Ask HN: I don't enjoy being a CTO.  Now what?
tl;dr: in your situation many people go off and get an MBA.  Don't do that.  There's a reason there's only one CTO in HBS' 60,000 person alumni database (I am she.)<p>I was a very hands-on CTO for years after a decade of coding, and broadly enjoyed it.  But as the teams I managed grew it became increasingly unfulfilling.  When you're CTO, you're often excluded from business decisions which have a bigger impact on your team than any tech innovation, and the input you do have can be hard to relate to the shared business context of the CEO/COO/CFO.<p>So I went and got an MBA (Harvard).<p>Now I know exactly how to frame (and improve!) my non-technical contributions, have much more context on what "success" means, and have the credibility to really be a part of the senior team.<p>Unfortunately, there's no real place in the world for a highly technical business leader.  You have to leave code behind at a certain point and spend your time on people/financial/planning issues.  The ultimate end of that road is CEO, and not everyone wants to go there.<p>Also, I'd really misdiagnosed my malaise.  What I'd been missing was not strategic input, but the opportunity to <i>build</i> things.  To weave together inspiration and ideas into innovation and growth. I love building things and challenging assumptions, it fulfills me.<p>Now I'm off to start a new venture as a solo entrepreneur.  The only truly successful technical leader is the founder, and that feels right. My last day at my day job is June 30th.  :)