This has nothing to do with class, similar to how declining a junior engineer for an architect role is not classist. A VP Engineering role is a senior management position, and being a fantastic programmer is not a reasonable transition point. It's a lot more reasonable to either make a lateral hire or promote internally from a lower level (say, Director). Tiny startups take more chances with whom they place into these positions out of necessity. At the end of the day though, vast majority of coders don't have the right set of skills to be a successful VP right there and then, as their day-to-day responsibilities do not meaningfully overlap. Doesn't mean they can't get there, but there's a career progression aspect to it which is certainly within their grasp. Vast majority of Directors and VPs work their way up, just like everyone else.
But that is not argument against what he said. All software engineers cant be VPs. It is not possible - there are not enough positions and many people are not suitable for that role.
If everyone worked super hard, still only minority would got these positions.
That was not the main argument of the parent comment, this was:
> There's a class ceiling where only a certain type of person gains entry
It is true that working hard alone is not going to get you into a VP role, but working hard on the right things has a much higher likelihood of accomplishing that. Impact != hours put in, and vice versa, and frankly this is where a lot of the hard working people find themselves. Doing a difficult, but low leverage activity (relatively speaking) really well does not automatically entitle one to a role that is intended to be high leverage, all the time.
I think my use of the word "class" was problematic. The word doesn't really capture what I mean, and I struggled to find the right description. Those people who always seem to end up SVPs and CEOs and Founders all seem to be cut from a certain cloth. Not a "class" in the literal sense of English aristocracy, but it's always the same "Ivy Leaguer" type of person. Smooth talker, big smile, outgoing, and credentialed up the wazoo. Like a game show host but with a business degree. Look at all the CxO folks at your company and tell me they are not all basically cut from this same fabric.
It's almost never the smart, hard working kid whose parents were factory workers in Pittsburgh, who hard-worked their way up from the mail room.
EDIT: Maybe not a perfect comparison, but how many current active duty 4 star military officers started out their careers as enlisted grunts rather than as officers?
That's nonsense. Look at the "about us" pages for tech companies and startups. You'll see a huge diversity of backgrounds among SVPs of engineering, including many first generation immigrants.
There are also a lot of senior military officers at the O-5 to O-6 level who started out enlisted. The relative lack at the O-7 level and above is due more to retirement age limits than anything else. If a service member did a couple enlisted tours, then went to college and OCS, they usually just run out of time.
