No offence

As long as I don’t have my own company, I don’t want to be a manager.

I always say to my boss. I'd rather die than do PM work.

Ultimate xD

Hmm as a "Department Tech Lead", I'm a bit in between, but still more on the developer side.

In practice, I'm still a developer, although more involved in setting up architecture rules than writing features.

I was always a bit disgruntled by the ridiculous fantasy bubbles managers live in -- the difference is that I can now tell them to go fuck themselves if they talk about "transformational strategies" or "needing bilateral synergy".

I can now wield a noise-cancelling headset, open my laptop and raise my middle finger during a meeting without fear of being fired.

Beyond the Purgatory of the Junior Developer and the Soulless Abyss of the Product Manager, lies the Valhalla of the Autonomous Tech Lead. 😄🤷‍♂