Roles & People
CTO
Also Known As
Chief Technology OfficerTechnical Founder
The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is responsible for a company's technical strategy and product development, leading engineering teams and making key technology decisions.
What is a CTO?
The CTO is the technical leader of a company. In startups, the CTO is often a technical co-founder who evolves from building the product themselves to leading an engineering organization.
CTO Responsibilities
Early Stage (Builder):
- Writing code
- System architecture
- Technical decisions
- MVP development
Growth Stage (Leader):
- Engineering team building
- Technical hiring
- Process and methodology
- Infrastructure scaling
Scale Stage (Executive):
- Technology strategy
- Engineering culture
- Vendor/partner management
- Technical due diligence
CTO Archetypes
- Builder CTO: Loves coding, best early stage
- Manager CTO: Loves leading teams, better for scale
- Visionary CTO: Loves strategy, best for established companies
Studios and CTOs
Venture studios support CTO needs by:
- Providing technical EIRs
- Offering fractional CTO support early
- Connecting to technical co-founder networks
- Providing engineering shared services
Example Usage
“The studio's technical EIR became CTO of the portfolio company after spin-out.”