[geebee]

I've actually found that the "commonly held belief" is often the opposite:

- You're only (still) an engineer because you lack the ability to move into a product management role.

- If your role is technical, your job is to code up the vision of someone who understands the product.

This is changing, rapidly, in some segments of the tech world But keep in mind, the "developer-driven culture" may be far more prevalent among the kind of organizations represented on HN than the business world at large.