In the main, you say a lot of wise things. I have a couple of quibbles > spending 30% on something that isn't making you a better manager would seem to be co

In the main, you say a lot of wise things. I have a couple of quibbles > spending 30% on something that isn't making you a better manager would seem to be counter productive. You're assuming coding doesn't make you a better manager... what if it does? >There is also the question of scale, if you're a 20 person company I can easily see everyone writing code as well as doing other things, 50, 100, 2000 person company? Not so much. Bill Gates shipped code up until 1989 [1]. Microsoft was between 3000 and 4000 employees at the time. Sure, he may be the exception that proves the rule, but maybe there's something to the notion that coding managers have a better sense of the technical market... of course, it depends on what market you are in. I've spent most of my time as a coder, but have managed from 1-12 people from time to time. [1] http://www.quora.com/When-did-Bill-Gates-last-write-code-for-products-that-shipped http://www.quora.com/When-did-Bill-Gates-last-write-code-for...