The ESSENCE of the CTO role in different size companies

The core role of the CTO evolves in line with the company finding PMF (Product Market Fit).

Here is how the essence of the CTO role changes, in different size companies, as they figure out PMf, from my observations of working across companies from 10–100,000 staff over the last decade:

Startup: <10 engineers

CTO role: Build PoC (Proof of concept) or MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

Scale-up, Series A, clients but no PMF: 10–50 engineers

CTO role: Deliver product on time, on budget

Scale-up, Series B, Assumed PMF: 50–100 engineers

CTO role: Scale production processes while maintaining speed and quality with a significantly larger team.

Scale-up, Series C+, Confirmed PMF: 100–300 engineers

CTO role: Create, deploy and release spin-off products at scale, while maintaining speed and quality.

Corporate Enterprise: 500+ engineers

CTO role: Vision of Product/Technology 3–10 years ahead (timeframe depends on industry type), R&D Office.

I will cover the reasons why so many founding CTOs are often moved sideways, with or without a job title change.

How many times have you seen this evolution in the companies you have worked with or at?

#reengineeringleadership #cto #ctorole

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