The CTO Spectrum – Which Archetype Are You
summary
Maps eight practical CTO roles and ties each to concrete decisions: founder CTO is hands‑on, splits time between fundraising and code; fractional CTO time‑slices days to multiple clients to reduce startup mistakes; scaleup CTO focuses on finding and expanding the single constraint (value stream) as teams grow; operations CTO optimizes digital support for a physical product. Examples include growing N26 engineering from ~50 to ~300 and field CTOs at DX and airup. Uses Ikigai to pick one skill to develop.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (11)
- 0:00Introduction to CTO spectrum
- 1:57What is the CTO role
- 5:27Startup CTO archetypes
- 9:38Fractional CTO role
- 11:44Scaleup CTO challenges
- 14:09Turnaround CTO focus
- 15:57CPTO archetype explained
- 17:41Field CTO responsibilities
- 20:12Operations CTO scope
- 21:58Choosing your archetype
- 23:23Q&A with Pat Qua
related talks
25mWhat does a CTO even do?
01h 02mSo, you want to be a CTO?
01h 01mTame Your CTO & Let Yourself Be Tamed
41mThe CTO Role in an Early-stage Startup
39mThe CTO Role: Responsibilities, Risks, and Screw-ups
50mIt's A Long Way To The Top If You Wanna CTO
23mCTO Advice: If You Had to Do It Again?
34mJumpstart Your CTO Journey: Top Tips for First-Time CTOs