The Role of a CTO in a Startup

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Technology has every solution to problems that we encounter in our daily activities. Companies are taking a step to adopt emerging technology to maintain market dominance. The emerging technologies are giving businesses a new trick to enjoy a competitive advantage over competitors

Implementing emerging technology has created a CTO position in the IT field. If you are operating a startup and need to hire a CTO, the first thing to do is understand the role of the CTO in the startup.

 Responsibilities of a CTO

 As the name suggests, a CTO is in charge of technology in a startup. Though it is a general name for an IT leader in an organization, the roles are not well~defined, and different organizations have different names for the position. In most of the prominent companies in the world, CTO’s 

 have served management roles besides IT roles.

 Categories of CTO’s depending on the roles

Technical leadership

CTO’s in charge of technical leadership in a startup play many roles. They participate in writing code, revising code for junior developers, and carry on all tech-related duties. Generally, they are competent programmers and software developers. They are proficient in cloud-based computing and architecture.

Strategizing operation

Besides the management, the CTO has certified qualifications in programming and software development tasks. Operational manager CTOs never write code but strategize and manage the 

 engineering process.

Evolution of CTO role.

 1 Idea generation

Owners brainstorm possible business ideas, evaluate them and draft a business plan. The CTO is a co~founder, evaluates the technical feasibility of the outlined project, and tables possible solutions to implement the concept.

 2 Initial-stage startups

 At this stage, the CTO is the available developer in the team. When the idea gets the green light from the founders, the product/software development starts immediately.

 3 Getting the market

 After the startup gets a slice of the market share, the team improves the product to attract more customers. For efficiency, the CTO hires more on behalf of the organization to join the existing team. The CTO role changes to a management role. He conducts the day-day processes.

 4 Growth

 At this stage, the organization gains momentum and increases its market share. It grows with hundreds of employees, high production, and sales rate boosting the long~term existence in the market. The CTO leads the entire organization and establishes the required coding culture. The 

 CTO keeps track of emerging technologies to maintain a competitive advantage.

Skills for CTO startup

From the above discussion, it is evident that a CTO oversees the development and takes on the startup’s management. A CTO should possess all software architecture knowledge for developing a system. He/she supervises the development team, selects the required resources, and launches new technology relevant to the developed software.

At the business idea stage, the CTO is the available developer, and he/she can develop and test an MVP.

The CTO becomes the team leader as the startup increases in size. He/she assumes hiring roles, schedules mentorship programs, and delegates development tasks.

At the beginning of the startup, the CTO assumes the system administration role. He/she formulates measures to protect the company’s sensitive data.

 Conclusion

 A CTO is crucial for a startup because he/she assumes nearly all roles as the startup grows. 

 He/she undertakes all IT~related functions, management, and strategizing operations. Therefore, there is a need for every startup to include a CTO in the team.