What Is the Difference Between a CTO and a VP or Head of Engineering?

code.dblock.org

3 pointsdblock1 comment

Precise quantification is tricky as so much of the value depends on potential, but it’s easy to see orders of magnitudes of difference between the founder-engineer putting in weekends, and employee-engineer doing the same with maybe 1/100th the equity and maybe an additional $10,000 in salary.

Yeah, the difference is that the engineer who isn't working on the weekends probably knows how to manage their time better.

Hell, look at the numbers--those extra weekends? No fucking way a 40% increase in working time is worth only an extra 10K.

Just because founders are short-sighted and willing to undervalue their own work and sabotage their own engineering doesn't mean we should celebrate their "sacrifice" any more than a professional and timely engineer.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com