Re:Five Years as a Startup CTO: How, Why, and Was It Worth It?
by x0x0 on Saturday October 04, 2025 @08:45PM
(#45478006)
You're trying to have a serious discussion with someone convinced he can build deep domain knowledge in eg banks and their needs, how to sell to them, plus the associated network, in a year while also writing code. Oh, and just assumes "early customers", ie you're also going to learn how to sell. Because how hard can it be :rolleyes:
But your argument still has validity even if it takes 2-3 years to gain the knowledge, so let me address that.
My response is: if I wanted to be an expert in <startup domain> to the point I didn't need a co-founder CEO, I would take the time, the years I mention above. But that has costs (opportunity costs if nothing else).
Instead, I prefer to be an expert in software development. This gives me less control in each given startup as you point out, but more optionality across startups (and other companies)[0]. This choice also means that I give input on the hard decisions that company leadership has to make, but I don't have to make the final call. Frankly, that's more weight than I care to bear.
That's a personal choice. I've watched friends be CEOs of successful startups and it's not always (nor usually, even) fun or easy.
0: I wrote more about that optionality here: https://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/3445