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About the Book
In Startup Phases For CTOs, Stephan Schmidt brings decades of hard-won experience as an engineering manager, CTO, and CTO coach to illuminate the often misunderstood relationship between technology, business models, and the different phases startups experience. By defining seven clear startup stages—from Ideation and Prototype through MVP, Product-Market Fit, and Scaling, all the way to Profitability and becoming a Cash Cow—Schmidt offers invaluable context tailored specifically for CTOs.
Drawing from practical examples and years of hands-on leadership, this book breaks down why technology decisions must evolve alongside the startup's growth trajectory. Readers learn how to adapt their tech strategies as their companies shift from custom-built solutions to scalable products, manage the increasing complexity of growing architectures, and avoid common pitfalls like dependency paralysis and stagnation caused by bloated feature sets.
Startup Phases for CTOs is a guidebook designed to transform good tech leaders into great ones, equipped not just to survive startup growth but to actively shape it. Whether you're an aspiring CTO at the start of your journey or an experienced leader navigating rapid growth, this book provides the essential insights and strategies you need to lead confidently, innovate sustainably, and drive your startup to lasting success.
About the Author
Stephan Schmidt launched his tech career as a self-taught coder, mastering the art of programming as a kid in a department store back in 1981 with ambitions of creating video games. His passion for technology led him to university, where he delved into computer science, specializing in distributed systems and artificial intelligence, while also exploring the realms of philosophy. With the dawn of the internet era in Germany during the 1990s, Stephan became a pioneering coder and engineering manager for several startups.His journey in the tech world expanded as he founded a venture capital-funded startup and tackled architecture, processes, and growth challenges in various fast-growing VC-backed companies.
His roles have included engineering manager at ImmoScout24 and CTO of an eBay Inc. subsidiary. Following the successful sale of his wife’s startup, the couple relocated to the seaside, where Stephan embraced his role as a CTO coach, guiding technology leaders through the intricacies of their evolving roles.