Ask HN: Bad idea to switch to TPM role if I still enjoy dev work? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Bad idea to switch to TPM role if I still enjoy dev work?

5 points71a54xd5 comments

I have an offer on the table for a TPM role, company who's tech / industry I have direct knowledge of. For instance I've forked their open source code, provided features people like etc etc.

I have 3.6YOE as a backend dev, no existing PM experience other than a role at a previous growth stage company I worked for. Long story short, I really want to work for them but their offer was low ($120k w/ benefits), more than 15% less than what I currently make at a no-name startup.

I suck at leetcode, but at this point I'm weighing my options as to whether I should stick it out for a few months (grinding leet) and chase far better money as a dev or spend a year at this new TPM gig, take a bit of a $$ hit to speed up the transition / career hack of not needing to switch to PM work internally and later take the PM track at FAANG and largely have a better chance at high TC than I would as an engineer?

I'm mostly worried about how difficult it would be to get back into dev work, if I either dislike PM work or realize I have better TC potential as an engineer.

Have you had any luck with a counteroffer, or considered that option yet? Of course, what stage the new company is at is meaningful here, but Series B+ they could afford to match; Series A or earlier, I think it depends.

Being so familiar with some of their open source code already feels like a nice leg up.

I don't doubt that a PM / TPM salary is lower than a backend engineer salary, but it could be good experience early in your career.

I wouldn't worry much about being able to transition back into dev work after 1-2 years out given how high the demand for developers virtually everywhere is right now.

I'm waiting for counters from two other companies this week, going to counter in the next few days. My technical chops are decent, but I think leveraging these skills as a TPM or PM, eventually potentially shifting into larger orgs will maybe be a better path to higher comp and fulfillment than being a pure developer? The strategy side of things feels very different, but the interview process seems much more sane and less broken?

> better path to higher comp

Sometimes yes. In general, probably not.

Development pays better, and there are way more opportunities. Interest and aptitude matter a lot, short and long term, for both domains.

Either way, you won't be poor.

Look at available data (eg levels.fyi). I don't think it will be a shortcut to higher comp, unless you are more interested in product work or TPM work. Or if you're better at it (which you might be after several years, but probably not for a while).

Also, for truly large organizations, an MBA may be useful. In some cases, it may be necessary.

> fulfillment than being a pure developer

Maybe. Hopefully! You'll know only if you try it.

> The strategy side of things feels very different, but the interview process seems much more sane and less broken?

Interviewing for product related fields is also not sane and pretty broken.

Same performance. Just different performance skills.

Others can probably speak to this better, but I’ve found TPM is very different from PM roles so make sure you are be offered the one you want!

Generally a TPM (technical program manager) has more of a schedule / timeline focus to help people know what is happening when. Whereas the PM (product manager) role defines the vision while adjusting for user and business needs.

If you want to be a product manager I’d probably interview for that role directly as TPM is not always in the same org. Hope that helps and good luck!

Thanks for your thoughts on this, I probably should've specified that the role itself is a "technical product management" role. Basically, product requires deep technical background for the application / target customers and users are intended to be technical in nature.

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