Go find a well-funded and growing startup building a product which interests you.
Most startups really need people who can write lots of code effectively, so if you go that route it can be entirely possible to get great compensation without going into management.
Yes, there will be a minor hit in cash comp initially (you'll probably pull around $150k at a startup), but the equity upside allows for more interesting growth than in a BigCo. Importantly, the growth factor in startups also means you can grow in comp (equity & cash) without having to move up the management chain.
If you can't find any interesting startups, take some time off to build your own ideas.
(Pure self-promotion, but if you do want to go the startup route I'm currently hiring: http://cafe.com/developers)
Most startups really need people who can write lots of code effectively, so if you go that route it can be entirely possible to get great compensation without going into management.
Yes, there will be a minor hit in cash comp initially (you'll probably pull around $150k at a startup), but the equity upside allows for more interesting growth than in a BigCo. Importantly, the growth factor in startups also means you can grow in comp (equity & cash) without having to move up the management chain.
If you can't find any interesting startups, take some time off to build your own ideas.
(Pure self-promotion, but if you do want to go the startup route I'm currently hiring: http://cafe.com/developers)