patrick.net

The CEO is the big deal maker, and sometimes, hatchet man sort of person. He's normally a crony of the board and gets away with a lot of crap. Don't mess with this guy.

The CFO is the chief accountant/bean counter extraordinaire. These guys tend to come from the big three audit firms or, are friends with the CEO.

The CIO is a glorified Management Information Systems manager who decides if it's HP or IBM, as a strategic partner. This is the least powerful of the C-level execs. Most likely, the CFO controls his budget.

The CTO, typically, is the sales person for the tech services of the mothership and how that differs from the competition. The key is whether or not, sales is booked under his dept. If so, then he's quite powerful, otherwise, he's a court jester to the CEO. Thus, many CTOs, who may talk a good game but can't book revenues under his dept, are in a worthless sinecure role.

Thanks Rin. Are the above true even if the company is not a tech producer or a start-up?