On my journey in this field, I've encountered investors who believe that a CEO with a programming background should transition to a CTO role. This stems from a perception that companies need a well-rounded "C-suite" with specific expertise in each area. While this perspective persists, counter-examples abound. Tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Elon Musk (Tesla), and Jensen Huang (Nvidia) all have strong technical backgrounds and have led their companies to immense success. Similarly, Brian Armstrong, an ex-programmer, is the CEO of Coinbase, a leader in the cryptocurrency space.
Despite these examples, the notion that a company requires a non-technical CEO remains a persistent comment from some investors. This raises the question: at what point does holding someone's technical background against them, without clear justification, become a form of prejudice?