From Engineer to General Manager with Mike Reust

Mike Reust never pictured himself in management. But after several years at Betterment, the opportunity presented itself. Mike joins us this week on CTO Connection to discuss what it’s like to transition from engineering to a management role.

Listen in as Mike and Peter talk about the growing pains of transitioning roles as well as advice for those thinking of going into management. 

 

[00:54] - Making moves at Betterment[02:15] - Inflection point in accountability[04:11] - The next dramatic change[06:02] - Emotional weight[08:26] - Boss duality[08:57] - Change in responsibility[10:11] - Betterment Everyday[11:35] - Taking on a dual role[14:14] - Pushback[17:16] - Opportunity for impact[19:16] - Surprises about management[22:56] - Stepping back[25:13] - CTO vs. General Manager[27:03] - A greater level of empathy

 

This episode is sponsored by Clubhouse.io. Clubhouse lets you manage software projects with the perfect balance of simplicity and structure, so you and your team can be happier, less stressed, and hyper-focused on building products that customers love. It’s free for up to 10 users, plus you can get two free months on any paid plan at https://clubhouse.io/CTO.

CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!

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Podcast episode production by Dante32.