A good PM should be focused on ensuring you're building the right things, and bringing it to market in a way that leads to growth and risk mitigation. That includes (for example):
- quantitative and qualitative prospect and customer input on roadmap
- pricing and packaging of your solution
- establishing and managing inbound OEM contracts
- working with legal on making sure custom contracts don't handcuff your business
- input and planning for FY business goals and targets
- educating and aligning partners and customers on roadmaps
- helping sales target the right customers and distribution channels
- managing profitability of the business (at least partially)
- helping refine the 'pitch' and 'demo' - remember, your company does 2 things - Build and Sell product. A good PM should be at least as focused on Selling as Building.
- etc
These are just a few of the responsibilities, of course. A good PM is at the center of the business interactions. The interactions between engineering and PM is hardly the entirety of the role. And yes, you will often have to spend time explaining to them how things work so they can be better enabled to have customer discussions and so on. Their job isn't usually about HOW, it's about WHAT/WHY primarily.
My advice:
1. Don't be jealous of the pay. That's down to the market and supply/demand. Jealousy is a cancer that robs you of your happiness and clouds your mind into making career-limiting, and rather juvenile statements like 'The role should really sit with some entry level people'. As Dr. Winston said in How to Speak: "you'll be judged based on the quality of your speaking, the quality of your writing, and the quality of your ideas - in that order."
2. Understand what goes into a software business. I doubt you're explaining 'everything' (and if you are, then maybe you should be a CEO)
3. Think about becoming a PM. The pay is better... :)
Really though, the best engineers (e.g. fellows), engineering managers, and senior architects get paid as well or better than PMs. Do what you love and what you're good at, and the pay will follow as your career progresses and you accomplish things of note.
These are just a few of the responsibilities, of course. A good PM is at the center of the business interactions. The interactions between engineering and PM is hardly the entirety of the role. And yes, you will often have to spend time explaining to them how things work so they can be better enabled to have customer discussions and so on. Their job isn't usually about HOW, it's about WHAT/WHY primarily.
My advice: 1. Don't be jealous of the pay. That's down to the market and supply/demand. Jealousy is a cancer that robs you of your happiness and clouds your mind into making career-limiting, and rather juvenile statements like 'The role should really sit with some entry level people'. As Dr. Winston said in How to Speak: "you'll be judged based on the quality of your speaking, the quality of your writing, and the quality of your ideas - in that order."
2. Understand what goes into a software business. I doubt you're explaining 'everything' (and if you are, then maybe you should be a CEO)
3. Think about becoming a PM. The pay is better... :) Really though, the best engineers (e.g. fellows), engineering managers, and senior architects get paid as well or better than PMs. Do what you love and what you're good at, and the pay will follow as your career progresses and you accomplish things of note.