I agree with you in general that coding (unlike critical thinking and logic, as discussed above) is not a necessary skill. I think the last sentence is uncharitable though. At least in the case of pg, I'm pretty confident that his desire for everyone to learn to code is purely altruistic, springing from the fact that programming ability was a massive positive factor in his own life, as well as those of most people he knows. More, I expect that most VCs, like most people, are generally decent human beings, and therefore their motives are likely not to be purely self-centered. I'm sure there are some sociopaths out there who only care about building their fortunes, but most who advocate learning to code probably legitimately believe it's a good idea. (And honestly, it IS beneficial to learn to code; just not as vitally important as it is sometimes portrayed.)