Should Aspiring Product Managers Know How to Code?

One of the most common questions I‘m asked by aspiring product managers is “should I know how to code?” I wanted to take a chance to lay out my views on the question with the hope that it can be useful for people trying to plan their career path.

In short, I do believe that new product managers should know how to code and I believe this for two reasons: 1) the competitiveness of the PM role, and 2) the usefulness of coding experience in directing Product Management decisions.

Reason 1: Competitiveness

Product Management has become one of the most popular jobs in tech due to it’s reputation for interesting, well-compensated work and manageable hours. It’s become an alternative to consulting and finance for ambitious students coming out of elite US universities, and, along with that, it’s turned into a common exit opportunity for Consultants, Software Engineers, and Investment Bankers.

Because of all this, thousands of extremely qualified candidates are applying for a very small number of opportunities, and it has gotten to the point where PM acceptance rates are often less than 1%.

Let’s put this in the perspective of an undergrad who wants to become a PM...

There are only about 50 tech companies that have APM programs that take candidates without direct PM experience (there are, of course, hundreds of non-tech PM positions and PM positions in startups, but, in my experience, a lot…