[nordsieck]

> There's hundreds of other engineers that can probably do as good of a job or better than him.

There are 2 parts to the job of CEO:

1. Sales

2. Incentive engineering (overcoming Goodhart's law)

There is very little about software development expertise that will help with either of those endeavors.

[lucb1e]

> There is very little about software development expertise that will help with either of those endeavors

Good point, we can pay them much less than developers. Having a warm smile and making informed decisions about ~things is something my mom can do and I assure you her hourly wage is less than a developer's.

[marcinzm]

And the first industrial grade confidence trickster (and when you're managing $500 million you tend to get the cream of the crop going after you) will take her (and her company) for all she's worth. Having seen people who are great at people skills and those who are not there is a world of difference.