About The CTO Playbook
Â
The CTO Playbook™ is a trade name of Synova Technology AB, run by Adam Horner and Jenine Horner, a husband and wife team
How it startedÂ
The CTO Playbook began with Adam Horner — a tech veteran with 30+ years of experience.
After becoming a CTO in 2013, Adam spent over a decade navigating executive leadership — from fast-moving startups to complex enterprise environments.
In 2022, he shifted into a fractional CTO role to support multiple companies. One thing became clear: too many tech leaders were figuring it out alone, repeating the same avoidable mistakes.
In 2023, Adam focused more fully on coaching. There was a clear gap — plenty of leadership content, but little from people who had actually done the job. And most CTOs didn’t trust advice that didn’t speak to their world.
To help at scale, we launched The CTO Playbook podcast in July 2024 — with weekly episodes sharing real strategies and honest stories from experienced tech leaders.
Why we do thisÂ
We’re here to support CTOs on one of the hardest — and most important — leadership journeys in tech.
Our mission is to provide the structure, clarity, and support that many CTOs never get — so they can lead with confidence, earn trust, and drive real strategic impact.
Because when CTOs lead well:
âś… Strategy aligns across tech and business
âś… Teams are empowered to deliver
âś… Engineering makes a meaningful impact
Whether you’re stepping into your first exec role or leading at scale, we’re here to help you lead with purpose and make the impact that matters.
Where we’re goingÂ
The CTO Playbook is a platform designed to support every stage of the leadership journey.
🧠Coaching — 1:1 support and structured programs for emerging and established tech leaders
🎙️ Podcast — Weekly conversations and insights from the frontlines of technology leadership
👥 Community — A peer space for sharing, learning, and long-term growth
We’re here for CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and senior leaders in tech across startups, scaleups, and enterprise — and we’re just getting started.
About Synova Technology
The CTO Playbook is a trading name of Synova Technology, a company established in October 2022 by the husband and wife team of Adam and Jenine Horner. Drawing from Adam's extensive 30 years of experience in technology and Jenine's proven track record in product development and commercialisation, the duo combined their expertise to form the foundation of Synova Technology.
With a clear division of focus within the business, Adam is dedicated to helping CTOs, startups, and scaleups accelerate. In parallel, Jenine spearheads development efforts of the innovative Kindred mobile app. Adam and Jenine are actively bootstrapping the development of the Kindred App to bring their shared vision to life.
