What it takes to be a startup CTO?

Several people have asked me this question recently. Developers have asked me, “Do I have what it takes?” while the VC’s ask me “Does the CTO know she is doing?” and startup executives want to know “Sure he can write code, but will he be able to grow the technology?” All good questions, and there are many factors that go into answering this question.

Let’s start with the developer. Most of the developers that ask me this question are smart, fast, very strong programmers, a jack of many trades, and in some cases, mavericks. They’re fast learners and have enough confidence that they can learn whatever it is that they don’t know. Many of them love technology whether it’s building super web 2.0 sites, or love gadgets, or are very sharp designers. But these developers are not just coding geeks; they also have a good sense (or at least they think they do!) of what products and features will work. In a nutshell, hand them a one or two pager on what a website or an application needs to do and they know enough to build it soup to nuts. They exert confidence and can very charismatic. Most are workaholics. They are often associated with having big egos, but I’ve also met those that are quiet and introverted.

In this day of agile development, these developers are often strong enough to get a new startup going with its first product. This is especially true with products like consumer oriented web sites and small scale B2B web sites where Beta versions of products just need to show utility and demonstrate usage in order to be successful. These startups can build, launch and support their products with just one or very few developers.

And the software guru thrives in this environment. They can quickly select and configure development environments, choose frameworks, and design the site. Software designs, documentation, and testing go out the window in lieu of features and speed. Bugs are easy to fix. Design mistakes can be corrected with few consequences. And if something is just too laborious for the developer, he can help sway the priorities to other features.

So is this developer ready to be a CTO? Part 2 coming next week.