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My last gig was a startup. CTO recruited and hired me promising ownership of product and minimal micromanaging.

Everything went well for a couple of months, but it went crazy in 2022.

Basically, the CTO gets distracted with anything new and flashy. He sees some new language or framework, we wants us to build a prototype with it. If a competitor has a certain feature, he wants us to add it. He is willing to change priorities to make those kinds of things happen, but they are almost always unproductive and a waste of engineering time. My team and and I aren't being set up for success.

Eventually, I was let go and was replaced by an employee who used to work for me and who is perfectly willing to do whatever the CTO demands.

Now, I'm starting to look for my next gig. I imagine prospective employers will want to talk to my previous CTO as a job reference. That will not go well.

Is there something I can offer in place of a CTO reference check?