3 ms·
Product management or software engineering for a founder hopeful?
Should pursue software engineering or product management roles?
Context:
I'm young and trying to make my next career move. My first attempt at a mobile app startup just failed. I built the mobile app, as well as the AI-powered backend myself. Now, I'm job hunting. I have a Master's in Computer Science from a top CS school but zero years of experience as a software engineer (I do have a couple of years of systems engineering experience from a large tech company). My end goal is to be a successful tech founder, playing the tech and product role.
Argument for Software Engineering:
I think working as software engineer would legitimize me as a technical person moving forward and enable me to write scalable and reliable code. Additionally, technical co-founders seem more in-demand than product people.
Argument for Product Manager:
I feel I have more to learn on the product side. I also think I can already build the MVP of low-to-medium difficulty products, albeit sloppily. I'm scared to remove myself from the technical side for too long and not be able to return, because I don't have years of formal experience in software engineering.
Thanks for your advice!
- shmatt 5y agoIll try to re-organize your questions because they seem all over the place * zero years experience as a software engineer, but you also built a mobile app, a ML model, and a backend service, all by yourself? that doesn't make sense * you will never be playing the tech AND product role * legitimize you as a technical person - no one cares. as a technical co founder you will be expected to make quick features, no one cares about scalability or technical depth of the design at that point * technical founders being more on demand - because there is at least some knowledge needed prior, a limited pool. A non technical founder could be literally anyone, even with 0 school or experience (like yourself) * goal being a successful founder - it's an almost impossible goal. you don't seem to be interested in working for someone. how many founders have never worked anywhere? its probably one of those 1:10000000 things
- wcc8fs 5y agoThanks for your response! I edited the original post to make it more clear. I'll follow up to your points in order: - It's a simple app and backend. I worked on it full-time for 6 months, learning how to build apps along the way. Is there something else that doesn't make sense? - Not even at the earliest stages? I'm envisioning having a cofounder that covers sales, marketing, fundraising, and business. I do product, some design, and engineering. - So your opinion is that you don't need experience as a software engineer? - It sounds like you agree with me that technical founders are more in-demand. - I did work at a large tech company for two years as a systems engineer (see original post). I'm also about to go work for someone now. Founding my own company is what I want to do long-term.