Interviewing for large companies should tell you if you're ready or not. Chances are not, if you don't have a formal CS edu, because the typical questions are n

Interviewing for large companies should tell you if you're ready or not. Chances are not, if you don't have a formal CS edu, because the typical questions are not to make something that works, but to describe algos and data structs. I think you'd have better chances entering in a large company in a product, non-eng capacity, and then transition internally. That's always seen very positively, and you can get all the support you need. The alternative is to found another startup and stay technical from the very beginning, you should have a good network to do so.