I've always thought there should be no cap on either salary, or glamour for advancing developers. We've all seen how a single person can drive the productivity of an entire organization. The career path promoting great developers into managers (and eventually CTOs) tends to take people out of something they're great at and put them into something they might not be so good at.
On the flip side, the best technical managers I've worked with were not very technical at all.
I did take the route of advancing into a CTO position. There were parts of it I really enjoyed, and parts of it I dreaded. Those overlapped predictably with the parts I was bad at...
I would do it again, for the right project. But with a much clearer understanding of which responsibilities I will take for myself, and what I which I will delegate.
My advice to you would be to focus on the parts of your job you love, and make sure you're getting the credit and rewards you deserve. If that means you're a Senior Developer for the next ten years, it should also mean you're getting profit sharing, an office (if you want one) and a recognized position as a driver of the company's future.
> The career path promoting great developers into managers (and eventually CTOs) tends to take people out of something they're great at and put them into something they might not be so good at.
Peter's Principle. The more professional experience you get, the more you realize it's not a joke :-)
On the flip side, the best technical managers I've worked with were not very technical at all.
I did take the route of advancing into a CTO position. There were parts of it I really enjoyed, and parts of it I dreaded. Those overlapped predictably with the parts I was bad at...
I would do it again, for the right project. But with a much clearer understanding of which responsibilities I will take for myself, and what I which I will delegate.
My advice to you would be to focus on the parts of your job you love, and make sure you're getting the credit and rewards you deserve. If that means you're a Senior Developer for the next ten years, it should also mean you're getting profit sharing, an office (if you want one) and a recognized position as a driver of the company's future.