I believe that role #2 (representative) and role #6 (salesperson) coincide. TBH - most CTOs know nothing about sales, but can do a good job of persuading other engineers (potential buyers) that their product is worth the money. To keep things simple, I would merge these two roles.
As for IT and Security - I wonder how much hands on the CTO should be here. Both domains (especially the latter) are complex, and most CTOs are not qualified to lead them. Instead, I would argue that a good CTO should hire the right people to lead these domains. For a fintech company - the sooner the better.
I fail to see the connection. #6 is about selling the product, making money for the company. I can't imagine doing it, when our customers are e-commerce merchants and our product doesn't require signing a contract.
#2 is about being a known leader in the industry with good reputation and connections. It is very passive, and quite important.
Hands on in security and IT is mostly process and communication, not much of technical work. The technical work will be done by contractors and developers/devops initially.
I should have said that "in the many cases they coincide". You fail to see the connection because you worked in B2C companies most of your life 😜. Seriously though, when your startup is building a technical solution for technical people, as CTO you have plenty of credentials (and knowledge) for selling it. We're talking about many verticals that are quite common in Israel specifically (cyber, IT, fraud, dev tools etc.).
As for security - two comments:
1. I think you're being too cocky 😉. From what I've seen, there's a huge difference between someone who knows her shit and someone that has zero experience. If you don't have background in security, you can (and should) fill that position only to a certain point. The more important security is to your business the closer this point is.
2. As CTO you usually have tons of other stuff to do (like you wrote so well in your post). So you can't really invest the time you need in security.
I believe that role #2 (representative) and role #6 (salesperson) coincide. TBH - most CTOs know nothing about sales, but can do a good job of persuading other engineers (potential buyers) that their product is worth the money. To keep things simple, I would merge these two roles.
As for IT and Security - I wonder how much hands on the CTO should be here. Both domains (especially the latter) are complex, and most CTOs are not qualified to lead them. Instead, I would argue that a good CTO should hire the right people to lead these domains. For a fintech company - the sooner the better.
I fail to see the connection. #6 is about selling the product, making money for the company. I can't imagine doing it, when our customers are e-commerce merchants and our product doesn't require signing a contract.
#2 is about being a known leader in the industry with good reputation and connections. It is very passive, and quite important.
Hands on in security and IT is mostly process and communication, not much of technical work. The technical work will be done by contractors and developers/devops initially.
I should have said that "in the many cases they coincide". You fail to see the connection because you worked in B2C companies most of your life 😜. Seriously though, when your startup is building a technical solution for technical people, as CTO you have plenty of credentials (and knowledge) for selling it. We're talking about many verticals that are quite common in Israel specifically (cyber, IT, fraud, dev tools etc.).
As for security - two comments:
1. I think you're being too cocky 😉. From what I've seen, there's a huge difference between someone who knows her shit and someone that has zero experience. If you don't have background in security, you can (and should) fill that position only to a certain point. The more important security is to your business the closer this point is.
2. As CTO you usually have tons of other stuff to do (like you wrote so well in your post). So you can't really invest the time you need in security.
Thanks for sharing such an insightful information.
Hey cousin salesman, what about mentioning the name your company in the post?
(It's also good for SEO)
It should be a timeless post, not sure my current workplace is relevant.
My name is quite unique, it is easy to find me in linkedin / other places.
Sure. Thanks for asking