Product development is the work of creating and revising a product as people begin to use it. In a young company, a technologist may write code daily to keep pace with a founder’s vision. Expect pivots and redesigns when the product reaches users; an early design is not necessarily the final one. section 1.2.1
Paying customers change the balance of work. Getting a product out still matters, but the focus starts shifting toward growth, system availability, data security, and team building. A CTO who has handled all development personally may need to make room for people who can challenge decisions and maintain the systems. section 1.2.1
When new development work calls for more people, use the project plan to test the hiring case:
- Identify the skills needed, when they are needed, and for how long. section 4.2.1
- Group related skills into a role with two or three core strengths and useful secondary skills, rather than hiring for one narrow task. section 4.2.1
- Check whether moving someone to the new work would leave an existing project short of resources. Preserve enough overlapping expertise for collaboration and constructive feedback. section 4.2.1
A broader project hire
A project might need cloud architecture and Java as core strengths, with database, messaging, and security skills alongside them. One person with that combination may contribute longer than several hires each limited to a single skill—and gives the CTO a clearer case to make within the project budget. section 4.2.1
