I actually don't disagree with you on this. Can absolutely see how this can create friction, but it's also one of those cases when dealing in absolutes is fraug

I actually don't disagree with you on this. Can absolutely see how this can create friction, but it's also one of those cases when dealing in absolutes is fraught with peril. A CTO is not a CPO and having strategies being defined - or steered by a singularly technically-minded person can work fine in a lot of scenarios, but for others, it's important to foster a certain level of autonomy for managing, growing and building the product, feature set and roadmap. Same thing in reverse. There's definitely overlap between the two, but a collaborative approach works better in my opinion. As a disclaimer, I'm a CPO myself - and enjoy the working relationship and collaboration with the CTO, while reporting directly to the CEO and the board. Also, I guess that sometimes it really comes down to the types of personalities that are present in the management team - as well as the type of product being built.