CTO vs. VP of Engineering

B
CTO vs. VP of Engineering:
Whatʼs the Difference?
(And does it matter?)

Jason Hoffman      Bryan Cantrill
CTO                VP, Engineering

jason@joyent.com   bryan@joyent.com
@jasonh            @bcantrill
The genesis of this talk




2
CTO vs. VP of Engineering

       • In many startups especially, the difference between a CTO
         and VP of Engineering becomes blurry

       • There is often enough overlap that one person can do both
         jobs when the company is tiny...

       • ...but as a team expands, the need for distinct roles grows
       • One is not necessarily subservient to the other — both roles
         are critical and they must work as a team

       • What are these roles?




3
CTO?

      • The CTO is the Chief Technology Officer, and in a startup,
        will likely be the technical co-founder

      • The CTO establishes the vision and culture
      • The CTO must be as technical as required to validate the
        vision and the culture

      • Beyond this, the CTO is (or should be) largely outward
        facing — the CTO should understand the relationship
        between the technology and the larger world

      • As a company grows and expands, the CTO will be at a
        crossroads: become the VP of Engineering and hire a CTO,
        or remain the CTO and hire a VP of Engineering

4
VP of Engineering?

       • The Vice President of Engineering is responsible for the
         development and delivery of the product

       • Critically, this includes the recruitment of the team
       • Should be the exemplar of engineering
       • Should be an engineer that the team feels comfortable
         looking to on a wide range of technical problems




5
So who innovates?

       • Neither the CTO nor the VP of Engineering is singularly
         responsible for innovation; they most foster it together

       • They must create a culture (CTO) and a team (VP of
         Engineering) that is empowered to think big

       • Both CTO and VP of Engineering must — as a team —
         embrace ideas, explore them and expand upon them

       • The CTO must communicate them upward and outward
       • The VP of Engineering must distill them into shipping
         product or functional system




6
Anti-patterns

        • Because the specifics of the roles can vary significantly from
          company to company, itʼs hard to prescribe one “right” way
          to divide the CTO from VP of Engineering

        • Easier to define the wrong way
        • There are particular anti-patterns for these two roles that
          seem to represent common failure modes

        • Broadly, CTOs fail when they think that they are engineers,
          not communicators; VPs of Engineering fail when they think
          they are managers of people, not creators of useful things




7
CTO Anti-pattern: The Critic




8
VPoE Anti-pattern: The Process Queen




9
CTO Anti-pattern: The Control Freak




10
VPoE Anti-pattern: The No-Op




11
CTO Anti-pattern: The Xenophobe




12
VPoE Anti-pattern: The Upward Manager




13
CTO Anti-pattern: The Creator




14
VPoE Anti-pattern: The Cat Herder




15
CTO Anti-pattern: The Space Ranger




16
VPoE Anti-pattern: The Naysayer




17
Thank you!




          @jasonh
                    @bcantrill



18
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CTO vs. VP of Engineering

  • 1. CTO vs. VP of Engineering: Whatʼs the Difference? (And does it matter?) Jason Hoffman Bryan Cantrill CTO VP, Engineering jason@joyent.com bryan@joyent.com @jasonh @bcantrill
  • 2. The genesis of this talk 2
  • 3. CTO vs. VP of Engineering • In many startups especially, the difference between a CTO and VP of Engineering becomes blurry • There is often enough overlap that one person can do both jobs when the company is tiny... • ...but as a team expands, the need for distinct roles grows • One is not necessarily subservient to the other — both roles are critical and they must work as a team • What are these roles? 3
  • 4. CTO? • The CTO is the Chief Technology Officer, and in a startup, will likely be the technical co-founder • The CTO establishes the vision and culture • The CTO must be as technical as required to validate the vision and the culture • Beyond this, the CTO is (or should be) largely outward facing — the CTO should understand the relationship between the technology and the larger world • As a company grows and expands, the CTO will be at a crossroads: become the VP of Engineering and hire a CTO, or remain the CTO and hire a VP of Engineering 4
  • 5. VP of Engineering? • The Vice President of Engineering is responsible for the development and delivery of the product • Critically, this includes the recruitment of the team • Should be the exemplar of engineering • Should be an engineer that the team feels comfortable looking to on a wide range of technical problems 5
  • 6. So who innovates? • Neither the CTO nor the VP of Engineering is singularly responsible for innovation; they most foster it together • They must create a culture (CTO) and a team (VP of Engineering) that is empowered to think big • Both CTO and VP of Engineering must — as a team — embrace ideas, explore them and expand upon them • The CTO must communicate them upward and outward • The VP of Engineering must distill them into shipping product or functional system 6
  • 7. Anti-patterns • Because the specifics of the roles can vary significantly from company to company, itʼs hard to prescribe one “right” way to divide the CTO from VP of Engineering • Easier to define the wrong way • There are particular anti-patterns for these two roles that seem to represent common failure modes • Broadly, CTOs fail when they think that they are engineers, not communicators; VPs of Engineering fail when they think they are managers of people, not creators of useful things 7
  • 9. VPoE Anti-pattern: The Process Queen 9
  • 10. CTO Anti-pattern: The Control Freak 10
  • 12. CTO Anti-pattern: The Xenophobe 12
  • 13. VPoE Anti-pattern: The Upward Manager 13
  • 14. CTO Anti-pattern: The Creator 14
  • 15. VPoE Anti-pattern: The Cat Herder 15
  • 16. CTO Anti-pattern: The Space Ranger 16
  • 17. VPoE Anti-pattern: The Naysayer 17
  • 18. Thank you! @jasonh @bcantrill 18