Seconded. The list is fine, but to me it doesn't mean anything if the PM wasn't a previous programmer and knows nothing about pulling all-nighters chasing some

Seconded. The list is fine, but to me it doesn't mean anything if the PM wasn't a previous programmer and knows nothing about pulling all-nighters chasing some obscure bug. If your friend really wants to get into a tech PM role, then he has to pay his dues just like we all do. So swombat's advice is right on. He should learn a language/framework and build something with it(not a small script, a real actual application).