In general, I would say no. You're 100% right that sales/marketing/growth skills are necessary for building a startup, but I'd offer up two key points: - Your

In general, I would say no. You're 100% right that sales/marketing/growth skills are necessary for building a startup, but I'd offer up two key points: - Your product is everything, and having a gifted engineer fully bought in to developing the product from the jump is a huge advantage for any startup. - Running growth for an early stage, 0-to-1 startup is not the same as doing it at a larger company, where you're likely to get a sales/marketing job. All of this is just my experience, but I think the only way to learn how to grow a new startup is to do it. The biggest advantage you can have in that situation isn't previous experience with sales cycles or PPC advertising, it's the ability to build a great product. TLDR: Continue to develop as an engineer, learn the business side when you decide to start a business. I should also add, however, that if you're unhappy as an engineer and that sales/marketing seems attractive, that's a different situation altogether.