The CTO Playbook

In this discussion, Thorgeir Einarsson, founder of Pitchago, delves into the shifting landscape of startup funding and AI. He highlights that traction is now more crucial than ever as investors prefer application-layer AI over generic models. Hardware is seeing a resurgence, especially in defense and medical sectors. Thorgeir emphasizes the importance of pre-diligence to prepare founders for real investor scrutiny and warns about the overlooked area of AI safety. He offers valuable insights on maintaining strong co-founder relationships and the need for startups to truly understand their customers.

Build your own CTO Playbook at www.theCTOplaybook.com — the leadership platform built for the full CTO journey. Coaching, podcast, and community to help you lead with clarity, confidence, and strategic impact.What if the real lever isn’t the tech at all?In this episode, I sit down with Matthew Carr, who does interim work and often comes in as the firefighter when a company has taken a wrong turn. He lays out why people come first, processes second, and technology follows.He started in classic ASP and built a loyalty program for the heating and engineering sector. Real-time results beat long compile cycles and changed how he delivered. A private-equity buyout couldn’t get the startup’s tech delivered, so he sat one-to-one with everyone to map the problems. Turns out, fixing broken delivery isn’t about new tools. It’s about people, trust, and having the guts to act fast.You’ll Learn:The reason putting people first makes process work and technology followWhat happens when you plan three sprints ahead and tie outcomes to business valueThe link between quick wins and winning trust in the first 30 daysThe damage of being six to twelve months off on deliverables after a PE acquisitionWhat it feels like to inherit a program that hasn’t shipped in 18 monthsThe link between weekly iterations, monthly demos, and a product becoming a bedrock of the businessThe reason trust, leadership, and alignment are the core enablers of the people pillarWhat happens when you play their game first by showing a six-week plan the board can approveThe reason “believe in yourself” is the sharpest one-line tip for new CTOsTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[05:12] Why people come first before process and technology[10:46] Lessons from early development work in classic ASP and loyalty programs[15:58] How a private equity acquisition exposed major delivery delays[21:37] Running a massive retrospective and uncovering 110 problems[28:04] The importance of quick wins and building trust in the first 30 days[33:41] Planning three sprints ahead and reporting outcomes instead of outputs[38:22] Turning around a project that hadn’t shipped in 18 months[45:09] How weekly iterations and monthly demos rebuilt momentum[51:28] The one-line advice Matthew gives every new CTOLearn more from Matthew on LinkedIn.Find more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company here.

Build your own CTO Playbook at www.theCTOplaybook.com — the leadership platform built for the full CTO journey. Coaching, podcast, and community to help you lead with clarity, confidence, and strategic impact.Logic alone won’t land; people react to change emotionally.In this episode, I sit down with Giorgia Prestento, a behavioral scientist and author of The Change Maze. She’s here to show why change so often derails and how CTOs can lead through it with clarity and confidence.We break down why rational explanations fall flat, the different speeds leaders and teams move at, and how losing control sparks uncertainty and anxiety. A call center story shows how rewarding quick answers without customer outcomes skews behavior. A Hong Kong example proves that “ask your line manager” messaging failed culturally, so we rewrote it to a nominated peer contact. A pre-mortem setup surfaces blind spots by declaring the project failed and collecting reasons before execution. We run through an eight-step playbook from purpose and alignment to blind spots, impacts, resistance, indicators, validation, and finally execution.You’ll Learn:The reason logic-only change pitches backfireWhat happens when leaders move faster than teamsThe link between the metric you reward and the behavior you getWhat it feels like to run layoffs twiceThe reason pre-mortems workWhat happens when you don’t set indicators earlyThe link between purpose, alignment, and smoother executionWhat happens when a key trainer is missingThe damage of losing clarity at the topTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[05:18] Why logic fails when leading change[10:42] The emotional side of resistance and uncertainty[15:56] How leaders move faster than their teams[20:11] The blind spot that halted a global SAP rollout[26:27] Why bad metrics destroy good behavior[31:03] Cultural barriers that derail transformation[36:49] The pre-mortem method for spotting hidden risks[42:08] The eight-step change playbookResources Mentioned:Master the Change Maze by Giorgia Prestento | BookGiorgia offers a short assessment 'Leaders: Are You Change Ready?' You will gain valuable insights across the categories of Leadership Style, Change Expertise and the Readiness of your organisation. It takes less than 3 minutes. You get readiness scores in a personalised report. Plus a digital copy of her book, Master the Change Maze. Click here to get started.You can connect more with Giorgia on LinkedIn. Find more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company here.

Build your own CTO Playbook at www.theCTOplaybook.com — the leadership platform built for the full CTO journey. Coaching, podcast, and community to help you lead with clarity, confidence, and strategic impact.Are you optimizing for starting work instead of finishing?In this episode, I’m joined by Joakim von Prónay, an engineer and psychologist by education and a coach by passion.We break down how fake roadmaps and a “Global Roadmap Owner” role turn planning into a Gantt chart exercise. We make planning useful with a simple rule: it’s better to be roughly right than precisely wrong. Predictability becomes the lever for real accountability, measured by “did we do the things we said we were gonna do.” Escalation culture gives way to real collaboration, not the default “ask the boss” reflex.You’ll Learn:The reason long-term planning works when it’s roughly right instead of precisely wrongWhat happens when teams are incentivized to start work instead of finish itThe link between delivery predictability and real prioritization and accountabilityThe damage of treating roadmaps like a Gantt chart exerciseWhat it feels like when every question defaults to “ask the boss” instead of talking directlyThe reason fragmented steering creates conflicting directionsThe link between a single “central rule” and measurable goalsTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[06:14] Why high-performing teams are so rare[09:27] The danger of planning for perfection[15:46] Why teams start work instead of finishing it[19:32] The power of predictability and real accountability[25:40] When collaboration breaks down into escalation[31:58] What fragmented steering really looks like[38:45] The rule that defines true strategy[46:23] A Spotify story and the engineer’s warning[51:17] How alignment turns insight into actionConnect more with Joakim on LinkedIn.Find more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company here.

Catherine Stagg-Macey, an executive coach for technical experts transitioning into leadership, shares her insights on the struggles of moving from individual contributor to team leader. She highlights why being the smartest person in the room can become a hindrance and explores the damaging 'hero' culture that leads to burnout. Catherine discusses the importance of recognizing triggers, testing new leadership behaviors, and how upbringing influences leadership styles. The conversation also touches on the potential role of AI in coaching.

Build your own CTO Playbook here, the leadership platform built for the full CTO journey. Coaching, podcast, and community to help you lead with clarity, confidence, and strategic impact!Would you say yes to leading through chaos with no plan, little information, and no guarantee of success?In this episode, I sit down with Corey Hart, a crisis operator who’s built a career on scaling massive humanitarian and operations projects under extreme pressure. He’s said yes to projects most people would run from, from helping New York City respond to a sudden influx of asylum seekers to standing up global call centers and navigating cruise ship operations post-lockdown.We get into how he prepares for the unknown, what it takes to build trust in the middle of a storm, and why surrounding yourself with the right people makes the difference between collapse and momentum.You’ll Learn:The reason Corey says yes to high-stakes projects others avoidWhat happens when you’re asked to launch a humanitarian response overnightThe link between early onboarding and a culture of openness and candorThe damage of overcomplicating operations when speed is criticalWhat it feels like to land in a crisis with little info and no certaintyWhy bringing compliance and tech in early turns them into strategistsThe role of trust in holding teams together under extreme pressureHow living autopsies fix problems in real time, not after the factThe mindset shift that turns specialists into early-stage leadersWhy tracking from day one helps you see around corners in chaosTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[05:58] Saying yes to unpredictable challenges[07:02] Scaling New York’s asylum seeker response[11:58] Handling moments when operations nearly collapse[14:02] Filtering signal from noise in crisis decision-making[17:56] Building openness and candor into team culture[20:06] Creating trust and making failure safe[22:01] Why saying yes builds momentum and possibility[27:00] Unlikely outcomes from saying yes[31:00] Keeping operations simple and avoiding scope creep[33:02] Tracking data early to guide decisions under pressure[35:00] Bringing compliance and tech in early to shape solutions[37:56] Knowing when and how to step out of a crisis projectResources Mentioned:Podcast Episode The CEO’s Playbook for Hiring the Right CTO with Warren Beasley | YouTubeYou can connect with Corey on LinkedIn and his website.Find more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company here.

Lou Franco, a veteran software engineer and author of "Swimming in Tech Debt," joins to discuss the often-overlooked burden of tech debt on engineering teams. He shares insights from his career, including critical lessons learned during fintech projects and startup acquisitions. Lou explains how small, focused fixes can drastically improve productivity and morale while highlighting the risks of ignoring tech debt. He emphasizes the importance of creating a culture that acknowledges and manages debt effectively, linking it to a product's lifecycle for optimal tech management.

Discover the surprising parallels between mountain rescue and leadership, highlighting how preparation can foster calm in chaos. Explore the importance of servant leadership, sharing burdens, and how small wins lead to breakthrough confidence. Learn why a strong company culture is vital during rapid growth and how rebuilding trust in teams is as crucial as technological advancements. Uncover the necessity of having a coach and community to support leaders, and gain insights into the unique archetypes of CTOs and their growth journey.

Build your own CTO Playbook at our website — the leadership platform built for the full CTO journey. Coaching, podcast, and community to help you lead with clarity, confidence, and strategic impact.Proactivity isn’t an all-or-nothing game.In this episode, I break down the myth that leaders are either “proactive” or “reactive” and share why even small, flickering moments of foresight can put you ahead. I get into what happens when you’re forced into reactive mode and how to inject just a bit of proactivity into those moments so they don’t derail you. I talk about the “pressure off” test, those quiet weeks when your defaults show up, and how to use them to reset your habits. I wrap up with five practical steps you can start this week to shift from constant firefighting to being seen as a steady, strategic leader.You’ll Learn:The real reason proactivity isn’t a fixed leadership traitWhat a flickering light bulb can teach you about staying aheadWhy just 5% more foresight each week changes how your team sees youHow to inject proactive moves into high-pressure, reactive situationsThe quiet damage of coasting during “pressure off” weeksWhat the “pressure off” test reveals about your default leadership modePractical ways to prepare for outages and crises before they happenThe surprising link between military “go bags” and tech leadership readinessHow to turn firefighting moments into long-term strategic winsFive simple steps to build steady, visible proactivity into your weekTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[05:00] Busting the myth of proactive vs reactive leadership[06:14] The flickering light bulb analogy for building proactivity[07:55] Injecting proactive actions into reactive situations[09:59] Building your leadership “go bag” for crises[11:42] The pressure off test and why quiet weeks matter[13:50] Using downtime to reset strategic habits[14:56] Five steps to increase consistent proactivity[18:45] Why small, steady choices outweigh perfectionFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.

Build your own CTO Playbook at our website — the leadership platform built for the full CTO journey. Coaching, podcast, and community to help you lead with clarity, confidence, and strategic impact.What if the hardest part of being a CTO isn’t about the technology at all, but learning to lead without a map?In this episode, I’m joined by Etienne de Bruin, founder of Seven CTOs and CTO Levels, and co-author of the upcoming book Liquid. For more than a decade, Etienne has worked with CTOs navigating the shift from hands-on coding to executive leadership.We talk about the moment he realized his value wasn’t in the code anymore, how he built a peer network to fill the gaps he couldn’t see, and the pivotal lessons that shaped his approach to coaching. Etienne also shares the thinking behind Liquid, exploring how CTOs can find balance between chaos and rigidity while mastering the four “sentinels” every tech leader needs to succeed.You’ll Learn:What it feels like to be pushed or pulled out of the codebase as a CTOThe real reason Etienne founded Seven CTOs and why most early members walked awayHow ontological coaching changes the way CTOs solve problems and influence outcomesThe quiet damage of solving the wrong problem when your influence goes uncheckedThe four “sentinels” every CTO must master to earn trust at the executive tableWhy balancing “boiling” chaos and “frozen” rigidity can make or break a tech teamThe surprising link between financial fluency and a CTO’s long-term successHow the Levels framework reveals capability gaps that stall growthWhat happens when a CTO builds genuine alignment with sales and product leadersTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[06:58] The challenge of stepping away from coding into leadership[14:00] Building a startup and the moment to stop coding[17:57] Creating Seven CTOs and the need for peer groups[27:15] How ontological coaching transforms CTO problem solving[37:14] The core role of a CTO and the importance of financial fluency[45:11] The concept of Liquid and navigating boiling vs frozen states[47:59] The four sentinels every CTO must manage[53:54] Using the Levels framework to diagnose capability gapsYou can connect with Etienne on LinkedIn.Find more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.