In this opinionated and sometimes controversial take on being a startup CTO, I'll share with you a three step model for adapting and evolving both your personal technical leadership style - and your technology assets - as your startup grows.

These steps follow the business growth trajectory: the first is the solo/small team phase where the CTO must be technically hands-on while also contributing to strategy and business development. The second is when growing a team - technical practices need to evolve and the CTO must become the leader the new team-mates need. The third occurs when crossing the boundary to a multi-team/multi-department organisation - situational awareness, org design & process-orientation become far more significant.

This talk is Informed by personal experience launching and scaling two successful startups but is balanced with a mix of proven and emerging thinking in leadership, technology & strategy - such as Wardley mapping, socio-technical systems theory, dynamic re-teaming and domain-driven design. It is intended to support new and aspiring technical co-founders in achieving both personal and startup success in this challenging but thrilling adventure.