Best questions to ask a CTO/Developer in an interview? And how do you test their skills?
Jack Mallon
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So i'm in the process of hiring a CTO, but i have absolutely zero tech knowledge of coding or anything technical. So what kind of questions do you ask to ensure they have good skills?
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Sterling Freeman@sterling_freeman
@jackmallon
Hard to fake experience. Just look out for the right experience on their resume
A startup CTO usually wears multiple hats. Here they are:
Software architect:
* Design and implement a software architecture
* Select a technology stack
* Design and configure infrastructure
* Select a development toolkit (IDE, etc.)
* Design and implement a database design
* Improve and optimize the application architecture
* Ensure scalability of the application
* Ensure scalability of the infrastructure
* Explore new technologies and decide whether to implement them
Developer:
* Develop/test MVP iterations
* Develop APIs
* Write software and API documentation
* Manage third-party services used in the application
Team lead:
* Define and implement development standards according to up-to-date coding methodologies and best practices
* Build an agile development culture
* Set up a development team workflow
* Conduct code reviews
* Perform design reviews
* Break down development tasks
* Supervise hiring of developers
* Mentor newly hired developers
* Communicate with stakeholders
* Determine KPIs of developers
* Monitor developers’ progress
* Manage technical risk
DevOps engineer:
* Set up a streamlined deployment pipeline
* Plan software releases
* Manage releases, tags, and versions
* Carry out safe and downtime-proof software releases
System administrator:
* Make sure that the company’s data is protected
* Manage the organization’s domains, SSL certificates, and related components
* Develop and implement an internal communication system for the company
* Monitor the performance of the company’s IT infrastructure
Senior executive:
* Participate in strategy planning
* Participate in company management
* Keep track of and analyze the competition to suggest technological innovations
* Suggest ways that technology can help the company be more successful
* Oversee an external workforce (outsourced team)
* Keep track of tech trends in the industry and identify competitive advantages
* Evaluate the technical efficiency of the company
* Oversee IT budgets to optimize expenditures
So just look out for working experience in at least some of these fields (Team lead and developer experience being the most essential for a startup CTO in my opinion) and you should be good. Getting the right person to apply is the hard part because a lot of first time CEOs seem to overvalue themselves and undervalue the CTO in terms of equity so just don't be that guy haha.
Hope that helps!
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