MICROCOURSES FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS
Becoming a CTO: A Practical Field Guide
Becoming a CTO: A Practical Field Guide is a five-week, live online microcourse from UC Berkeley Engineering Professional Education designed for senior engineers, technical founders, and aspiring technology leaders preparing to operate at the CTO level.
Built from a survey of how high-performing CTOs actually work, the course provides a hands-on, practical framework for leading engineering teams, making sound technical decisions, and designing your own CTO operating system.
Thursdays - Mar 19, Mar 26, Apr 2, Apr 9, Apr 16
from 6:00-7:45 p.m. PT
$1200
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Program Snapshot
Format: Live Online (Zoom)
Duration: 5 weeks | 8.75 total instructional hours
Dates: March 19, 26, April 2, 9, 16
Time: 6:00–7:45 PM PT
Tuition: $1,200
Experience Level: No coding or technical background required
What You’ll Learn
Insider operating models from experienced CTOs
Learn how CTOs at different company stages make decisions around architecture, hiring, velocity, and trade-offs.
A practical CTO checklist and operating framework
Translate abstract leadership concepts into concrete systems you can run weekly, including delivery metrics, documentation practices, and prioritization models.
Guidance from experienced CTO mentors across industries
Gain exposure to CTO perspectives beyond enterprise software, including deep tech, climate tech, and early-stage startups.
A trusted peer network of senior technical professionals
Join a cohort of engineers and founders building elite technical leadership skills and preparing for CTO or founding roles.
How High-Performing CTOs Actually Operate
There's no playbook for becoming a successful CTO.
The CTO role is rarely learned through formal training. Most engineers are promoted based on technical excellence, then expected to intuitively master organizational design, delivery velocity, technical strategy, and executive communication.
This course is built on a structured analysis of how effective CTOs operate across startup stages and industries. Drawing from established research and real-world practice, participants learn repeatable operating principles used by high-performing technology leaders, including how they ship software, manage technical debt, align engineering with business goals, and scale teams without losing execution quality.
Rather than theory, the program focuses on practical systems you can apply immediately and adapt over time.
Senior engineers and engineering managers preparing for CTO or VP Engineering responsibilities
Technical co-founders who want to build strong engineering organizations from day one
Product-minded engineers seeking to align technical execution with business outcomes
Staff, Principal, and L6+ engineers looking to expand their impact beyond individual contribution into org-level leadership
Experienced engineers beyond L6 looking to expand impact beyond individual contribution
Build Your Own CTO Playbook
Throughout the course, participants synthesize lessons into a personalized CTO playbook. This is not a static document, but a working system that reflects how you lead, ship, and make decisions.
You will leave with:
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A CTO README and operating principles template
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A lightweight delivery metrics dashboard
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A decision-making framework for technical debt, migrations, and trade-offs
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Practical habits used by high-performing engineering leaders
This playbook is designed to evolve with your role and organization.
Lorenzo Barberis Canonico
Co-Founder, Valyria Studios
President, Cassandra Labs (501(c)(3))
Instructor @ Santa Clara University, CSEN 269: Computing for Good
Ph.D., Human-Centered Computing
Lorenzo builds technical organizations from first principles. At Cassandra Labs, he is designing Pynthia Credit Union's banking core from scratch—architecting the data models, state machines, and compliance frameworks that underpin modern financial infrastructure. This work requires operating as a CTO daily: scoping migrations, managing technical debt, shipping in small batches, and translating regulatory requirements into executable specifications.
As co-founder of Valyria Studios, Lorenzo trains engineers through pro-bono projects with social impact organizations—building production systems like CRMs for nonprofits serving unhoused individuals in San Francisco. His teaching philosophy centers on giving students the habits and operating rhythms of senior engineers: living documentation, rigorous user research, and shipping code that matters. Previously, he was a Research Scientist in Biomedical Data Science at Stanford, where he led projects combining machine learning with collective intelligence.
In the classroom, Lorenzo is known for a practical, systems-first teaching style focused on building real products, documenting decisions clearly, and operating with the mindset of a technical leader.
Students consistently value the hands-on project experience, exposure to real industry workflows, and his ability to connect AI tools, user research, and execution habits into a coherent CTO operating model.
Former CTO of Passbase and Midlane
Co-founder and CTO of Pocus which is now at Series B
Co-founder and CTO of Noya, Series B. Deep tech and climate tech company
Co-founder of The Intelligent Search Company (TISC)
Co-founder and CTO of Coverage Cat
through change?
The foundation of CTO-level velocity isn't working harder—it's working in smaller increments. This session introduces DORA's research on high-performing teams and the counterintuitive power of shipping less code, more often. You'll leave with a framework for breaking down any project into deployable slices.
- Why small batches reduce risk and accelerate learning
- DORA metrics: the science behind elite engineering teams
- Incremental programming as a daily habit
- Case study: How Elon Musk's iteration speed drives outcomes
leadership potential