Episode 222: Cowboy CTO and underpaid after promotion

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. Hey, long time fan of the show!

   Our current CTO came in as the result of a merger. For most of his life, he was a solo developer and owned his own company.

   The struggles we are facing now are:

   • He is not responsive at all, neither via chat, nor email, nor any other communication tool.
   • He often says “I’ll do it” but then takes weeks to finish
   • He has thousands of unread emails in his inbox
   • When he writes tickets, the details are unclear for others
   • He codes way too much for a CTO, in my opinion, and his code is a bit messy compared to the other developers

   Since he is a really nice person, we all want to give him feedback that makes him understand his role better, and to avoid being a bottleneck.

   I know that changing another person is hard, but at the same time I know that he is motivated to become a good CTO.

   How do I help him?”

2. Hi. I’ve only recently discovered your podcast this quarantine, and it’s been really helpful at work already. So when I was faced with this problem, I immediately thought of you!

   I have been a professional software developer for just over a year and have received great feedback from my manager and team. During my performance review, I asked what I would need to qualify for promotion. I got the news that I had already been recommended for a promotion!

   Meanwhile, a friend still in university got an entry-level job offer from my company that pays more than I would make if my promotion went through. Where I come from, there are no negotiations when companies recruit at universities, so it’s not a matter of them negotiating a better deal.

   If the promotion does not come through I have no qualms trying to negotiate. If the promotion does comes through, would I come off as ungrateful if I bring this up? Am I asking for too much by wanting to be paid more at a higher position than what a new grad would be paid at entry level? I know it’s not an ideal world and I feel greedy as I type this, but I just want to be compensated for what I think I’m worth. I also think that it also comes down to my ego at some point. SEND HALP