[throwaway7653]

Pretty sure I was your coworker.

The interesting thing about that company is how badly it failed at filling executive roles with promotions from within OR experienced hands.

Fundamentally, the CTO failed because in their previous success, they built it from the ground-up. They had zero experience trying to take over a large org, came in like a bull in a china shop, and worst of all, made a lot of very costly, morale-destroying mistakes.

But see also the Chief Product Officer who left in disgrace or the quasi-COO who also left in disgrace. They were both promoted from within well past their level of proven competence.

The common thread? The CEO who made all of those decisions. Executive hiring requires a CEO with the ability to reflect on their personal shortcomings and those of the team. And then, they need the ability to attract and evaluate candidates. And even if they do that successfully, they need the ability to meld a group of these execs into a highly functional team.

Our CEO only had the ability to hire people he saw as junior versions of himself.