I’m Co-Founder/CEO of InList.com, the premier app for attending exclusive global events, and co-founder/owner of software company Syragon.
Getty
In 2009, I became chief technology officer for a payment processor. Although I’d been a CTO before, it was for a team of six — not a staff of 30. Coincidentally, this was right around the time when cyberattacks were just gearing up. As a company handling high-risk payment processing, we had a target squarely on our backs.
As we were trying to prevent hackers from getting into our system, the management team decided to revamp our technology stack for better efficiency, practices and security. Because I was new, my team perceived me as someone who wanted to “shake things up,” and more than a few employees were defensive about new initiatives. I had to quickly learn how to balance the CEO’s demand for change with building a rapport among the team.
The role of CTO, after all, is similar to that of…