The CTO in the field with Michael Letschin – Ep 89

John Mark Troyer – The Geek Whisperers

The Field CTO is a title that we see more often these days, but what does a CTO actually do? Michael Letschin, Field CTO at Nexenta Systems, tells us what the role entails.

Mike was the Director of Product Management at Nexenta, so he had the product knowledge already. But he had also been a consultant and sales engineer in the past, so he has the field chops as well. Becoming Field CTO has let Mike blend the two sides – bringing product knowledge and a senior technical perspective to his field teams and to customers, and bringing the voice of the customer back into the product organization.

Other topics we cover include:

• Mike’s gig as a cheerleader for the Baltimore Ravens
• The Goldilocks Time to arrive an an airport
• Scheduling over somebody else’s calendar
• Taking care of yourself on the road
• What does “being technical” mean?
• Bringing passion to what you do
• Going back to get an MBA
• Always be good at your job + one other thing
• When you need to get out to eat on the road, use Food Network recommendations (see Jake’s Good Eats)

Twitter: @mletschin
Blog: The Solutions Architect