A CTO should be technical
I just became a CTO. So, let me bear my thoughts.<p>Since July of this year I&#x27;ve been CTO for a small games company, I&#x27;ve worked in this industry before in a more specialised role but this is <i>much</i> broader scope.<p>I&#x27;ve gone from being responsible for 1 person to 10 which will likely become 50 by the end of next year.<p>I&#x27;m terrified.<p>I&#x27;m terrified because I feel like I will let my reports down.<p>I&#x27;m terrified because a lot of the work I&#x27;m doing lacks transparency, how do I tell my compatriots about things that may not come to pass, especially deep political things -- and the amount of work necessary to onboard&#x2F;offboard people, about &quot;strategic partnerships&quot; and why they&#x27;re taken, or not taken or any of the hundreds of other things which are changing direction 3 times a day <i>each</i>.<p>I am technical, deeply, passionately technical.<p>I will not do service to people by being technical, my days are too fragmented, my worries too broad, it&#x27;s impossible to dig into a small focused problem and give it the treatment it deserves - and even if I could then I&#x27;d be dooming one of my colleagues to maintain it forever because I couldn&#x27;t possibly..<p>My being technical is good because I know the problems and I know what can make people feel valued; I can give people autonomy and direction and I can understand when help is needed and how to give it.<p>However, almost nothing in my work is technical, it&#x27;s all presentations, discussions, breakdowns, timelines, contracts and negotiation.<p>The most code I write now is to do cost reporting.<p>My most frequently accessed cloud console pages are the billing sections.<p>This is not fun at all (and frankly, I didn&#x27;t think it would be); but I fear what will replace me if I leave.