How Much Code Should the CTO of a Startup Write?
The lines get blurred between “as much as humanly possible” and “zero” often times. But the answer is a bit more complicated and lies somewhere in the middle I think. Let me explain why.
I’ll start off by saying that I am currently the CTO of a 2 year old startup and in the past I have worked with various other startups in different technical roles. I’ve met CTO’s on both sides of the coin and I myself tend to flop back and forth on occasion.
But the real answer to this question really depends on 2 things overall. The first being the current stage of your startup (pre-seed, seed, Series A, etc) and the second being the total number of employees that you have available at your disposal.
I’ve met plenty of 2-person startups in the past, and typically, one of the two is technical and one is not. Either the technical founder is writing all of the code, or nobody is. Both of which can be troublesome scenarios. Because software companies, usually need software and they need it fast.
Before I dive into how much code I personally write as a CTO of a 2 year old startup, let’s get a quick formal definition of what a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) actually does, just as a reference. Because the job involves a hefty amount of responsibilities, and coding typically isn’t on the list.
