Being an engineering leader who isn't technical is dangerous

Being a software engineering leader that is not technical anymore is a dangerous place to be.

You have been managing dozens of employees.

You are great at managing people and processes.

Navigating corporate bureaucracy and BS might be your top skill now.

Unfortunately, you just got laid off.

Most companies, especially small ones, want to hire technical leaders who are... highly technical.

They need someone who can build PoCs, lead special projects, and frankly get shit done.

Being a non-technical... technical leader is a tough spot in your career.

It makes it much harder to get a job.

You are more limited to middle management roles only in larger companies.

If you work in larger companies, some of us inevitably get to this place in our careers.

Matt Watson

Matt Watson

CEO of Full Scale, 4x Founder, Author of Product Driven

Matt Watson is a serial software entrepreneur based in Kansas City and the founder and CEO of Full Scale, which helps companies build offshore development teams fast. He previously founded Stackify, a developer-tools startup, and was an early CTO at VinSolutions. He's the author of Product Driven and hosts the Startup Hustle podcast.

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