Title: I recently joined a startup as their CTO and I&#x27;m hating it.  They&#x27;ve been around a few years and have product market fit and now need technical leadership to grow the team and product.<p>It&#x27;s my first senior management position, having been heavily code focused the last 12 years, with some small management as a senior&#x2F;lead.<p>For my entire career I feel as though I&#x27;ve been working towards being the CTO and now I&#x27;m here I find it&#x27;s not at all what I expected.  It seems to be mostly about dealing with everyone&#x27;s crap, trying to fight fires and constantly battling with the other managers and tech team to get things done.  I haven&#x27;t even written a line of code in months.<p>Over the past few years I&#x27;ve had a few gaps in my career where I have started my own business and been fully in charge of things.  Those times were amazing although I never reached any level of sustainability.  I thought perhaps being CTO in a startup would give me some of that same ownership, control and enjoyment but it just feels like another job.  I actually feel a bit depressed by the whole thing which is a new sensation for me and my personality.<p>Am I expecting too much?  Is it simply another job?  What can I do to fix this or should I leave and get back to a coding job?<p>I&#x27;d love to hear from people with similar experiences!<p>PS. Sorry for the throwaway account but my main account has too much personal info for this topic!
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