Why are so many successful founding CEOs software engineers?

Re:Why are so many successful founding CEOs software engineers? by Cthulhu_ on Monday March 15, 2021 @06:01AM (#26464132)

Yeah I mean they're all CEO's, they don't do software engineering as far as I know. Maybe they once did, 15-20 years ago, and maybe that was their major in uni, but I think it's a bad trend to put a label on people based on what they went to school for. What you pick in school is not your life, and real life / work experience is more educational than the education system (in my experience, but then, I'm college level at best).

So yeah. These people are CEO's, not software engineers.

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Re:Why are so many successful founding CEOs software engineers? by samatman on Monday March 15, 2021 @06:06AM (#26464160)

That seems overly reductive.

Most US Congresspersons studied law, most high-ranking Chinese Communist Party members studied engineering. Most of both spent limited time practicing their profession, they're professional politicians, not lawyers or engineers.

It still says something interesting about the respective bodies. If there's some kid out there who wants to grow up to be a CEO, should she study computer science or, like, history?

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Re:Why are so many successful founding CEOs software engineers? by batty_alex on Monday March 15, 2021 @07:33AM (#26464684)

How about they study, or work in, the field in which they want to be CEO? Damn.

It’s not like history is some useless knowledge. Software engineering is still the new hotness. Give it time and the headline will change to why meteor engineers make the best CEOs while we all pine for the days we sat on top

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Re:Why are so many successful founding CEOs software engineers? by Ensorceled on Monday March 15, 2021 @06:05AM (#26464153)

I'm pushing 60 and university is STILL one of the most formative events, if not the most formative event, in my lifetime.

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Re:Why are so many successful founding CEOs software engineers? by sebmellen on Monday March 15, 2021 @06:16PM (#26469964)

Say I majored in physics and went on to get a masters in fine arts and became a world-renowned screenwriter, would you call me a mathematician? That’s argument is equivalent with claims that Cook is a software engineer.

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Re:Why are so many successful founding CEOs software engineers? by mordae on Monday March 15, 2021 @06:49AM (#26464410)

Anything you do in your twenties ends up being the most formative in general.

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Re:Why are so many successful founding CEOs software engineers? by Ensorceled on Monday March 15, 2021 @06:52AM (#26464421)

Sort of my point, saying that what you majored in uni doesn't matter is a bit silly.

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