Best Communities for CTOs and other Technical Leaders
We did some research for you about which CTO community is best for each use case and this is what we got.
Best Online Community for Those in Their First CTO Role: CTO Craft
Best Curated Online Community for Experienced Technical Leaders about both tech and leadership: alphalist
Best Online Community for Technical Leadership: Rands Leadership Slack
Best Online Community for Those in Their First Engineering Management Role: Engineering Manager Slack
Best Local Facilitated Peer Groups for CTOs and Engineering Managers: 7CTOs and Engineering Leadership Community
If you want to sell to other CTOs on Slack: Global CTO Forum
List of Networks and Communities for Technical Leaders (in alphabetical order)
Ideal For: CTOs who want to be part of a hyperlocal facilitated chapter and peer group
Offers: Events, Podcast, Local Chapters
Acceptance Criteria: None Listed.
Location: USA
Language: English
Cost: $912/year
Alphalist CTO Community Network
Ideal For: Technical leaders who want to talk about high-level topics with CTOs without fear of being sold to
Offers: Events, Slack, Job Board, Podcast, Newsletter, Blog, Local Meetups
Acceptance Criteria: Technical Leaders of tech products who lead large teams. No salespeople, recruiters, service providers, or CTO consultants
Location: Global, yet originated in Europe
Language: English
Cost: $299/year includes Slack Pro (unlimited history) and priority invites to in person CTO events
Ideal For: Those looking for a CTO community with a DevOps focus
Offers: This is branded community for DevOps specialists. It's affiliated with a DevOps-as-a -Service product.
Acceptance Criteria: None Listed.
Location: Online
Language: English
Cost: Free (but branded)
Ideal For: Technical Leaders of all experience levels. Offers paid add-ons such as coaching and mentorship circles
Offers: Events, Slack, Job Board, Podcast, Newsletter, Blog
Acceptance Criteria: Open to all CTOs regardless of location, level of experience, and industry
Location: Global, yet originated in the US
Language: English
Cost: Freemium (paid is £1995/year)
Ideal For: Senior engineering leaders
Offers: Events, Podcast
Acceptance Criteria: The most senior engineering leader within a company
Location: Global
Language: English
Cost: Paid
Engineering Leadership Community
Ideal For: Engineering leaders who want to be part of a hyperlocal facilitated peer group
Offers: Events, Podcast, Local Chapters
Acceptance Criteria: None Listed.
Location: Locations in the USA and in Istanbul. Plans to open more chapters internationally.
Language: English
Cost: Paid
Ideal For: New-ish engineering managers in their transition from individual contributors to people managers. And those who want to help them.
Offers: Slack
Acceptance Criteria: Engineering Manager, Team Lead, or any other role which involves managing people working in technology.
Location: Global
Language: English
Cost: Free
Ideal For: CTOs who would like to sell to other CTOs, recruit CTOs, and more.
Offers: Events, Podcasts, Job Board, Mentorship, Awards
Acceptance Criteria: None Listed.
Location: Global
Language: English
Cost: Paid
Ideal For: A public slack group for those who want to speak with other technical leaders on a variety of topics. There are many channels - some more active than others. It has few active members.
Offers: Events (paid and free) and Slack (rather quiet)
Acceptance Criteria: Anyone can join.
Location: Global
Language: English
Cost: Free
Ideal For: Leaders looking for a general leadership community. There are tech channels. Quite active with great insights and open discourse.
Offers: Slack
Acceptance Criteria: Unknown
Location: Global
Language: English
Cost: Free
Ideal For: Engineering managers looking for a free Slack community
Offers: Slack
Acceptance Criteria: Unknown
Location: Global
Language: English
Cost: Free
We made this list to help CTOs and technical leaders find the best CTO community for them. Help us keep it as comprehensive, accurate and informative as possible by reaching out to us.