Build the Machine That Builds the Machine
Why CTOs and CPOs must step away from the code to truly scale
There’s a line I keep coming back to when thinking about leadership roles in tech: “Your job is to build the machine that builds the machine.”
It’s not just a clever metaphor — it’s a shift in mindset. And for CTOs, CPOs, and anyone leading product or tech at scale, it’s the only way to succeed.
The Red Flag: Still Hands-On After 10+ People
I often hear about CTOs who still write code daily while managing 15, 30, even 50 engineers. For me, that’s a red flag.
It doesn’t mean they’re bad at their job. It just means they’re likely focusing on the wrong things.
Sure, being hands-on feels productive. It gives you quick feedback, a sense of control, and often credibility with the team. But at some point, it becomes a form of avoidance — a way to stay in your comfort zone rather than stepping into the harder, more strategic work that actually moves the company forward.
What Is the Real Job?
When you lead a large team, your job is no longer to build the product.
Your job is to build the team that builds the product.
Your job is to build the culture, the systems, the clarity, and the alignment that allow great people to do great work — consistently, independently, and at scale.
That means:
Hiring the right people — not just for skills, but for mindset, ownership, and team fit.
Spending time with your direct report— ideally at least 30 minutes with each person every week.
Defining and transmitting culture — not as posters on the wall, but through decisions, feedback, and how you show up every day.
Connecting the dots — between the product, the tech, the business, and the market.
Managing alignment — with internal stakeholders, external partners, and across every layer of the company
Providing vision and clarity — so your team doesn’t just know what to build, but why it matters.
And here’s the hardest part for most former builders:
The feedback loop gets dramatically longer.
When you code, the feedback is immediate. Your test suite passes. Your code is in production. You see the result in hours — sometimes minutes.
As a CTO, or CPO, it’s different. You might make a hiring decision, shift a team’s focus, or define a new process — and only see the real outcome weeks or months later.
This temporal distance makes it harder to know whether you’re on the right track. It can be deeply uncomfortable. It’s one of the key reasons some leaders drift back into hands-on work: it feels better. But it’s not where they’re most valuable.
You Have to Train Your Decision Muscle
Another thing no one tells you:
You need to build your decision muscle.
In these roles, your main job is often to decide.
And most of the time, you’ll be deciding without having all the answers.
The trap is waiting for perfect information. It won’t come. Speed matters. Clarity matters more than certainty. And a half-good decision made today — and adjusted tomorrow — is usually better than the perfect call made two weeks too late.
It’s uncomfortable. But it’s the job.
Making decisions with imperfect data, trusting your intuition, and owning the consequences — that’s leadership.
The Hidden Cost of Staying Hands-On
When leaders stay too close to the code, there’s a silent tax on the rest of the org:
Strategic blind spots appear.
Misalignment grows between tech, product, and business.
Teams lack clarity, or worse — they wait for you to unblock them.
Recruiting slows. Onboarding drifts. Culture starts to fray.
All of those compounds. And before you know it, your best people are stuck fighting entropy instead of building momentum.
Letting Go Is a Skill
Now, to be clear — stepping away doesn’t mean you stop being technical.
It means you redirect your technical expertise toward enabling others.
It means you learn to influence through systems, culture, and leadership instead of direct contribution.
And yes, it’s hard. But if you don’t make the shift, your company will hit a ceiling — not because the product failed, but because the machine building it never scaled.
Final Thought
Whether you’re a CTO, a CPO, or wearing both hats, ask yourself:
Are you building the machine that builds the machine?
Or are you still trying to be the machine yourself?
One scales. The other burns out.
