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Is the Skiplevel program right for me?

We're dedicated to making technology and software more accessible and relevant to non-engineering roles.

Our program is designed to improve the 4 core technical skills: broad awareness of available technologies, understanding technical trade-offs, ability to communicate technically, and understanding of the software development lifecycle–all without ever learning how to code.

Skiplevel students enroll to learn the technical skills and knowledge needed to level up in their roles–not to become developers.

Technical literacy and the ability to code are two separate skills. As a tech professional in a non-engineering role you don't need know the ins-and-outs of any programming language, but you should be able to ask well-informed questions about the what and the why that goes into building software in order to excel in your specific role.

Here are some goals Skiplevel students have on enrolling:

Accelerate my career in tech

  • Become more confident in my day-to-day role
  • Improve my technical knowledge and skills
  • Build my understanding of how products move from user stories to launch
  • Raise my confidence in evaluating the feasibility of ideas

Improve my collaboration with engineering teams

  • Increase my understanding of the pain points of my technical teams
  • Improve my ability to gauge product & roadmap scope
  • Grow my understanding of the nature and impact of technical constraints
  • Boost my confidence when weighing technical tradeoffs

Improve my technical communication

  • Communicate better with my developers
  • Increase my fluency in “tech speak”
  • Learn how I can to ask better technical questions
  • Understand how to unblock my technical teams
  • Improve my ability to write product requirements and documentation

Program Format

We get it–you're busy. Our flexible, on-demand course allows you to choose when to work on the program with a recommended guide from us. Check out all the details of the program below.

  • Self-guided / On-demand
  • Time commitment:
    • 5 weeks for 3–4.5 hours per week
  • Not just technical content–includes helpful tips & tricks for collaborating with dev teams.
  • Access to the Skiplevel community:
    • Get answers to questions on course content
    • Get feedback on technical exercises
    • Connect with other non-engineering professionals in tech
  • Get the Fundamentals of Software certificate upon course completion
  • The Skiplevel course includes 5 technical modules:
    • 1: Infrastructure & Applications
    • 2: Latency
    • 3: Data & Databases
    • 4: Architecture & Diagrams
    • 5: Software Development Lifecycle
  • Each module comes with:
    • Easy-to-digest Video Lessons
    • Exclusive technical readings
    • Exclusive hands-on exercises

Want more details about the program?

Preview the full curriculum

Who is the Skiplevel program for?

The Skiplevel program is specially designed for the non-engineering professional that is transitioning into or currently working in tech. Whether you have 0 or 10 years of experience, Skiplevel gives you the strong technical foundation you need to feel more confident in your technical abilities in your day-to-day role and during interviews.

  • Product Managers
  • Aspiring PMs
  • Program & Project Managers
  • Non-technical Startup Founders
  • Biz Dev Managers
  • Technical Writers
  • Sales professionals
  • Operations Specialist
  • UX Designers
  • Technical Recruiters
  • Recent graduates

Ready to become more technical?

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HEAR FROM PAST STUDENTS

Here's what students who have taken the Skiplevel program have to say about their experience.

Product Manager @ Prophet

"The activity portions were really nice to walk me through how the different tools might be used in a product project... This was highly valuable to building and upleveling myself."

Operations @ Unitary.ai

"Skiplevel has been by far the most helpful thing I've done in my career to understand software architecture, development lifecycle and get an overview of the key technical elements of our product."

Read more on LinkedIn

Sr Product Manager @ Attune

"I'm really glad I found this course. I didn't find anything else like it for product management... It is genuinely helping me to communicate better with the engineers and build stronger relationships."

Technical Writer; Prior Managing Editor @ GitLab

"I've worked in developer tools marketing for over five years and had already picked up a lot of knowledge, but never had any formal training. The Skiplevel program was so helpful for putting what I'd already learned into context and filling in the many gaps! I wish I'd had access to the program when I first started out in tech. I feel more confident going into conversations with engineers and other technical people now."

Product Manager @ Buddi

"Highly recommend this course if you're looking to fill in the gaps regarding technical concepts in software development... Irene does a great job of breaking down technical concepts and providing real-world examples. The assignments made you think and apply what you learned in the modules... I appreciated the fact that the course was self-paced because there were times when I was really busy and had to focus on other things."

Read more on LinkedIn

Founder @ SaaS Startup

"The course covers a ton of technical content from internet protocols to APIs without feeling overwhelming, and ends very strong by walking students through actually how engineers and PMs build software together. Students will walk away with a solid foundation on the technical side of things and find themselves frantically Googling things a lot less when working with developers."

Product Manager @ Zillow

"I am so glad I signed up for this! It surprised me how there were parts that were already very familiar and understood, but then also sections where I learned completely new concepts. If only I had taken this course as an Associate PM, I could have saved myself some awkward mistakes."

Product Manager @ IBM

"Skiplevel did an excellent job of focusing on technical concepts and skills that are actually helpful for PMs, instead of the usual "here's how to code" path that many people think will be helpful. Videos and lessons were very clear, and I appreciate the detailed feedback left on the activities I completed."

Read more on TrustPilot

Business Development @ a16z Crypto

"Really loving how you've broken down so much content into digestible pieces. And the cloud computing section is way more understandable than the required AWS training I had to go through. Seriously for me to finally understand the difference between EC2 and ECS... Priceless!"

Associate Product Manager @ IBM

"I would recommend it to anyone from associate product managers to founders… I feel much more prepared to talk to developers about technical tradeoffs."

Senior Product Manager @ Amazon

"Everything flows together really well, and it feels like you learn the right things at the right time... Skiplevel made me much more fluent in conversations with engineers and boosted my confidence at work. I feel like I finally understand how the puzzle pieces of my products fit together."

Physical Scientist @ US Geological Survey

"The topics addressed were completely relevant to what I wanted to learn… [Skiplevel explained] terms I had heard before but didn't understand until now."

Principal Product Manager @ Amazon

"I wish I had this type of training when I first got into product management. This course helped tighten the screws of things I’ve picked up along the way as well as teach me some new things."

Read more on LinkedIn

Customer Success Manager @ HashiCorp

"I now feel more confident with the technical fundamentals, despite knowing some things from before. It was good to go back to some basics while learning new things I did not study before, all in a structured, comprehensive program. I enjoyed the structure of the program and how it consistently covers a wide variety of topics."

Founder @ Law Startup

"I'm really enjoying this course. I've been interviewing CTO candidates and being able to apply some of the things I've learned on this course has been very helpful."

Read more on LinkedIn

Product Manager @ AI Technology Company

"I got a huge amount of value out of the Skiplevel program. I've already noticed the value of doing this course on my day-to-day work... I feel I've had a comprehensive overview of the key technical concepts that are relevant to my role."

Senior Product Strategy Consultant @ Rural Sourcing

"This training was pretty great! I was able to complete it at my own pace, which helped with fitting it in around my unpredictable consulting schedule. I've managed roadmaps and backlogs with deeply technical details for years. Now I can do it better because the tradeoffs are much more tangible having done the engineering myself through these examples. Special thanks to Irene for putting together such a thoughtful and helpful course!"

Read more on LinkedIn

Senior Product Designer @ Real Estate Company

"Skiplevel provided context into standard engineering terms and concepts that I could immediately utilize on the job. From the first module, I could apply what I learned and noticed increased confidence in discussing the technical aspects of software development."

Director of Customer Success @ Leadership Advisory and Search Firm

"Honestly the most well structured professional course I've taken... After taking the course, I feel so much more confident engaging with our development team. I understand more of what they're saying and I feel far clearer about how they consider and structure their work."

Product Designer @ Digitec

"Before the Skiplevel course I knew many technical terms without really understanding their meaning (e.g. API), now I have a better technical understanding... I think my new knowledge will be really helpful when communicating with developers."

Former Director of Product Management @ Salesforce

"Skiplevel does a wonderful job at helping product managers have deeper empathy for their engineering partners by diving deeper into the relevant area of the product development lifecycle. The hands on exercises especially help to more fully understand the nuances of software development."

Pay in full (save 20%)Pay monthly over 4-months

$1,250

Receive 2-year, On-demand Access

  • Access to Skiplevel: Fundamentals of Software course
  • Lifetime Access to private Skiplevel community
  • Access to Exclusive Technical Articles
  • Access to Exclusive Hands-on Exercises
  • Certificate upon program completion
Enroll Now

Pay in full (save 20%)Pay monthly over 4-months

$375/month

Receive 2-year, On-demand Access

  • Access to Skiplevel: Fundamentals of Software course
  • Lifetime Access to private Skiplevel community
  • Access to Exclusive Technical Articles
  • Access to Exclusive Hands-on Exercises
  • Certificate upon program completion
Enroll Now

Still not sure if Skiplevel is right for you?

Schedule a free coaching call with the program instructor to discuss your career goals and determine how the program can help!

Talk to the Program Instructor