Re:Ask HN: I don't enjoy being a CTO. Now what?
by DelaneyM on Monday June 13, 2016 @12:57PM
(#11895375)
It depends on whether you want to end up in macro or micro business.
If ultimately you want to be an entrepreneur, then try to sign on as an early/founding engineer with a qualified and capable business team. You'll learn most of what you need to do it yourself by proximity.
Alternatively, consider one of the better incubators/accelerators as a way to draw a living salary while executing over time with support from your peers in the program and mentors.
If you want to be CEO of Cisco, suck it up and be a non-building technical leader. Eventually you'll be able to absorb or grow your scope into a profit-centre of the business (engineering is usually a cost centre), and if you excel at that you can climb the rest of the way. This is really the only end goal for which it makes sense to do an MBA.
Re:Ask HN: I don't enjoy being a CTO. Now what?
by msgerbush on Monday June 13, 2016 @01:33PM
(#11895615)
Great, that's exactly what I suspected, but nice to hear from someone who's been through it already. Thanks, again, and good luck with your new venture.
If ultimately you want to be an entrepreneur, then try to sign on as an early/founding engineer with a qualified and capable business team. You'll learn most of what you need to do it yourself by proximity. Alternatively, consider one of the better incubators/accelerators as a way to draw a living salary while executing over time with support from your peers in the program and mentors.
If you want to be CEO of Cisco, suck it up and be a non-building technical leader. Eventually you'll be able to absorb or grow your scope into a profit-centre of the business (engineering is usually a cost centre), and if you excel at that you can climb the rest of the way. This is really the only end goal for which it makes sense to do an MBA.