more founders and putting your hat in the ring. Yes I agree with you about the cost of buil

Well you can circumvent the "recruiting" process by getting to know more founders and putting your hat in the ring. Yes I agree with you about the cost of building an application, but its always been cheap form a code generation perspective. The marketing and sales channels (read viral "whatsapp", which is unique in the world) have changed. You don't need to have a boat load of sales and support personnel anymore, because 1, its not expected, and 2, you have the web to deploy and support your app which is a force multiplier. I don't think the CTO/VPE is the guy with the most or even the best grasp of how software should be developed. He should be the guy that most effectively bridge the communication gap between the engineering dept and the board room. Focusing the group on the things that will make ownership happy. In that respect sometimes the CTO is a guy that gives the BOD confidence that he'll look out for the Boards interest, not the guy who's going to deliver. I know that may sound counter-intuitive but its true.