Moving from tech lead to CTO means learning to make technology serve the whole business through people, investment and risk decisions. Technical depth remains useful, but personally solving every difficult coding problem does not scale to that responsibility.
The role also depends on the company. A startup CTO may still write substantial code; a CTO in a larger organization may spend more time developing leaders and coordinating several teams. Begin by understanding the responsibilities of the role you are targeting.
1. Learn how the business creates value
A tech lead often starts with how to deliver a feature. A CTO also asks which problem is worth funding, who benefits and how success will be recognized.
