Yes i agree that there is a range of seniority between junior programmer and CTO and hopefully you could get a senior engineer with star power qualities and growth capabilities. However, I do still think that if you're going to form a company with high growth aspirations you want the founders to be at the helm of the company through all of that growth as much as possible. And for that to happen you need well rounded and experienced folks, preferably one with a sales angle and one with an ops/engineering angle.
Patrick. On 6 April 2011 17:13, Ryan Henderson <ryanhe...@googlemail.com> wrote: > Great points. Programmers (collectively) on pedestals is a fair point. I > have worked with some great ones though, and the business knows it! I have > also worked with many programmers, some that you would never put in front of > the business (internal), your customers (external), let alone form a company > with them. > > Your point about CTO is a good one, though I would say not all start-ups > need an experienced CTO. Depends on your business really. A tech co-founder > should demonstrate more than just coding skills though. > > And to be clear, developing software, or in the bigger picture systems, is > much more than just churning code... so don't get coder and programmer mixed > up with a good software/systems developer. In some businesses you will see, > coders, team leaders, business analysts, project managers, software > architects, testers and various other people. A good SOFTWARE DEVELOPER > should have all those traits in some form, maybe they are not CTO material > but they are the type of person that understands more than just code (Though > they should be a master of code first). Maybe this is the types of person > you need as a tech co-founder (again depends on your business). In my > opinion there are lots of programmers, fewer developers, and even less CTOs. > > Ryan > > > On 7/04/11 2:20 AM, pcoll...@cpan.org wrote: > > I'm finding this thread quite amusing and for some reason it is annoying > me. I haven't put my finger on why that is yet. I think perhaps it is the > tendency for many people on this list to put "programmers" on a pedestal. As > if everybody could one day be Mark Zuckerberg. (OK this part was maybe a bit > harsh, but I think this bubble we're in is creating this holier than thou > attitude again). > > Instead of thinking about it in terms of a "coder". Think about a good > technical co-founder who is actually an experienced CTO with a business > mind, not just a coder. The CTO should have enough skills to do some initial > prototyping. Probably has enough experience to assess the risks and rewards > of the startup. Can attract great coding talent quickly (or if not lead the > remote Ukrainian team). If your idea can't attract an experienced startup > CTO with a good stomach for risk, then you're probably riding the wrong > horse or in the wrong direction. If you can't assess a good CTO from a great > coder, then you probably can't run a startup either. > > In my experience other than having watched the social network, most > coders don't actually get the risk/reward tradeoff of a startup and aren't > sufficiently rounded to carry their half of a demanding startup partnership. > Coders are just regular smart people with some coding chops, that doesn't > make them anymore qualified to join the partnership of a startup than my > accountant except that they have the skills I need to help get it off the > ground on day 1 when I have little cash. > > Patrick. > > On 6 April 2011 06:05, Brendan Quinn <bren...@clueful.com.au> wrote: > >> On 6 April 2011 07:49, Geoff Langdale <geoff.langd...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> 3. There's no technical prestige associated in having worked for a >>> technically dull failed business startup. The vast majority of >>> startups are going to fail. If you're a tech guy and you're realistic >>> about this, go figure out whether you're going to want to work for a >>> startup that's going to fail that (a) is boring and has no technical >>> kudos or (b) is technically interesting. Someone who works on a >>> technical startup that's a 'noble failure' is going to have improved >>> their position; someone who works for a 'plug web front end into >>> database backend' type role has at best stayed in the same place >>> career-wise. >>> >>> Possibly #3 is the point touched on the least. A lot of ideas, whether >>> good or bad as business, are just boring technically and that's all >>> there is to it. >>> >> >> Of course the converse is true as well: a lot of tech-focussed teams >> don't care about the business side enough, and end up spending all their >> time building something "cool" in node.js or Scala or some other >> of-the-moment technology, forgetting that they have to find users and >> revenue and traction etc etc. >> >> So maybe we need some more give-and-take and respect for both the tech >> and the marketing sides: "okay I'll let you build the DB backend in >> Redis/Membase/MongoDB rather than MySQL so you can boast to your friends at >> the ruby meetup, but only if you help me to make the SEO work and create a >> good viral invite system so we can get traction" >> >> In the end it's more important to build a successful business than a >> sexy one... well that's my opinion anyway! >> >> Brendan. >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach >> Australia mailing list. >> >> Guidelines on discussion: >> http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den >> >> No lurkers! 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