I've found there are two really tough and visible dividing lines in a typical tech company: 1. the line between individual contributor (IC) and first level manager and 2. the line between the top managers and the executive class (directors, VPs, etc). These two lines define the three basic tech castes: ICs, managers and execs. While it's pretty straightforward to be promoted internally within these castes, it's difficult to jump from one to another, particularly from "normal manager" to "Director/VP". Thinking back to the last few companies I've worked, I'm having trouble remembering more than 1 or 2 director-and-above level people who actually started out as not-directors. Maybe the list of companies I've worked at is not representative, but in my view, execs tend to get hired as execs and don't promotion their way up to the title. So, following the "work hard - performance review - feedback" treadmill is great for climbing a small part of the ladder, it's not sufficient for making the big jumps that represent major career growth. Moving from caste to caste takes some different wizardry I haven't figured out yet...
I have a friend who skipped castes with impressive speed; his trick was getting a Harvard MBA, which put him in the club. First job with the MBA was a VP position at an SF tech firm.
He's super smart but I have a feeling this would be a generally applicable strategy, if you can afford it and really do want to be in the executive caste.
If anyone here could chime in with anecdotes or generalized advice about moving “up” castes, I would be interested to hear it. In my limited experience, being early at a growth company (e.g. Uber in 2014) increases the probability that you’ll be able to grow headcount under you and accumulate initiatives quickly enough to go from IC or line manager to director. Have seen it happen with a couple of friends. This approach requires a bit of timing and divination, though.
That's probably because the 3 paths are orthogonal: becoming a better IC would make one a worse manager; and becoming a better manager wouldn't make one a better exec. Just like an exec wouldn't turn into the business owner no matter how hard one tries. The ladders that connect ICs with execs exist, but they are outside of the building.
