When people ask what a startup CTO does, they picture someone whiteboarding system architecture or evaluating the latest framework. The reality is much less glamorous — and much more interesting.
The job description is a lie
Most CTO job descriptions list things like "define technical strategy" and "oversee engineering architecture." And sure, those are part of the job. But they're maybe 20% of it.
The other 80% is stuff nobody warns you about:
- Debugging a CI pipeline at 11 PM because the deploy is blocked
- Having the same conversation about technical debt for the third time this quarter
- Writing the migration script yourself because everyone else is heads-down on features
- Being the person who says "no" to the shiny new technology when the boring one works fine
Context switching is the real skill
On any given day I might go from a deep code review to a hiring call to a product strategy meeting to debugging a production issue. The ability to context switch without losing quality is the most underrated CTO skill.
I've learned to timebox ruthlessly. Every meeting gets 25 minutes unless it genuinely needs more. Every code review gets done same-day. Every Slack message gets a response within the hour during work hours — even if the response is "I'll get back to you tomorrow."
Technical debt is a negotiation
Every engineering team talks about technical debt like it's a binary — either you're paying it down or you're accumulating it. The reality is more nuanced.
At code.store, we use a simple framework:
type DebtDecision = {
impact: "blocks-features" | "slows-development" | "cosmetic";
effort: "hours" | "days" | "weeks";
urgency: "now" | "next-quarter" | "someday";
};
// Only "blocks-features" + "hours/days" + "now" gets immediate attention.
// Everything else goes into the backlog with honest effort estimates.The key insight: not all technical debt is equal, and some of it you should deliberately choose to live with. The goal isn't zero debt — it's manageable debt that doesn't slow you down.
Hiring is your highest-leverage activity
Nothing you do as a CTO has more impact than who you hire. A great engineer doesn't just write better code — they raise the bar for everyone around them. A bad hire doesn't just write bad code — they create drag on the entire team.
We've learned to optimize for three things:
- Curiosity over credentials — I'd rather hire someone who built a weird side project than someone with a perfect resume
- Communication over raw skill — A good engineer who can explain their thinking beats a great engineer who can't
- Ownership over experience — Someone who takes responsibility for outcomes, not just outputs
The loneliest part
The part nobody talks about is that being a CTO can be lonely. You're too technical for the business conversations and too business-focused for the engineering conversations. You're the person everyone comes to with problems, but you can't always share yours.
I've found that having a small group of other startup CTOs to talk to openly has been invaluable. Not a formal mastermind group — just people you can text at 10 PM when something breaks and you need someone who gets it.
The CTO role is messy, unpredictable, and often thankless. But if you're the kind of person who likes solving problems across the full stack — from code to people to business — there's nothing quite like it.