Tips to hire the best CTO

The following questions need to be asked to find a perfect match:

The driving force behind top-tier technology companies is their world-class engineering teams. Don't underestimate the importance of hiring a great chief technology officer. Here are my top tips for finding the most effective Chief Technology Officer for your growth-oriented business:

Confusing CTO and vice president of engineering
Assess your candidate's ability to build and lead high-performing tech teams.
Technical skills are great, but don't forget about the power of vision.
The candidate's skill set is the perfect match for your business stage and model.

1. Confusing CTO and vice president of engineering

The vice president of engineering's primary objective is to increase the productivity and performance of the technology team. This leader will be hands-on, doing and/or reviewing the technical groundwork to ensure that development, design, user experience and quality standards are achieved and streamlined.

A Chief Technology Officer should be seen as a key figure in the technology organization, and as a bridge between technology and business. This type of leader creates a technology strategy to help the business move forward, instead of taking a hands-on approach to product development and quality assurance, which is usually led by a Vice President of engineering.

In some cases, a CTO may be responsible for both product and engineering. However, titles and role responsibilities can vary greatly from company to company. To see if a candidate is a good fit for the CTO role, I always ask:

Can you share with me some of your biggest accomplishments/wins during your time at X company?

A strong leader should describe their success in growing and developing the talent within the organization, which is why I recommend hiring for attitude over skill.

2. Assess your candidate's ability to build and lead high-performing tech teams.

A great CTO can help you attract and retain top talent in today's competitive market. A CTO that can't get their old employees to come with them isn't worth hiring. The company will only be as good as the talent it hires- so make sure to find the best of the best!

To check that ability, I always ask:

How is your team different now than when you started?
How do you find new talents and how do you include yourself in the hiring process?
Did anyone follow you to your new workplace?
Tell me about employees that moved on to do really well after being in your team.
CTOs should be able to motivate their employees to do their best work.

3. Technical skills are great, but don't forget about the power of vision.

Your CTO needs to have a certain level of technical depth and an understanding of the different operations and methodologies, such as Agile, DevOps, or Scrum, in order to develop products successfully. Keep in mind that a candidate's ability to lead and produce business results through technology innovation is more important than their technical skills.

Any company that wants to be successful in the long term needs a CTO that can partner closely with the CEO to set a long-term strategy and roadmap for the business through a technology lens. To be successful in a CTO role, you don't need to be coding on the weekends, but you should have knowledge of the software development process and how to use technology for successful business outcomes.

4. The candidate's skill set is the perfect match for your business stage and model.

Having the right CTO for your business stage is crucial for success - make sure to find someone with the right experience!

A growth-stage business needs a candidate who is able to work quickly and efficiently in a fast-paced startup environment, but who also has experience from working within a later-stage company.

Some sample talk tracks may include: I'm very interested in your decision-making process. How do you get things done? Can you walk me through the revenue, team size, and product offering scale over your time at X business?

I have experience taking a company from a single product offering to a platform/multiple product line offering.

If your organization is evolving, here are some questions to consider:

Have you transitioned an organization from a waterfall to agile methods?
How do you manage technical debt while balancing speed and quality?
Asking about the unique business model could go like this:
Could you describe the scale and complexity of user and customer-base?
How much volume in terms of customers do you have?
Tell me about your subscription business requirements.

If you want to be successful in your job hunt, it is important that you research the business complexities and dynamics of companies that have been successful in the past. This way, you can determine which qualities are absolutely essential for the role you are applying for.

Hiring the wrong CTO can be costly - make sure you assess the right candidate for the job!