Let's say you work as a CTO at a failing startup, and you are tired of all the responsibilities, management, etc, and you just want to go back to being a productive developer and write code again. Will this be perceived as a stupid career move or will people understand? Is it a bad move? Asking for a friend.
Ask HN: Going from CTO to Developer?
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Re: Ask HN: Going from CTO to Developer?
#2This is kind of what I did. I was VP of Engineering etc. at different companies and wanted to go back to coding, see: https://blog.jgc.org/2012/02/programmer.html.
Of course, I then ended up being CTO again!
Re: Ask HN: Going from CTO to Developer?
#3This is kind of what I did. I was VP of Engineering etc. at different companies and wanted to go back to coding, see: https://blog.jgc.org/2012/02/programmer.html . Of course, I then ended up being CTO again!
Cool, sounds like it worked out fine for you!
Re: Ask HN: Going from CTO to Developer?
#4Yes, it will be perceived as a stupid career move.
No, people won't really understand.
Is it a bad move? There are no bad moves, only bad reasons?
I was not CTO, but I was basically doing that job without the title. My company was slowly failing (although no-one would admit that at the time, it did go bankrupt 9 months after I quit). We'd moved to NYC for the company, on a company-sponsored visa. My partner and I had just had our first child. Like your "friend", I was pretty tired of management, politics, the constant scramble, and trying to fit some actual building stuff in between.
So I quit, moved back to my home country, took a few contracting gigs for a while, and then went full-time as a software engineer at a medium-sized company.
It was absolutely a backwards step, career-wise. Less pay, disconnected from the startup scene, outside the networks I'd spent years building. It easily put me back 5 years, probably more like 10, in terms of career.
OTOH, I was working from home, with heaps of flexibility, which was perfect when my kid was little. For a while, we both worked 4 days, one weekday off each at home just hanging out with the kid. Work was fine, but I kicked the obsession that it had just about become.
10 years later, I haven't tried to climb back. I do 5 days full-time now, but I'm just a senior engineer. I miss the challenges, but not enough to want to go back. I get paid less, but I'll probably live longer, and certainly better, this way.
Everyone's different. Some people leave tech, and make furniture in the woods. Some people just pull back a bit. You can pause and then have another tilt at it once you've recovered a bit. There's no rule book, really. Do what feels right and good.
Re: Ask HN: Going from CTO to Developer?
#5My career was a rollercoaster. You will never know what might have been, but it is important to be happy (enough). Ended my working days as a WFH contract developer which by then was perfect.
Re: Ask HN: Going from CTO to Developer?
#6Yes, it will be perceived as a stupid career move. No, people won't really understand. Is it a bad move? There are no bad moves, only bad reasons? I was not CTO, but I was basically doing that job without the title. My company was slowly failing (although no-one would admit that at the time, it did go bankrupt 9 months after I quit). We'd moved to NYC for the company, on a company-sponsored visa. My partner and I had…
Thanks, I appreciate your perspective!
Re: Ask HN: Going from CTO to Developer?
#7Does your friend think it is a stupid move?
That's what matters.
Life is much bigger than careers.
Good luck.
Re: Ask HN: Going from CTO to Developer?
#8I'd love to hear about the other direction. What kind of skillsets or prep can a problem solved do to transition into more leadership roles? Is it primarily getting an MBA? Getting lucky?
Re: Ask HN: Going from CTO to Developer?
#9It might be considered a failure by some, but so what, do what you feel is best for you.
Re: Ask HN: Going from CTO to Developer?
#10I've done this. I have friends who have done this.
I'm personally a big fan of the "Engineer/Manager Pendulum" model described by Charity Majors: https://charity.wtf/2017/05/11/the-engineer-manager-pendulum...
Engineers who have spent some time in management are extremely valuable. They have a better grasp on how things work, they have better leadership skills (you don't need to be in a management role to provide useful leadership within a company) and they're generally useful as all-round contributors.
There will be people out there who will mark you down for this. That reflects poorly on those people, but that doesn't mean they won't be in positions of influence where their poor judgement can still impact you negatively.
There will be plenty of other people who get it, and who will respect the choices you have made.
And you can always swing the pendulum back again later.