CTO all startup

The guest of the new issue of the “Dry the oars” podcast is Android developer, technical director, author of the Android in faces telegram channel and creator of PapaJobs startup Sasha Smirnov. This time we are discussing several topics at once: how useful startups are to a specialist, who CTO is, and also looking for the difference between Developer and Software Engineer. Redmadrobot

iron developers Artyom Kulakov and Roma Choryev regularly find interesting guests and invite them to the studio. On the spot, the guys discuss all kinds of aspects of creating IT products, share experiences and make jokes of varying degrees of complexity.

The guest of the seventh issue is a versatile specialist with experience both in large companies and in startups. Therefore, this podcast turned out about everything important: about the development of a developer in a startup, about how to become CTO and what you need to download in the process, and how to find the difference between a "developer" and an "engineer".

We attach a podcast and answers to several exciting questions:


Timing


03:25 - Why do people go to work in a startup?
10:04 - What are the pros and cons?
20:42 - Is career growth possible in startups?
22:38 - What does a senior developer from a startup on the market look like?
28:50 - Has the time for startups passed and is it worth launching them now?
33:35 - CTO - what is hidden behind these letters?
34:16 - Who is the CTO and what does he do?
39:20 - Did CTO present director or so called for beauty?
41:22 - Do I need to want to become a technical director for a regular developer and how to do it?
52:31 - Developer vs Software Engineer: big companies like to say that they have engineers, not developers. Is it a show off, or is there something behind this?
54:26 - What is the fundamental difference between these types of specialists?
1:08:00 - Doesn't this just seem to be a “decent” name for fullstack developers?

Why startups are needed

Sasha said that he likes to make a product from scratch: to come up with how and what will work, to improve people's lives. He believes that in a grocery company it’s more difficult to influence some decisions, and in a startup in this regard, freedom, because you are not limited to your own “sandbox”.

If we talk about large companies, then you are strongly tied to the “sandbox” that you have been allocated, and it’s difficult to go somewhere further. When you are in a startup, you create a product from scratch, and in this case, the impact may be greater than when releasing another feature in the finished product.


There are also minuses, one of the main ones is the issue of money. If a startup “shoots,” you can earn a lot. But up to this point, there is a high chance of getting below the market, and according to the experience of our guest, even being without a salary for a while. Here, the choice of each individual specialist is already taking effect - which is more important to him at a particular moment in time.

What about startup growth

Sasha explained that career growth in a startup is very fast. You understand how everything is arranged in the project, therefore, if a new interesting position appears, they will most likely take a person from the inside. But on the other hand, it’s easy enough for a startup to take so much responsibility that it can literally “tear you apart”.

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CTO

CTO or technical director or chief engineer is the person responsible for the technological part of production: for the development and development of new products. This is what Wikipedia says , but in a conversation in the studio it was found out that there was no concrete explanation for this position. Word to Sasha Smirnov:

This is a good question, no one will give a clear answer, but all that is given is just some set of opinions. CTO is a rather confusing position that may be responsible for a lot of things. Most often and better understood as the position of the person responsible for technology.


Based on his experience, Sasha shared an idea of ​​how a technical director should look in an ideal world:

In an ideal situation, this is a specialist who will “sink” all areas of technology. He understands the "pains" of the business and the tasks that he has to solve, and understands how technology will help this. He can say what kind of people need to be hired, what tools it is important to use, he can tell how much time you have to spend on adoption or change, and so on.


In addition, according to the guest, the ideal CTO should follow the technology stack: update it on time. A person in this position makes decisions, is responsible for resources and is constantly in the context of the company's business strategy.

What skills should CTO have

Sasha, Artyom and Roma discussed that initially such a specialist should be a good developer. The second most important is the ability to manage a team and understanding which technologies are worth using right now.

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Developer Software Engineer: ?

In the studio there was a real discussion on this subject. Each participant has their own experience and view on these concepts and what is really behind them. Opinions are different, but equally interesting. Therefore, it is better to hear once from 52:31 than to read a hundred times.

Listen to the podcast on a convenient platform: Soundcloud , Apple , Google Podcasts .

Useful materials


Who and how much invested in start-ups in 2019, the

Telegram channel “CTO Notes” (they say that it has slipped into trash, but try to read it),

Modern CTO podcast,

Alexander Smirnov’s channel on youtube,

Android in person - Sasha’s Telegram channel

MOSDROID.


Previous issues of the Dry Oars podcast


QA for beginners : how to test a rocket or a plane
Software Architect: why is it needed and what is its curse

Come to discuss the issue in Telegram chat .

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